Have we left it too late to book for Easter?

[OrangeSunset]

Ok following my earlier thread about NY, we’ve decided that Easter is better. And reading some other threads, quite like the sound of Italy.

However have we left it too late to get a reasonable deal for Easter? We want to ski in/ski out, catered chalet or hotel, one room for all 4 of us or inter-connecting rooms.

I do like the sound of Esprit particularly as they’ll pick up the kids in the morning, and the cocoa club in the evenings also sounds good (tho pricey).

Would we get a better deal and more choice if we booked for 2019? When do prime start booking?

We will be booking Easter 2019 this Jan, but it's a big group and we know where we are going. For this season I think you'll find first choice stuff may have gone (we once spent a couple of weeks debating which Esprit place for Easter in Tignes, and then it was too late as it was sold out).

I would contact someone like Igloo ski and get their help, or try a company like Club Med if childcare is needed. I think CM is good value once you take account of all the extras. You might struggle for an interconnecting room though, but you can only ask.

If you fancy Italy, I'd check out Cervinia. It's great value, nice mix of runs, very high and family friendly. It's on a hill though so depending on which end of town you are access is varied. We were opposite a lift and a run, but taking the bubble meant a yomp. Club Med is ski in/out (ish), but has transport too so very easy with kids.

Thanks, I’ve had a look at Club Med and there prices vary wildly. Cervinia was ok, about £6k all on.

Looking at options for sorting flights tho, it looks like we are a bit late. The BA ones frome Gatwick to Geneva are much more then so guess we’ve missed the boat.

How old are your kids?

They’ll be 9 and 7.

We have skied many years at Easter and always booked last minute.partly because you never know what the Snow situation will be and also because of price.
We have used Esprit, Mark Warner, and Crystal However there are others depending on budget.
Family Ski
Ski Beat
Ski Famille
Chillypowder.com
Scott Dunn.
Ski2 in Champoluc
I have heard good things about snowbizz but not sure if Puy St Vincent is high enough for Easter.
Another option is to use someone like Ski World .There will be other kids in chalets at Easter then sort your own ski school. Ski schools like evolution 2 in France offer supervised lunch

Thanks, whatthe. Presumably the choice is more limited tho? We’ve done some research and have some quite set criteria eg departure airport, not too long a transfer, quiet-ish resort. Not too demanding

Esprit fully booked for the week we are looking at

At 9 & 7 your kids will be able to cope with quite a bit of skiing. I'd also think they're big enough to tolerate a few compromises on transfer distances too, you'll struggle to go high AND get a nearby airport.

Are you using miles, why Geneva? If you fly to Turin, Cervinia is only up the valley. It ticks lots of boxes, its quiet and kid friendly. The ski schools will offer private all day lessons too, which when we went it was almost the same price as group lessons in France.

Due to my slight mix up at buying Easyjet flights out to Grenoble (turned out there weren't any back , we're now flying to Turin.

Flights with jet2 who I love as an airline, cheap car hire ( but you could do transfers instead) and cheap accommodation at MMV place in Montgenevre with 2 bedrooms, sheets and wifi included, also outdoor heated pool.

Montgenevre would fit the bill - it apparently has lots of easy skiing ( good for DH) and a reasonable amount of intermediate slopes. There is an English run ski school - must email them again to get lessons booked - which is important to us as not overly keen on the French ski school.

If you prefer something more organised Crystal usually has reductions on their ski holidays at Christmas time, failing that if you leave it to the very last minute - like 2-3 days ahead of going - you might get a great bargain but find it difficult to book up ski school.

Was thinking of using Avios, only had a quick look at flights to gauge prices.

Cervinia does look good - any idea who is there apart from Club Med? Their places is mega-bucks and also doesn’t get brilliant reviews (for the price)

*place

Crystal go to Cervinia, but I thought it was pricey the year I was intending to go there for Easter. Ended up booking Passo Tonale, flights were Verona. It was their last but one week of the season & the snow was like porridge by the afternoon as the slopes were mainly south-facing.

Cervinia was in top 10 cheapest resorts - Telegraph. It's also very high, so more expensive for Easter than others that are effectively ending their season, but it's still open and functioning, so much better value IYSWIM.

Igloo ski have lots of options, speak to them. We stayed at the Dragon, rough around the edges, but was totally fine in the school holidays.

So igloo have come up with some options in Austria - shorter transfers.

Any views on Inghams as an operator, and St Christoph as a destination?

Inghams are fine, just another operator IMO, quite nice and friendly, APP on your phone for resort support and info etc, but with all of those companies they use seasonaire kids to run the show. Having said that, by Easter most know what they're doing. I never have a problem, but I'm pretty relaxed and tend not to go to welcome meetings or similar (if we use an operator).

I would suggest that St Christoph will have snow, but it's not classed as one of the really high resorts. Be prepared for 'spring skiing' conditions. Personally I want snow above the melt line I.e. it will stay as snow all day so I want lots of skiing over about 2500m. A glacier resort tends to offer that. It's years and years since St Anton was our destination and preDC so I wouldn't be able to say with any confidence. I have considered Solden in Austria at Easter, but not there.

TBH it's very much how you like to ski. We have friends that go to the same resort at Easter every year, I wouldn't go there unless there was nothing else left! 10 years ago slushy snow didn't worry me, now I'm a fussy snow snob more concerned about conditions.

Ok so back to the drawing board and have now found what others have suggested - that finding a chalet than booking own flights will be cheaper than going via a main operator.

So what's Chatel likely to be like end-March? Its not super high but has access to higher climbs. And the pay-off I guess is a shorter transfer.

Alternatively we've found a family-run chalet in Morzine that also sounds good.

We book last minute flights to geneva from Bristol never more than £50 and then air Bnb - last two years in chamonix. Kids lessons (4 aged 3-7) in morning and all sorted

Can recommend a beautiful ski in ski out house if you like?

£50! EasyJet from Bristol to Geneva currently £1400 ish for 4 of us - which I took to mean nearly full?! Not terribly experienced at this tho and not sure I have the nerve to wait truly last minute

Chatel claims to have its own micro climate. We have friends with a place there and others with a place in Morzine (which is a great resort). I think both would accept they are not known late season destinations.

All resorts preserve their snow, the piste acts as a cooler block and it lasts much longer than the surrounding area, but 'good' conditions will really depend on the season. A late snow fall will be great, but a dry year and you might find you will need to travel to ski.

Ok departing 25 March would be classed as late season?

Would you recommend Morzine over Chatel?

oh ok, thought you meant leaving 29th or something. Even 1 week improves things. I'd expect 'spring' conditions still though, but March is main season.

It's hard to say which is better (every year is different), have a look at 'on the snow' and see what they have to say.

Was there nothing for the higher resorts?

Well it's a toss up between altitude and short transfer.

Higher such as La Roseire or Reberty?

We're looking for somewhere smallish as a base so relatively quiet for the DC's lessons, but where DH and I can access larger/more varied areas before we come back to meet them at 2pm/3pm ish.

Altitude every time for me, but I think you know that by now

I find the transfer is bearable if it's a reasonable time. The year we left La Plagne at about 3am was horrible, the kids were in bits by the time we got home. I would pay to change flight times if that was an option.

Altitude definitely