Latest posts for the topic "christmas family ski holiday"

christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 08:39:43 GMT

Hi,

can anyone recommend a really nice resort to spend christmas this year (2011) not beginners but not quiet intermediate ski ability , would love a ski in ski out hotel , kids ages are 10 and 16

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 10:30:21 GMT

Well - in my view you need something pretty snow sure, irespective of how well/badly next season starts; so somewhere pretty high.
Also with your children I would look at a big British run catered chalet hotel (i.e. big - 50/60/70 guests) because they will find other kids of similar age to hang out with, rather than a hotel or self catering.

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 11:53:26 GMT

I'd have thought Obergurgl ticked all the boxes.

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 13:27:38 GMT

hi, thanks for that, obergurgl was on my list, will have a look, do you know if the village is any good on the whole Christmas atmosphere for the kids, they are not too keen on leaving home for christmas

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 18:05:39 GMT

Hi Yma,
We were there a couple of days after New Year a few years ago, and whilst there were Christmas decorations in the hotel, I don't remember anything very Christmassy in the village (although of course they may have taken all the stuff down). And to be quite truthful, I didn't think much of the village. It's basically one long road with posh hotels and restaurants lining each side of it. If you want gondola out, ski in, then the places close to the gondola would be okay as long as you are all pretty good skiers because it's a very long blue run from the top of the gondola back down to the village, and the bit at the top is quite difficult for a blue run. In any case the ski bus is pretty good, and there is a chair lift in the centre of the village.

Other than those negatives the resort is fine; we all enjoyed ourselves, it has an excellent snow record, and the children's ski lessons were very good.

I definitely wouldn't stay in one of the posh hotels, if you have 'lively' kids. We did, and my kids were aged 18 and 13. It worked out okay for us, because I saw it as practice for them to learn how to use a 'silver' dinner service and dress smartly and eat 'posh' food for a couple of hours every evening - and they were very well behaved. But I did laugh, because I overheard a man talking to his rep about how his father was desperately in need of a plate of 'real' food (not all that fancy stuff with about 5 consecutive dishes with a tablespoonful of food on each one) - like a plateful of egg and chips or something and where could he get it.

So if you do go to Obergurgl I think Old Andy's quite right and a chalet might be a very good idea! It's also quite an expensive place so I would think you'd have to budget about GBP850 per head for chalet, flights and transfers and some of the flights go to Geneva which would be a long transfer. Innsbruck is quite close to Obergurgl (something like an hour and a half I think) but it's a tricky airport to get into, because of the mountains, and some of the flights don't go there.

I know from experience that picking a suitable resort for the family takes a lot of thought and research. I hope this helps :D

Ally

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 18:26:59 GMT

Hi ally, thanks for very detailed post! can you suggest any other resort, doesn't have to be Austria im open to any ideas

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 19:27:44 GMT

I hesitate to say it, but Niederau is quite nice for early intermediates with families ....

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 21:45:35 GMT

How about Lapland? That way your kids couldn't complain about missing Christmas because they'd be going to see Father Christmas at home, in the forest in Finland. And I should think it would be guaranteed snow as well, because their ski season starts at the beginning of November.

RoseR has been there at least twice and she raves about how great it is - with sleigh rides etc. I almost felt like going there myself, after reading her description. Mind you, it's not cheap, but then neither is Obergurgl.

Ally

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sun, 3 Apr 2011 09:01:31 GMT

just came across a lovely hotel called wellness hotel warth has anyone any experience of that resort?

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Sun, 3 Apr 2011 15:53:09 GMT

Having spent Xmas away skiing a few times, I'd say don't go to france as my experience of it there was overpriced and quite downbeat. Austria seemed much more pretty and traditional.
Lapland I'd avoid as the skiing is very limited, and it can be bitterly cold. Theres no mountains either, which I find odd.

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:39:53 GMT

hi, im back on my trail to look for christmas holiday I have found a lovely hotel in Leogang called the salzburger hof , it ticks all the right boxes except that it is a low altitude resort. has anyone been there around christmas or any idea of the snow record there?

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:40:19 GMT

yma wrote:hi, im back on my trail to look for christmas holiday I have found a lovely hotel in Leogang called the salzburger hof , it ticks all the right boxes except that it is a low altitude resort. has anyone been there around christmas or any idea of the snow record there?

Leogang links into Saalbach which has a decent-ish snow record despite being low lying. The highest points are not particularly high for instance. But I have friends who loved it in Leogang, with supposedly the best run in the area going down to there.
I also have a mate who does Saalbach early Jan every year and he's had great snow most years, but also a couple of trips where the weather was rubbish and too warm with little snow lower down. It may just may be a little early in the season for that area?

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:39:24 GMT

I must ay that I have always fancied skiing at Christmas but have never been able to do so because of working in retail for many years, now I no longer work in that area it may be a possibility in the depending on snow conditions, still I do enjoy january skiing.

Re:christmas family ski holiday

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:06:59 GMT

I'm planning an early season getaway this coming season. St Anton maybe, or Zermatt is an option. Possibly before Xmas mid December.