What exactly is a catered chalet?

Hi there

Can anyone tell me what a catered chalet is please. forgive my ignorance.

If there are me, hubby and 2 kids do we need to find more friends to go with or would we just share with strangers. Is it the type of place where you all sit down together to dinner at same time, or do you cook yourself. If someone cooks for you are there options (I ask this because me and kids are quite picky).

another question this time about Hotels.

If we go half board to a hotel, is it usually a bufffet type? like you would get say if you went to Spain or the like? or is it usually a choice of say 2 meals for main?

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question

I stayed in a catered chalet for the first time this year, we booked privately through the chalet but this is as I understand it; You can fill it yourself or you can share with 'strangers' but there is a pretty social atmosphere, generally everyone sits down together to enjoy the unlimited wine and beer 8)

The one we stayed at does a separate meal altogether for the kids and you can outline 'dietary requirements' when you book.. our guys were awesome and we happened to be the only people staying there so it was quite easy for them to cater to 'our' needs.

I have only stayed once in a half board type place and it was a buffet type thing, would not go for it again... ever. In all fairness it was just adding to my terrible experience of Andorra in general.

Hope that helps!

(ref. we stayed at the Whiteroom Chalet in Sainte Foy and I would highly recommend them to anyone who wil llistin)

karen72 wrote:Can anyone tell me what a catered chalet is please.

A catered chalet is just one where someone else does the cooking for you.

Everything else is entirely dependent on the owner / operator; whether or not they do afternoon tea, what time dinner is, how formal / flexible it is, etc.

In general, you'll probably find independent (owner-run) chalets to be the most flexible. Tour Operator chalets will be run to a fixed budget and, to a greater or lesser degree, a fixed menu each week - although the more child-friendly TOs tend to be pretty accommodating.

With just the four of you, chances are you'll be sharing the chalet with someone else; that usually works just fine - you should find you have something in common with the other people booking a "family-friendly catered chalet".

Hotels are so varied that it's impossible to generalize - you'll need to check the specifics with the places you're interested in.

So make a note of what you need and see how your short-list of chalets responds?

One important thing to remember when booking a catered chalet, is that not all of them have en-suite bathrooms. You'll often have to share a bathroom/toilet. This can work OK, but not to everyones liking. If you want private facilities, make sure you read the room descriptions properly.

Generally in a catered chalet, you'll get full breakfast including hot option, afternoon tea ( cake and a drink)and 3/4 course evening meal with wine. This will be for 6 nights only as the chalet staff will get one night a week off.

You will be mixing with the others in the chalet, all eating around the same table. I've not had a bad experience yet. Most skiiers are like minded, and mix well.

Hi Karen,
I've never stayed in a catered chalet, but I have stayed in hotels with the kids.

I think, like most things, you get what you pay for. We stayed in the four star hotel, the Heitzmann, in Zell am See, Austria, one year. It wasn't even that expensive really, because they did a one child for free offer. Anyway, the food was fantastic. It was several years ago now, but we still talk about the food. I have never eaten anything so nice, ever, before or since. There were about 6 courses at dinner and it used to take us about 2 hours to eat it all. The children were only young, but they soon learnt that everything, whatever it was called or looked like, was delicious. Even things like spinach. They did a formal sit down dinner, but they told you in the morning what was going to be on the menu that night, and if you didn't like it they'd find you an alternative. My children and I are all vegetarian, and they managed to feed us all week, on the most amazing food I have ever eaten. What a fantastic chef.

Breakfast was a buffet in the dining room. And breakfast and dinner were included in the price, but drinks (tea and orange juice in our case) weren't.

We've also stayed in a four star hotel in Obergurgl, and the food was OK but nowhere near the standard of the Heitzmann. And we stayed (our first ski holiday)in a very cheap hotel in Borovets, Bulgaria. The food mainly consisted of potatoes and cheese, which actually we quite liked, but no-one else did, and the hotel dining room was empty every night, apart from us.

Hope this helps,

Ally

hymac580 wrote:Generally in a catered chalet, you'll get full breakfast including hot option, afternoon tea ( cake and a drink)and 3/4 course evening meal with wine. This will be for 6 nights only as the chalet staff will get one night a week off.

You will be mixing with the others in the chalet, all eating around the same table. I've not had a bad experience yet. Most skiiers are like minded, and mix well.

This description mirrors my experience.

You all eat at the same table which at first can be a bit awkward but great fun once you get to know the other people.

I've never done a catered chalet and quite like the idea so this has been really useful - thanks everyone.

Other hotels that you might find useful for bringing the littl'uns: we did Christiania in Val d'Isere this year and the hotel could not do enough to help out; they even did an 'unofficial' young kids' dinner, and when the youngsters stayed up to eat with us they were happy to have food from the buffet (they are big seafood fans, but there is a vast choice), skip the meat and fish and cheese courses which are served plated, and have a dessert again from the buffet.

Last year we did Les Sherpas in Courchevel - again fab food with kid-friendly early dinner. And a short walk to the beginner's zone, which otherwise is halfway up Jardin Alpin run from the town itself.

I've done both these types with catered chalet being the later over feb half term just gone!

We went with skiworld a couple of weeks ago to chalet alice in les deux alpes and our chalet hosts were great, they stayed up until 1.30am on the saturday to welcome us due to our nightmare of a journey, long story! And they made us sandwiches which was great. They were flexible with the dinner due to some fussy eaters there, they didn't change the meat just didn't put sauces on, cooked different veg etc. they also did a kids dinner earlier but not all the kids took this option. Everyone got on with everyone in the chalet and invariably i think this is how it works in almost every case!

With regards the half board type i've never had a buffet meal with that board basis, breakfast is commonly buffet but not evening meals where i've been. In general i've found that there's often a menu each morning and you could select from about 3 dishes for every course so you know what to expect!

Either holiday is great, just go have fun!