Latest posts for the topic "Where to go next?"

Where to go next?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:52:37 GMT

I am ready to book my next snow fix and want to go over the New Year. Can anyone recommend a European resort that is snow sure at that time of year? Ideally I would like to be somewhere with lively apres ski and somwhere I can ski in ski out of accomodation.

Re:Where to go next?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:15:21 GMT

I can recommend Obertuern as snow sure and ski in and out but don't know about the apres as am usually too knackered being an old git!

Re:Where to go next?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:23:42 GMT

Same here I have gone off the idea of Schladming for 2 weeks so I am just changing my plans back to N for the New Year Week, staying in the Hotel Austria which is ski back to the gondola station ski locker, remove boots, walk 25m to apres ski bar, then stumble 50m back to hotel directly opposite. A bit pricey on the supplement but will be worth it. Have you looked into Italy?

Re:Where to go next?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:43:41 GMT

daved wrote:I can recommend Obertuern as snow sure and ski in and out but don't know about the apres as am usually too knackered being an old git!

I can also recommend Obertauern. Was there in Feb this year and it was awesome, sooo much fresh snow. Plenty of accommodation next to the slopes. We stayed at the Hotel Steiner and you just had to cross the road to ski down to 4 lifts. Not sure about the apres as i was only there with my mum and sister but what i did see was the typical Austrian, being lively and early.

Re:Where to go next?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:33:55 GMT

Lech or St Anton. I have to say the skiing there was utterly brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone. I stayed in St Anton, there are some ski in/out places, more in Lech but Lech seems to be full of people full of self importance and the skiing is better in St Anton. The snow in Lech is legendary though.

Re:Where to go next?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:00:24 GMT

Tony_H wrote:Lech or St Anton. I have to say the skiing there was utterly brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone. I stayed in St Anton, there are some ski in/out places, more in Lech but Lech seems to be full of people full of self importance and the skiing is better in St Anton. The snow in Lech is legendary though.

I'm seriously thinking about St Anton, I loved everything about the place. The problem is that it's so pricey. I booked with a TO last time, fantastic location but the prices seemed to have shot up. Have you any tips on going DIY?

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:41:10 GMT

google is your friend!

http://feratel-stanton.concentrator.net/a3t2/tosc/list_ServiceProvider.asp?AI=0&RG=DN&ID=1000132&SPTyp=1

http://www.stantonamarlberg.com/winter/userfiles/PDFs/Zug_St.Anton-Muenchen_09.pdf

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g608676-d195367-Reviews-St_Anton-St_Anton_am_Arlberg_Tirol_Austrian_Alps.html

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:51:47 GMT

snowb4ndit wrote:

Tony_H wrote:Lech or St Anton. I have to say the skiing there was utterly brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone. I stayed in St Anton, there are some ski in/out places, more in Lech but Lech seems to be full of people full of self importance and the skiing is better in St Anton. The snow in Lech is legendary though.

I'm seriously thinking about St Anton, I loved everything about the place. The problem is that it's so pricey. I booked with a TO last time, fantastic location but the prices seemed to have shot up. Have you any tips on going DIY?

You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control, flights are easy to book it is accommodation which is the problem, there are still some good old boys who have not sold out yet but you will have to search for them.
On the other hand as TonyH was saying that the TO's were pulling out of some resorts so accommodation may be more readily available :lol: :lol:

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:11:07 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control, flights are easy to book it is accommodation which is the problem, there are still some good old boys who have not sold out yet but you will have to search for them.
On the other hand as TonyH was saying that the TO's were pulling out of some resorts so accommodation may be more readily available :lol: :lol:

Totally disagree ,,I have had no trouble sorting out accommodation privately all over the continent...its only us Brits that don't do it and rely on tour operators

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:20:46 GMT

daved wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control, flights are easy to book it is accommodation which is the problem, there are still some good old boys who have not sold out yet but you will have to search for them.
On the other hand as TonyH was saying that the TO's were pulling out of some resorts so accommodation may be more readily available :lol: :lol:

Totally disagree ,,I have had no trouble sorting out accommodation privately all over the continent...its only us Brits that don't do it and rely on tour operators

What part do you disagree with ?

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:29:50 GMT

"You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control,"

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:44:01 GMT

daved wrote:"You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control,"

The point I was making is popular resorts for example St Anton are controlled by the various TO's, although it is not a resort that I have had experience of it is heavily promoted by the TO's so accommodation
is brought up heavily in the resort, making it harder not impossible for the independent traveller to book quality accommodation. There is always accommodation available my point still is that you have to search a little bit harder to find it. 8)

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:32:32 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

daved wrote:"You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control,"

The point I was making is popular resorts for example St Anton are controlled by the various TO's, although it is not a resort that I have had experience of it is heavily promoted by the TO's so accommodation
is brought up heavily in the resort, making it harder not impossible for the independent traveller to book quality accommodation. There is always accommodation available my point still is that you have to search a little bit harder to find it. 8)

That is absolutely right Ian.

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:56:53 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

daved wrote:"You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control,"

The point I was making is popular resorts for example St Anton are controlled by the various TO's, although it is not a resort that I have had experience of it is heavily promoted by the TO's so accommodation
is brought up heavily in the resort, making it harder not impossible for the independent traveller to book quality accommodation. There is always accommodation available my point still is that you have to search a little bit harder to find it. 8)

It's not very hard, most of Europe don't use tour operators, they just pick the phone up and book. I suspect the problems people from the UK experience are more to do with language than anything else.

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:10:42 GMT

ise wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

daved wrote:"You might struggle with DIY anywhere TO's are in control,"

The point I was making is popular resorts for example St Anton are controlled by the various TO's, although it is not a resort that I have had experience of it is heavily promoted by the TO's so accommodation
is brought up heavily in the resort, making it harder not impossible for the independent traveller to book quality accommodation. There is always accommodation available my point still is that you have to search a little bit harder to find it. 8)

It's not very hard, most of Europe don't use tour operators, they just pick the phone up and book. I suspect the problems people from the UK experience are more to do with language than anything else.

I guess that is partially right ise, although there are translation sites which allow email communication.

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:55:11 GMT

Having tried to arrange a DIY skiing holiday in the past the problem seems to come when booking the larger hotels which, as Ian says, tend to be booked up by the TOs.

Many smaller hotels and guest houses can be found on the Internet but you are taking a gamble unless they come with a personal recommendation. Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.co.uk) is good for getting an honest opinion on a hotel.

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:26:59 GMT

Snow Time wrote:Having tried to arrange a DIY skiing holiday in the past the problem seems to come when booking the larger hotels which, as Ian says, tend to be booked up by the TOs.

I think you're mistaken in thinking that English Tour Operators are anything other a minority in most ski stations, particularly in places like St Anton.

Snow Time wrote:Many smaller hotels and guest houses can be found on the Internet but you are taking a gamble unless they come with a personal recommendation. Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.co.uk) is good for getting an honest opinion on a hotel.

It's no doubt a great resource but it's pretty inadequate in terms of coverage. My experience with user reviews of hotels and ski stations is that some are fairly comical, some are pretty clearly spam by the owners or operators and many are just from people with amazingly odd perspectives while the journalist reviews clearly reflect who paid for the freebie they were on.

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:12:59 GMT

ise wrote:I think you're mistaken in thinking that English Tour Operators are anything other a minority in most ski stations, particularly in places like St Anton

I wasn't talking about any nation's tour operators, only tour operators in general. If you enquire about room availability, either by telephone or online, at larger hotels in any ski resort in Austria, France or Switzerland you will find very few (including St Anton because I have just tried 3 hotels).

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:55:32 GMT

Snow Time wrote:

ise wrote:I think you're mistaken in thinking that English Tour Operators are anything other a minority in most ski stations, particularly in places like St Anton

I wasn't talking about any nation's tour operators, only tour operators in general. If you enquire about room availability, either by telephone or online, at larger hotels in any ski resort in Austria, France or Switzerland you will find very few (including St Anton because I have just tried 3 hotels).

Using Tour Operators to go skiing is generally a UK thing, the rest of Europe don't do it to the same extent. Finding a hotel or pension for ski trips just isn't a problem for the rest of Europe. I'm sure you did have a problem, people in UK frequently report having problems, the fact you might all be picking the same tiny fraction of accommodation using things like tripadvisor or the ski guides might go a long to explaining why that is.

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:20:17 GMT

I did it myself when I met Tony and his posse in St. Anton at New Year, I also got some accomodation too )
Really not difficult these days with t'internet and such. Type St. Anton into google and off you trot, pop really.

I have to agree with the overall sentiment though, there is a lot to St. Anton and whilst not cheap, it is a location likely to please most, which is invaluable.

Re:Where to go next?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:36:50 GMT

tino_11 wrote:I did it myself when I met Tony and his posse in St. Anton.

Yeah man, innit.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:55:06 GMT

tino_11 wrote:I
Really not difficult these days with t'internet and such. Type St. Anton into google and off you trot, pop really.

all there 2 pages back...and why worry about the language..most,if not all , the hotels have staff that speak English

They might not be that efficient mind you or too hot on replying to emails ..but that seems par for the course,,,and if you get really stuck phone the tourist office for the resort...

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:05:25 GMT

daved wrote:

tino_11 wrote:I
Really not difficult these days with t'internet and such. Type St. Anton into google and off you trot, pop really.

all there 2 pages back...and why worry about the language..most,if not all , the hotels have staff that speak English

They might not be that efficient mind you or too hot on replying to emails ..but that seems par for the course,,,and if you get really stuck phone the tourist office for the resort...

This is a personal preference, but I always translate my emails into the receiving language, a sign of respect more than any thing else.... 8)

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:15:53 GMT

yes, I agree....but they don't reply to those either!...or when they do reply to your carefully crafted German they reply in English..

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:52:40 GMT

daved wrote:yes, I agree....but they don't reply to those either!...or when they do reply to your carefully crafted German they reply in English..

As you have previously read I do not really go to Austria, but the French and the Italians are still up for making a few bob, never had an email not replied to, when I was organizing my last trip to Switzerland all the hotels replied, I guess I'm just lucky, or is that another reason you have just given me for not going to Austria. :lol: :shock: :lol: :shock:

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:34:50 GMT

daved wrote:yes, I agree....but they don't reply to those either!...or when they do reply to your carefully crafted German they reply in English..

Thats funny, as all my correspondence with hotels in Austria has previously been undertaken in German.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:43:35 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:
This is a personal preference, but I always translate my emails into the receiving language, a sign of respect more than any thing else.... 8)

That's OK if you do speak the language, if you're running through Google translator or Babelfish etc then it's not a great idea, they produce such horrible langue it's nearly impossible to read.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:51:44 GMT

ise wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:
This is a personal preference, but I always translate my emails into the receiving language, a sign of respect more than any thing else.... 8)

That's OK if you do speak the language, if you're running through Google translator or Babelfish etc then it's not a great idea, they produce such horrible langue it's nearly impossible to read.

Agreed it is not the perfect translation, and I would not want to translate anything for business using babelfish, but it suffices for a holiday booking.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:02:24 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:
Agreed it is not the perfect translation, and I would not want to translate anything for business using babelfish, but it suffices for a holiday booking.

It really, really doesn't, they produce language that's nearly unreadable and it's always obvious where it's come from. If you can do a greeting and sign-off in the host language that's going to look just fine, forcing someone to decode what ends up as nonsense speak can be irritating.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:02:46 GMT

I use Babelfish quite a lot, and it seems to do the job quite adequately so long as you pay attention to the structure and content of your sentences.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:09:25 GMT

If you are using free translations or something with limited knowledge of (in my case German) grammar and wording then it can produce pretty useful stuff but from my limited knowledge I can see that a straight translation from the website just looks odd. For example if you get your translation and then put it through a German-->English translator the difference is quite remarkable.

Edit: Pretty much what bandit said^^ too slow!!

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:11:13 GMT

ise wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:
Agreed it is not the perfect translation, and I would not want to translate anything for business using babelfish, but it suffices for a holiday booking.

It really, really doesn't, they produce language that's nearly unreadable and it's always obvious where it's come from. If you can do a greeting and sign-off in the host language that's going to look just fine, forcing someone to decode what ends up as nonsense speak can be irritating.

I have always used the babelfish, when I have translated stuff from French to english, It is not perfect but it is readable.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:28:04 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:
I have always used the babelfish, when I have translated stuff from French to english, It is not perfect but it is readable.

I've heard that said before. What perplexes me is if the person who says that speaks the other language well enough to judge how readable it is then why do they need to use Bablefish to start with? :lol:

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:35:15 GMT

ise wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:
I have always used the babelfish, when I have translated stuff from French to english, It is not perfect but it is readable.

I've heard that said before. What perplexes me is if the person who says that speaks the other language well enough to judge how readable it is then why do they need to use Bablefish to start with? :lol:

ise don't get perplexed over it , it is just how I cope with my ignorance of not learning another language.

Re:Where to go next?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:19:24 GMT

Microsoft Outlook has a handy feature these days, highlight the foreign text then right click the mouse and choose translate, it uses online translation to give an immediate impression of what you are reading. Of course it comes up with nonsense sometimes, but I have seen a marked improvement in the last 5 years. The problem translating out of German into English is the fact that it is very commonplace even in German business to create lengthy compound nouns which are constantly evoloving, so there may be no translation available, once the translator loses a word it also loses the grammatical composition of the sentence it is in, hence it also thrown by bad spelling.

This being said, very handy feature when you recieve over 60 emails a day in German on top of an equivilent amount in English.

I use the Ise method of doing my best pleasantries in German when booking, but if I have a complex point that I cant quite get down in German, I trust their English is better and use that. If they want to use a translator to ensure business, I feel quite confident they will.