Looking for help in choosing a resort

Hello community,
My girlfriend and I are planning a ski vacation starting 1st of January until the 9th. She has never skied before, and I'm somewhere between a beginner - intermediate. We are looking for a resort in France which answers the following criteria:
- Good variety for beginners, I assume we will spend most of our time on blue slopes, maybe the odd red slope.
- Optimally not too expansive of a resort.
- Good apres-ski, nice resort town (which looks nice!) - we would like to have a nice variety of activies and night life option. We won't be hunting for parties each night as we are both quite mellow, but some good bars, restaurants and shops would be great.
- We will be arriving through Geneva airport if that changes anything.

Option I have been looking at: Les Gets/Morzine, Meribel, Chamonix, Courchevel and Montgenevre.
Montgenevre and Les Gets seems more family oriented and relaxed but we are worried about not having anything to do other than skiing. Also worried about not having snow there. The bigger ones (chamonix etc) seem like they might be substantially more expansive? So, what would be all-around better choice?

Any thoughts and advice would really help us. Thanks in advance!

Hi Ben

Of the resorts you have mentioned I know most about Meribel / Courchevel as the 3 Valleys area they are in is one of my faves

First thing to consider is that France uses a different grade to other countries and has Green/Blue/Red/Black in increasing order of difficulty so an absolute beginner like your girlfriend will start on greens and progress to blue (maybe odd red by end of week but who knows how fast she will pick it up)

This has the advantage that you know the greens are definitely easy when you go out away from lessons - if blue is the starting point then, until you ski it, you may not know what is an easy blue or a hard blue - the extra classification colour gives you more confidence of what you are getting

If you want "looks nice" then Courchevel is not ideal as its a bit of a monstrosity in the resort centre where the lifts combine in Courchevel 1850. That said the smaller villages of 1650 etc are prettier but less going on

Meribel is more Alpine chocolate box in feel as it has mostly chalets but is VERY spread out so you can be a long way from slopes/apres depending on the accommodation (plenty of folks on here know the exact geography better than me)

Courchevel (especially 1850) is rather expensive - you can get value, as you can anywhere in France no matter what some doomsayers say, but it has more expensive places than most. It has (or had) more Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere else in France bar Paris. Its very popular with the Russians.....

Meribel is more normally priced though Val Thorens (in the 3rd Valley) is cheaper again.

Plenty of Apres in both places

The 3 Valleys is a great place for beginners and you certainly have variety - I took some people on their first week on snow and got them all the way from Val Thorens to Courchevel and back again in a day without touching a red and no run done twice. But its VERY difficult to gauge how fast your better half will progress

I'd throw onto your list Val d'Isere - slightly better transfer than 3V from Geneva. Beautiful town, loads of apres, loads of skiing. Its not for everyone as it CAN be expensive but equally it can be cheap if you don't look to get ripped off (basic rule I guess). Beginners have a great nursery slope right in town with a proper chairlift (nothing worse than drag lifts) and loads to progress to higher up the mountain (though she is unlikely to be able to ski home and will need the gondola but so do MANY)

I could go on and on but hope this helps as a starter and feel free to PM me if you want anything further (I've been to 3 Valleys 3 times and off to VDI and the Espace Killy for the 5th time this year)

Enjoy wherever you go and I'm sure your missus will love it

Heres the problem - you want to go to France, but you want somewhere pretty. Thats a major problem, apart from a few resorts lower down where snow MAY be an issue. Also, prices in France are as high as anywhere in europe generally, especially 3 valleys and the mega resorts as they are known.

I'd suggest you look a little further afield at Alpe d'Huez - varied and interesting ski area, old and new town where the old town has some character and great bars/eateries. Also consider my favourite French resort - Serre Chevalier. 4 places to stay in the valley, Monetier and Villeneuve are the prettiest, rustic old places. Much cheaper than much of France, but still not as cheap as Italy.
Alternatively head over into Italy and look at Champoluc in the Aosta Valley. Stunning scenery, interesting ski area, nice old villages, quiet too.

Other than that, you won't get much in France thats pretty, although Val d'Isere is a good shout.

ADH and Serre Che good shouts but as Tony says the transfer may be long?

Of course if you're going to Geneva then Switzerland is easy and Verbier is only just over an hour away BUT in my experience France is bargain basement compared to Swiss "in-resort" pricing but that's just what I have encountered - your experience may differ as the saying goes

oh and Verbs is a bit like Meribel - kind of pretty with chalets but loads of them so rather sprawling

Verbs is chronically expensive I am afraid, wonderful skiing though.

Most French resorts are expensive (depending on your budget), but having skied Courcheval and Meribel they are fairly mega expensive thanks, in the main, to the large Russian influx where prices have been adjusted accordingly. Val D'Isere you would probably like, plenty of restaurants, some easy runs or look at Les Arc, not the prettiest place in the world but plenty of wide blues. I am thinking that as you have already been to Montgenevre that would, personally, be my choice from what you have asked for. Good luck.

Hi there, why not try La Clusaz. Pretty centre, plenty of ressies/bars, decent skiing,near to Geneva (one & half hours transfer usually). If chair lifts are a problem there are two gondolas which are of course walk on/off so no risk of tumbles! Prices are not that expensive even in/near town centre. Admitttedly apres ski nowhere near as lively as the likes of Meribel! but ok.
I am sure you will enjoy any/all of the resorts mentioned by others.