Help finding chalet holiday for 11 people

[ooherrmissus14]

Hi!
We're looking to go skiing at the start of next year as a group of 11 (6 adults and 5 kids over 13). We'd prefer a catered chalet but don't know where to start!! We're not even sure where to go although we will be tied to school holidays. Any ideas??!!

Thanks!!

Do you have a rough budget in mind?

We’ve been a few times with VIP and thought they were really good for a comfortable mid range option, and they definitely have chalets large enough for your group in a number of the well known French resorts- we went to Val d’Isere as a similar sized group with them recently and it was fab!

Thanks- we'll have a look at that! I think we will have to accept that it will be more than we were anticipating having already had a Quick Look!!

YSE in Val d'Isere is excellent - they have several chalets in that size https://www.yseski.co.uk

If you're tied to school holidays and want to keep the budget relatively sensible, avoid half term and go for the first week of the Easter holidays. Fine so long as you're high up.

As in the solutions room on the Chalets Direct website.

we’ve found some great ones in there in the past.

Otherwise Aloine Elements winter offerings are catching my eye atm

We've used Ski World a few times and they've been really good. Although you could try someone like snowfinders who will search across chalet companies and get you a good deal.

We're just back from a chalet for 14 in Le Gets. 7 lovely, modern bedrooms with separate dressing areas and en suites, the chalet also had a sauna, hot tub and steam room.

The snow in Les Gets wasn't amazing so we hired two vans and drove 20 mins to Avoriaz which was amazing snow well above 1850.. the best. Had the chalet been in Courchevel it would've been 90k. You always have to compromise on something so a 20 mind drive was fine.

Have a look at Chalet Chardons, English run company with catered chalets in the quieter(cheaper) bits of Val D'Isere/Tignes. We stayed with them a while back and thought they were brilliant value for money.

Another vote for chaletsdirect.com

post up your dates in the solutions room, and chalets will bid for your business.

We used The Chalet Company in Meribel a few years ago for our family group of 15. They were brilliant and even had a personal driver with mini bus. Would recommend. www.thechaletcompany.com

Do you want any childcare (apart from ski lessons)? what are the ski levels within the group? Do you want ski in ski out or are you ok with a walk to slopes (painful with kids IME) or perhaps a minibus shuttle is ok for you? What is your budget level?

New Year is always extremely expensive. Can you go the week after new year? Also snow is hit and miss at that time so pick somewhere high - also means it won’t get dark quite as early.

I would speak to an agency like Ski Solutions, Alpine Answers or similar as they can make recommendations based on your priorities and budget.

In general I would say you get better value for the cost with the smaller more independent companies (like Chardons mentioned above) vs the big companies like Inghams/Crystal. However, the independent companies’ chalets can be a bit out of the way which is a pain - though they often offer a minibus shuttle to mitigate. Check location very carefully.

We have had good reports of Première Neige chalets in Ste Foy. They have at leat one big enough for you, though it is a fairly pricy company.,
Having had numerous chalet holidays over the years, we discovered the delights of Club Med and there is no going back!

I recommend Ski Solutions. They can look at all of the chalet operators and find the best holiday for you. Also, they have some good early book offers for next winter.