Zermatt is huge and over 3 sectors. So the scale will be much bigger than you might be used to in the states.
The resort is actually a town in size so location can be important, however everything is within 10-15 mins walk in ski boots, imv.
Carless so buses are used.
Resort height is good at around 1850 mtrs...upto to 3899...very high.
Linked to Cervinia but dont miss the link back, a drive will take hours and cost hundreds, imv. It will be cheaper to stay overnight.
One of the best days was when i saw the weather come in for the evening so i bombed down to the ski school office and joined a guiding group.
This is a ski instructors day out...and the group will ski where they are capable of skiing. I think the brief was off piste. We made up a 6 man group, inc both skiers and boarders and went all over. Fab day and hardly touched a piste.
So, if the ski school still does that
then this could be a cheaper options.
We didnt need to touch a glacier and therefore didnt need uiagm guiding.
We just used the local tourist office Chf ski school. Trying to find out if they still offer this ad hoc service