Hotel Viking in Morzine

I know they struggled for snow in 2011 but had decent conditions this year, but we are looking at booking this for early March 2013. I have looked on some of the 'trip advisor' type websites but most comments are obviously negative from 2011 and not many from this year.

I value the information provided by members on here rather than nameless people on those sites.

Any info guys?

Hi Twofish,

We stayed at the Hotel Viking in March this year. It is not somewhere I would return to but it very much depends on what you look for from a holiday.

Location
The location is right on the piste side so access to the slopes is great. I would imagine this to be a plus if you have young children. Even if you don't the location takes some beating. However, as you are up a mountain getting luggage up and down takes time. Unless you are at the front of the queue expect at least a 30 minute wait for the cable car each way. You also need to get your luggage up a set of rickety steps and through a turnstile at the bottom.

Hotel
The hotel itself is OK. Rooms are small but adequate. Bathrooms again are adequate but could have done with a more thorough clean. Communal areas are nice, particularly the upstairs lounge. Didn't use the pool as it wasn't warm enough to tempt us. It did seem popular with others however. Didn't go into Morzine on an evening but the cable car does run until 2 am some evenings. The town is very nice with a good selection of shops, bars and restaurants. Many reviews have mentioned lift noise but we had a chairlift outsidethe window and didn't hear a thing when it was running. Hotel was very popular with families but the children seemed well behaved so wasn't a problem for couples looking for peace and quiet. I guess this very much depends on the guests on any given week however. Holiday was booked through Crystal and was excellent value for money (I think £1600 pounds all in for two of us). Didn't have a great deal to do with the reps.

Food
The food was inconsistent and not up the standard I expected. Evening meal was buffet style with a salad bar, a couple of hot starters, soup (often quite tasty but cold), hot options, dessert selection and ice cream bar (the best part of the meal in my opinion!). Many of the hot options were tasty but some bordered on inedible (and I'm not a fussy eater by any means!) Generally each evening had a theme, so Italian, French, American etc. I did have a stomach upset whilst on holiday. Not sure if this was due to a bug or the food. Husband was fine so probably a bug.
Breakfast was generally pretty good with the usual selection. Pastries were excellent and changed day to day (croissant and either pain au raisin or pain au chocolate). Also bacon and scrambled eggs available every day which were very nice.
Lunch was also included in our deal with the option of packed lunch or hot meal on the terrace. Hot option was pasta with various sauces and was barely edible (only did this once but checked another day and the menu hadn't changed!) Packed lunch option was very generous (16 euros per person, per day) which we struggled to use. Selection of drinks, sandwiches, pates, salads, crisps, biscuits, cereal bars etc. We took drinks to keep in the room to make up part of our allowance but didn't use all of it very often.

Drinks
Our package included a drinks voucher which just about covered our drinks with the meal for the week (generally a carafe of wine and a pint each evening.) Drinks weren't cheap but not extortionate given the horror stories I've heard about many French resorts.

Skiing
Skiing around Morzine is pleasant but not as good (IMO) as the other resorts I've visited (Dolomites, Sauze, Mayrhofen). We skied the Morzine/Les Gets area in a couple of days. Would ideally suit intermediates (which we are) looking for nice reds and blues. Personally I got a bit bored as the reds did not present much of a challenge and the blacks were all mogul fields (some steep, others much less so). I prefer steeper pisted runs so the resort didn't really suit the type of skiing I enjoy. However it would be ideal for a lot of people. Did try to ski the other areas but lost a couple of days to illness and then the weather. When we did ski to Avoriaz it was horrendously busy (dangerously so) so did a couple of hours and came back. May have been a different story another day or week? Lifts around Morzine could do with updating; those on the Avoriaz side were more modern. The Crystal ski guiding was OK but in my opinion the group was far too big (about 25 of us I think). Did book an away day however it was cancelled due to the weather. Snow was generally very good though did deteriorate later in the day, to the point of slush on many occasions. I could imagine this resort being a nightmare in a poor year for snow or later in the season (we went 1st week of March.) We did have one powder day and for the first time ever I enjoyed skiing powder, which is a real breakthrough.

Think that covers most things but any other questions feel free to ask. Hope its' been some help.

Lynn

what an excellent review

Thanks, that is a fantastic review.........even if most of it is not what I wanted to hear. A group of 8 is booked. We will enjoy it.

Thank you forv the report.
I´m planning to go to Portes Du Soleil first week in March but you "have put the fly behind my ear" and not very sure now.
I was also thinking about the Viking but heard your&other reports from people about clientelle&food&situation.
I would appreciate if you or anyone would tell me about other hotels in Morzine(sauna at least and better if whirlpol+/swimming pool).
I have skied at Zermatt&Selva Gardena&St Anton&La Plagne-Arcs&Vail and would thank if PdS resists the comparison or not. My level is intermediate: reds and "easy groomed" blacks, really I prefer Steep but GROOMED.
Might be better 3 Valleés?

THANKS A LOT

farostegui wrote:Might be better 3 Valleés?

THANKS A LOT

Yes

To even it up a bit. I have been to Morzine & PDS many many timesand amgoing again this year. In fact, I was there in 2011.

I like morzine, but it does depend what you want. If you want hundreds of km of pistes like 3V or Espace K, then it may not be for you. I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination - I find the runs good. I would say the more challenging runs are over in Avoriaz (never experienced problems with 'dangerously busy') and Les Gets. Mont Cherie in Les Gets gives some great skiing at all levels - good challenging blue to black.

Farosteugi, dont dismiss it based on these reviews. It is a great resort & ski area. Morzine & Les Gets are very scenic towns (some people like that)and do not get rowdy stag parties there - you WILL get that in 3V for sure - again, it depends what you are after. Also, bear in mind Lynn review is aboout the hotel Viking, this is not representative of the whole of the resort.

Hope this puts a balanced view on things

Icy

Iceman
Thanks for your´s and other answers. :-)
I have already(yesterday pm) booked through Inghams a stay at Hotel Club Le Crêt.
I have read that is covenient to rent through Intersport because it gives you the chance to keep the skis in a locker just at the valley station of the lift.
Seems either quite popular this hotel as 5 months in advance the hotel is now sold up(good [b]TripAdvisor[/b] reports). The same could be said about the PdS area as no much Hotels availabe now.
There are lots of apartments(Family oriented??) and not many hotels, let alone ski in/out ones.
We are going for a week from 2nd March and I fear from the French school holidays "beehive" effect ; people poses the main risk on pistes!!. :twisted:
I hope the snow cover (area and quality) would be good enough because otherwise that would be adding insult to the overpopulated??injury.

Another year of late skiing!. The next travel hopefully in April so if not America-UTAH´s DEER VALLEY has to be again ZERMATT :D or either adventure to 3 VALLEÉS/TIGNES-Vd'Isere/ISGHL. :?:

Any experiences in late seasion at DEER VALLEY,3 VALLEÉS,TIGNES-Vd'Isere or ISGHL?