First skiing holiday for a family of five

[GinJarRogers]

Does anyone have experience or tips of how to book a skiing holiday for a family with 3 children? The only options I’m seeing are for two separate rooms. Kids are 11, 9 and 6 so too young to sleep in a separate room. We’re first timers so also reluctant to go for air bnb or similar.

As a fellow mother of 3, that pesky 3rd child means you can't get family rooms most places. In general ski resorts have self catering apartments or even chalets that you can book through the resort though which would give you enough space for you all. Or look for hotels with interconnecting rooms.

Would UCPA be an option?

Thanks for the replies. I haven’t heard of UCPA before but looked them up and I will investigate!

We’re a family of 5 and have been skiing in the French alps many many times so you can definitely get suitable accommodation. In recent years we always get a 3 bed apartment but in the past we have stayed in chalets that accommodate the group. Lots of companies rent out suitable apartments doesn’t have to be Airbnb. Pierre Vacances is worth looking at. If I was a beginner now I would probably looks at going through a package company like Crystal.

They are big in the French alps. A friend of mine has stayed there several times and they have 3 kids…. But they are a bit older. She’s been v positive about their stays. I’m sorry I don’t have any personal experience. Only other suggestion is Club Europe. They mainly do school trips, but I know they sometimes take families. Perhaps worth a call. Good luck!

French resorts seem to have much better family rooms than Austria or Italy where a family room has 1 single bed squeezed in.
Pierre Vacances are definitely worth a look at, they tend to be fairly central too. You want a nice short walk to the ski school meeting spot, over 1km is a long walk in ski boots.

Thank you. Some great tips on here. I’m looking into all of them. Thank you!

@GinJarRogers If you’re after a specific recommendation Pierre Vacances Terasses d’os in Flaine is a really good place for beginners. They have 2 bed apartments with a sofa bed in the lounge for one of the kids. It’s in a hotel building so there is a reception desk downstairs and you can order bread and pastries. There’s also a couple of restaurants and an outdoor heated pool and indoor massive jacuzzi that all the kids loved. You can have lessons from the neighbouring Helios hotel or very easy short ski down to the resort or free bus from right outside.

It’s also a short transfer from Geneva. We always used Go Massif for transfers.

Following for tips....

Other options to look up are MGM or CGH apartments, similar to P+V. Lots of these style companies offer various sized apartments in a block with pool, bakery delivery service, etc. In terms of resort, I'd look at Sainte Foye, La Rosiere, Les Saisie or Flaine.

Ski familie in the three valleys is fantastic

We stayed in club le cret in morzine in the top floor rooms which were huge and interconnected. Half board, booked through sunweb. It had a great pool too.

Also try speaking to an agent (like alpine elements) explaining your requirements. They’ll be able to find the right thing for you

Agree with an agent - Alpine Elements or Ski Solutions

Self catering apartments are probably your best bet. We have stayed in CGH apartments which have two bedrooms and a sofa bed in the living room. You can also get 3 bedroom apartments.

Chalets do sometimes have 3 bed rooms, but they are rare.

4 kids here, and not great travellers (so long transfers up windy roads were not an option, nor car hire). If you don't have this sort of restriction, then that helps. Sometimes a package is best for your first trip as there are quite a few moving parts to organise and it is easier if someone else is doing it for you, especially if you ALL want to ski. (i.e. boot and ski hire, lockers (vital unless you want to carry a load of clobber about), lessons, lift passes etc.) Have done loads of resorts (self organised), and I still think our "easiest" self organised was Leysin in Switzerland staying at Hotel Central Residence. Direct train from Geneva Airport to Aigle, then the mountain funicular train up to Leysin Feyday, then a 5-10 walk to hotel. which is directly underneath (5 mins) some nursery / practice slopes, and probably only 10 mins walk to the main lifts where you get the ski hire, lockers etc.. Hotel had lots of permutations on rooms and was half board (pretty good, child friendly), with a warm swimming pool. There is a brilliant sledging place down in the village, and also a little ski school for complete beginners (young children mainly). I think ski-ing is quite a tough holiday (effort wise and cost-wise) but if you persevere with it, it is very rewarding.

We started skiing with our 3 kids iwhen they were 7, 9 and 10, 1st trip was to Winterberg - a small resort in Germany staying in a European centre parcs so if they didnt want to ski all day there were other options. Following the success of that it’s been the French Alps ever since. We always drive and self cater. Ski in ski out is much easier when you have young kids. We’ve mostly had 2 bedrooms and a sofa bed in the lounge. Some bedrooms have 3 beds (a bunk and a single). Go for the Pierre et Vacances, Radisson, CHG or MMV, They have hotel services, many have a pool, saunas gyms spa, ski lockers etc. book ski equipment through Alpy.com for good discounts. Make sure to book insurance when booking ski hire or lift passes, eg Carte Neige, it covers mountain rescue, ski pass refunds for bad weather/ illness / injury etc. Erna Low have been helpful for finding suitable accommodation and they offer discounts for ski passes and equipment (though I have found better discounts myself)

Was also going to suggest Erna Low - they have lots of self-catering options and can probably point you to a suitable resort for beginners. You don’t need a huge resort to start with as the lift passes are correspondingly more expensive and you won’t get the use from them. They should be able to advise on eg proximity to ski school meeting points and lifts - not sure if they still have reps in resorts as it’s a while since we used them.