Is there any way we can do this cheaper?

[drspouse]

We've done 3 Esprit holidays so are now v spoiled. This year we're trying to cut costs - DH basically says no skiing, we can't afford £3K, which is probably true. That would be what Esprit would cost for the first full week in Jan (we have one DC who will be in Y1, just 6, has done two weeks skiing, and one 3yo who's done 3 nursery weeks but I know would love to ski).
Any way to do chalet style (not sure I can cope with s/c) with lessons and some childcare for considerably cheaper?
Neither of us need to ski all day every day though DH likes a bit of a challenge and I like a bit of cross country.
Unfortunately we live in the NW so not going to drive!

I just recommended Snowbizz on the other thread but see that you don't want sc. it's very cheap tho we paid around £2k including childcare/ski school, kids ski hire and lift passes for family of 3 in January. The childcare was really good. My 4yo still talks about it! There is a half board option.

We went to a chalet with ski total and hired a nanny. You have to check if they serve high tea for the kids (loads do), but it's much cheaper than Esprit, and frankly more flexible and tailored to your own schedule.
I've been to Esprit and Mark Warner a few times and not convinced they bring that much to the party.

Oh that's great to hear! Maybe we could cope with ordering pizza every night.. Breakfast/lunch are no bother obviously.

T4 Nannies were great, really good to deal with.

Lovely thanks!

OK Ski Total is not that reasonable but maybe Snowbizz... I'll work on DH.
It's also possible I could persuade some friends to share a chalet or a larger apartment - it would be 3 families but maybe only 5 adults/4 kids. Any recommendations for DIY of that sort? The other older kids are also Y1/5-6 and not whizz kids that will ski all day so I think sharing a nanny between 4 would work well.

For DIY look at More Mountain in Morzine. They do sc apartments and catered chalets. Service is really great. We went SC with them with a baby and was very family friendly - buggy, sledges provided free, kids cutlery and dvds etc. We used the local nursery which was great but Morzine has lots of nannies and childcare options. I don't think they do discount for kids in the catered chalets tho so those could work out pricey.
If childcare is your priority, you can't beat Snowbizz. The apartments are very basic but ski in and out.

If you're prepared to DIY, I think Italy is cheaper than France. We always go in the Easter hols though so I'm not really very good on resorts for earlier in the season.

One thing that is worth thinking about though, maybe for the future is family weeks with the UCPA. Bloody excellent value. I've been on a few of their weekend trips and they are amazing. Fab food, low prices, excellent kit, great locations. Action outdoors is the UK agent.

Have a look at Baquera Beret too. That's where we wanted to go in Feb but got outvoted. It was good value. I should add ski total was 1/2 of Esprit in the school hols, but I wonder if in term time the difference isn't as marked.

lots of options in less well known resorts... in 2013 I went with some others to Chamrousse...
11 of us had three self catering apartments between us - ski hire for 11 lessons for one child, lift passes for all 11 and the total bill for everyone was under £2,500
we did drive and self cater, so that was on top, but still very cheap, and the advantage of a less popular resort is vastly cheaper food on the slopes etc...

I think there are such hefty discounts for Esprit in the school term time that it makes the difference much less.

I'm trying to convert DH to the idea of Snowbizz which sounds a lot like Esprit but with nice cassoulet from the supermarket instead of 7 course meals. No luck so far.

What's the budget?... or is the task 'find me champagne hols for cheap beer prices'. Does he want to go, or not that fussed?

... I'm getting overly invested in finding you a suitable holiday Dr

Ha ha!
The budget is really "persuade the husband" but I think SnowBizz for about £2k.for us all had him thinking "maybe". I'll have to sell the self catering a bit more I think.

When we went self catering first time I was not happy, I took pasta, sauces, breakfast cereals, snacks crap to cheer me up and produced pasta and sauce for 6 nights. We bought bread, ham and cheese locally and not much else. I expected a revolt, but no one cared. I suppose it depends how high the catering bar has to be set.

I took stuff as I didn't want to have to shop on holiday as much as cook.

It was actually fine... to the extent we now tend to self cater. My kids are a little older though. We also have our own apartment, not sure I could cope with catering for others as I'd have the urge to 'performance cater' fuck that after a day on the slopes

I actually don't mind shopping, a chance to browse through loads of foreign ready meals/weird biscuits etc.

My DCs are really good eaters and will scoff almost anything (with a bit of moaning from DC1) - but aren't good in restaurants if there's any chance of getting bored - I'm sure it would be fine and one of the reviews mentions lovely French supermarket cassoulet which my mouth is now watering at the thought of! I think DH is more thinking endless pasta and sauce though. Which I wouldn't really want.

Chipping away at him... because it's house sale/rental dependent I may not be able to persuade him for a while.

EasyJet haven't released their Easter flights yet they're due out later this month- if you get on their mailing list and get them as soon as released then you could get a bargain.

We're staying in a p&v apartment but I see you can buy meal packages if you didn't want to self cater.

I'm assuming they are already out for Jan though?

Dontcallmethatyoucunt where in Baqueira Beret do you rate? We are very open to going anywhere cheap and nice!

skinspired.co.uk

Hotel Tuc would have been our choice.

Thanks I've found them already- good to confirm!

Am also looking at Bulgaria...

My friends raved about it. I will def go the first time I get the chance!

Right looks like we are going for Puy! Not much (any) x-country for me but I will try and up my downhill game in a smaller resort.

Just to work out what to do about school (i.e. try and get work to say officially I can't take half term off, or cross our fingers we don't get a fine).

Yey! Cross your fingers on the school front. Ours don't fine unless you take 15 sessions in two linked terms (a session is a morning or an afternoon).

We did Puy when the kids were wee and have very happy memories of sitting on our apartment balcony overlooking the slopes eating local bread and cheese and supping red wine. The supermarket did very good rotisserie chicken and I don't recall actually cooking! It is a small resort and the slopes are not extensive but fun.

Try Serre Chevalier staying in Chantemerle on 24th March. It's very end of season but snow still good and weather glorious. No cold kiddies. We stayed in a two thirds empty self-catering apartment block. If you just book flights to Turin (£102), then Linkbus charges 25 euro each way for transfer. Accommodation is around 750 euros for a large apartment - but last year they offered 50% discount with 4 weeks to go! And because the block was so empty, the lovely swimming pool & jacuzzi were almost ours alone. The slopes are busy with school trips in the morning but empty in the afternoons. Town has supermarket & take-away pizza place and ESF do lessons for the kids. You cannot go any cheaper!