First Family skiing holiday- Ski Family Company or Famille Ski or Whistler

[40isarriving]

We are thinking of going to Ardent with FSC or Les Gets with Famille Ski. I can't decide between them, has anyone any experience with either company? Alternatively we are looking at Canada Whistler. Has anyone been with young children, mine are 6 & 4 & haven't skied before (neither has my husband!) & if so who did you travel with & what ski school/ childcare did you use. We are looking at going at the end of Jan 2013. Any advice would be appreciated.

[SummerLightning]

Not used either but from experience the jet lag is a killer in Canada with small kids (admittedly mine were 2.5 and 10mo at the time!) so unfortunately I would rule out whistler unless going for 2 weeks. Whistler is awesome though.

[juneau]

We went to Les Gets with Ski Famille in March. It was a good first experience of family skiing and Les Gets is a great little resort for families. The skiing is intermediate (very little that's challenging), but good nursery slopes for kids and lots of wide, blue groomers for timid adults. Ski Famille provides all childcare and we used 360 ski school, which was good.

I second the jet lag issue with Canada (8 hour time difference!), and I don't see the point in going all the way over there when there's so much good skiing to be had in the Alps - particularly if three of you are complete beginners.

[IDismyname]

Although I hear that Whistler is amazing, I'd be tempted to head for The Alps with kids that age. Wait until they're a bit bigger to see if they like skiing and then head off to Canada and you know that all they'll have to deal with is the jet lag. It'll be cheaper that way...

PS Suggest Mark Warner skiing. You can't go wrong...

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

We've been to Ardent with FSC and will be going again in January.

We've always been very impressed with the company and the skiing. It's an easy transfer from Geneva too which is a bonus

[40isarriving]

Thanks everyone. I think you are all right on the jet lag we will stick with the Alps. I haven't looked at Mark Warner but will check then out, any suggestions on what resort/ accomodation with them. Seems like both FSC & Ski Famille are good companies so guess I will just have to toss a coin.

[40isarriving]

IwishIwasmoreorganised can you tell me what chalet you have stayed at. Maybe we will see you there!

[40isarriving]

Juneau what chalet did you stay at & what as the food like. IwishIwasmoreorganised what was the food like & is it really free flowing wine (not that I actually drink that much with 2 small kids). FSC are holding an offer for me until Tuesday so have to make our minds up before then. Thanks for your input, if it was just me I would probably just make a decision but as this will be the holiday that makes my husband & kids decide if they want to ski every year (& i really want them too) then I want to get it right.

[IDismyname]

40 - we've done many skiing holidays with Mark Warner and a few with Ski Esprit. Mark Warner def more expensive, but Ski Esprit has excellent childcare (but horrid food for adults). You pays your money....

Over the years, we've done MW in Corcheval (Dahu) twice, and MW in Val D'Isere (Hotel le Val D'Isere) twice, too. About to try La Plagne at NY with them.

Ski Esprit we've done in Chamonix and Tignes (Hotel le Lac or similar)

[juneau]

Marjorie - the food was amazing and Andy (the chef), is a very nice guy. I have a friend who stayed at the other select one up the hill (Les Chats Bleus maybe?) and she said it was lovely. Marjorie is in a good location (you can walk to everything), and it's very spacious. I think Les Chats is a bit more cosy.

[scrappydappydoo]

Can I tag a question onto this - i would love to take my two skiing (similar ages to op) but we are quite unsociable (in a nice not rude way) so I hate the idea of a chalet with enforced socializing. Can anyone suggest a good alternative? We've done self-catered apartments pre-dc but obviously we have extra considerations now.

[40isarriving]

The family ski company has a chalet called the cosy that is just for one family so that may suit. I looked at is for the four of us but decided I wanted other children around for company for mine. Take a look on their website.

[jicky]

Just to give a different view.

The jet lag in Canada is not so bad and more than made up for by the short lift lines, empty slopes and teaching in English.

We started taking ours at 6months, 3 & 5 going for 10 days to Silver Star/Big White and Sunshine. You can rent ski in/ski out condos and then self cater/eat out/get meals to cook delivered.

I think the reason ours love skiing so much is because the first experiences were so positive. We have not been to Whistler but imagine it is as simple to book independently as the places we use.

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

Sorry, been camping for the weekend!

We've stayed in les grolets and the food has generally been of a very good standard. Wine has been available from kids tea time until bed time just about (just make sure you ask for more as you're finishing dessert!!)

[BeachMum3]

We have also stayed in Grolets 3 times (and with FSC in Saas Fee too), we are off to Les Coches this year, still with FSC, so can highly recommend them.

The wine is free flowing (as much as you can drink!), and the food has always been delicious. The childcare is also amazing, the staff can't do too much for you and the kids have a fantastic time, mine often don't want to come out of kids club when we go to pick them up early!

Grolets also has a hot tub which is a real bonus after a long day on the slopes - we usually went in after kids tea (with kids) before putting them to bed.

[greygirl]

scrappy - we go with snowbizz where the accomodation is in self catered flats (there is a restaurant that can provide a 'half board plan' if desired) and that is fab for us (i am also an antisocial git)
peak retreats will also sort out self catering accomodation and passes/lessons etc in france.
you could try the big tour operators and stay in a bigger hotel - less pressure to socialise as not quite so intimate.

[scrappydappydoo]

Thanks - will have a look at all of those..

[MorzineKids]

Hi there, I saw your post and thought i'd give you a little advise. I live in Morzine, France. I totally understand you not wanting to share accomodation. There are other alternatives for child care when on a ski holiday. Lots of childcare companies have nannies that come to your holiday accommodation, with toys, arts and crafts, face paints etc to entertain the children whilst your out having a fab time on the mountain. Also they will take the children to the park, iceskating, swimming etc and ensure that they are having a great time too. Also if you do a little research, many winter resorts have local nurseries, which tend to be a little cheaper, that in the Winter have separate areas for children who are in resort on holiday. Hope this helps :)

[MorzineKids]

Hi there, I saw your post and thought i'd give you a little advise. I live in Morzine, France. I totally understand you not wanting to share accomodation. There are other alternatives for child care when on a ski holiday. Lots of childcare companies have nannies that come to your holiday accommodation, with toys, arts and crafts, face paints etc to entertain the children whilst your out having a fab time on the mountain. Also they will take the children to the park, iceskating, swimming etc and ensure that they are having a great time too. Also if you do a little research, many winter resorts have local nurseries, which tend to be a little cheaper, that in the Winter have separate areas for children who are in resort on holiday. Hope this helps :)

[Mummyinthedark]

Just caught up with this. If you search you will find an older thread about Ski Famille in Les Gets. We stayed in Marjorie a couple of seasons ago. Hosts and chef were both great as others have said...but we were not bowled over with the nanny team, have had better childcare with other operators.

[Mummyinthedark]

if you search on here you can probably dig up a thread from a year or so back on Ski Famille in Les Gets.
We stayed in Marjorie a couple of years ago. Hosts and chef, are, as others said here, really excellent...but we were not very impressed with the childcare team and how they operate. Other operators have been better on this part of the service.
Good luck!

[HarrogateMum]

We have used both companies. We went to Les Gets with Ski Famille in 2011 and it was great, I don't think they do the chalet we stayed at anymore, it was the Petit Pierre. Childcare was marvellous and food fab.

We then went to Ardent with FSC this year, booking process was great, childcare again was great, especially liked the fact that they have some of the team ski along with the kids at the ESF classes instead of just throwing them in there! Only downside was that we had booked two chalets as we were a large group, me and my family were in the smaller one and everyone else in the larger one (three other families), they had their breakfast cooked for them every day, we didn't and the evening food was not great. I think it may have been the luck of the draw though, am not suggesting that that is the norm for them. Also we had some safety concerns with young children around and a trapdoor being left open to the cellar!

[Spottyribbon]

We have been with Family Ski several times and can't fault the childcare. Food has also been of a great standard in both smaller and larger chalets, so will be booking up again.

[CDNmomma]

Bit of an old thread, but have just come across it so wanted to offer my 2 cents worth...
Yes, Whistler is a 10hr flight away, but it is the no. 1 Ski resort in North America for a reason! We go every year, skipped last year as baby girl was born in Dec but are going back this year...she will be 14 months.
For kids, whistler is amazing the instructors are great the mountain is empty compare to the Alps and the village has absolutely everything you need. No need to worry about altitude either.
The jet lag isn't that bad, sounds worse than it is.
...I may be biased I am Canadian, but had never been to Whistler or any other resort for that matter until I moved to UK 8.5 years ago!!