Advice on how to choose a chalet for a family ski holiday is essential if you have never done it before.
With young ones in tow, there are so many different elements that you need to consider that may not have been a factor to you in your ski holidays before.
Flight Times
While you might be happy to save a few pounds by taking a very early or very late flight, will that fit into your children’s sleeping plans?
Some children have no problem at all going to bed later than usual, but many parents know the horrors of the ‘over-tired’ child.
You may sometimes find it’s worth paying more to travel during the day, rather than at the crack of dawn or on the ‘red eye’.
Transfer Time
A vital aspect to consider is the transfer time from the airport.
Only you will know how your brood travel, but bear in mind that you will be in a coach or possibly a mini-bus when you travel from the airport to resort.
If your children don’t travel well, a long transfer such as Geneva to Val d’Isere or Tignes certainly isn’t going to work as well as a short transfer such as Geneva to Morzine or Chatel.
Room Layout
Once you’ve picked a suitable resort, you need to find a chalet that works for you. Some chalets and chalet hotels have family rooms that can accommodate four or more.
Most rooms, however, are for two. So depending on the age of your children, you may want to ensure that your rooms are next to each other, or at least on the same floor.
The team at Chaletline.co.uk can help you with the specialist knowledge, or in many cases, you can view floorplans for each chalet on our website.
Chalet Location
If your children are taking ski school lessons, you will want to be sure of the location of the chalet relative to the ski school meeting point.
If it’s within walking distance you need to be mindful that when you are carrying your children’s skis as well as your own, even a short distance can be a challenge!
Ironically, sometimes a chalet that is further away can actually be more suitable if it’s served by one of the many excellent in-resort bus services, or if your chalet company run their own minibus transfers, as many do.
Family friendly resort
Of course, it doesn’t matter what your chalet is like if you are not in a family friendly ski resort.
You need to ensure that it ticks the right boxes for your children, whether they are beginners, intermediates or advanced – as well as for you.
Kindergarden and Childcare
Some companies offer specialist childcare. This can be for pre-school children, or wrap-around childcare that includes taking children to and collecting them from ski school.
Specialist advice from Chaletline.co.uk
Whatever your requirements, we can make the search easier for you.
Just give our team a call on 01822 617 761 and we’ll use our specialist knowledge of hundreds of chalets to find the right match for you.
Article By Iain Martin