Ski holidays do come in different shapes and sizes, and it’s very personal what is going to suit you best.  Here we explore the main types of ski holiday and some of the pros and cons of each.

Catered Chalets

Chalet holidays come in different shapes and sizes, but generally you are either booking a whole chalet as a group, or you are joining a chalet that will likely have other combination of couples or families already staying there.

Catered chalets means exactly what it says on the tin, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed there is food glorious food (and drink).  In the main you will get breakfast, afternoon tea and cake and a hearty evening meal with wine and beers and usually a very reasonable honesty bar.

You will likely have chalet hosts that live on or nearby that will wait on you hand and foot from tidying up, cleaning, cooking and making beds etc.  Sometimes you will have an in chalet chef and sometimes its the chalet hosts cooking, but fear not, these guys have been trained to the hilt and you are assured of coming back carrying a few more pounds whichever way it goes!

You can hang out in the chalet all day, after all it is your home for the week and usually the chalet staff wont be there for much of the day and out of town chalets will usually come with a means of getting you into town and back of an evening.

It’s normal for chalet staff to have a Wednesday evening off and this means its your time to get out and try out the local cuisine…but book early because every chalet is in the same boat!

Self Catered Chalets

Self catered chalets are not quite so common, but can be found and offer the benefits of your own accommodation but the flexibility of cooking and looking after yourself.  This works well if you have groups of varying aged children that may be trickier to feed at differing times of the day or for those that prefer to eat out in the resort.

Whole Chalet Bookings

Booking a whole chalet means you are in control, you aren’t walking around in your long johns in front of strangers and you wont have other people coming back making a noise when you are trying to sleep.

It also means you might be able to more influential over food timings and menus, so this is a great way to go.

Joining a Chalet

Whilst is might feel odd joining a chalet that likely has other people staying there, this can be a whole lot of fun.  In the end of the day you all share a passion, so instantly you do have a connection.  This can work very well enabling you to hook up with similar level skiers, dine out with new friends or arrange activities together if it suits.  equally nobody expects you to become instant friends, so even if its just a few laughs around the table for evening meals then ski in your own group during the day, thats equally a great benefit of being in a shared chalet.

Hotel

Staying in a hotel is always nice, you wake up, leave your bed unmade and have breakfast laid out ready for you p- but then you can get all that in a chalet too, so what does a hotel bring to the party.

Staff and facilities in abundance is usually the name of the game when it comes to hotels, spas, relax areas, games zones, large pools, bar and restaurants, I’ve even come across bowling alleys…you name it they have often got it…so its fair to say that most chalets don’t offer the extensive facilities and staffing that hotels offer.

Obviously this is dependent on your personal preferences, but if you are in a group, you generally don’t have such a great chill out zone like you do with a chalet, and once dinner is over, you are either paying bar prices or you are all in bed.

Chalet Hotel

These are also popular, they are like a hotel but smaller usually 20-30 rooms, so you almost get the best of both worlds.  they tend not to have the extensive facilities of the larger hotels, but you can find you make some new ski friends quickly without being put together in such a small intimate environment.

Self Catering

Going self catered is great because you control what and when you eat and you can keep one eye on the budget.

Every resort has at least one supermarket in or very nearby, so stocking up on food and drink is very simple and it also means you can make yourself a packed lunch with no problem, therefore saving during the ski day too!

All self catered apartments and chalets come with all the usual cooking facilities and crockery, just check in advance, if you can, anything that’s missing that you might need to take!

With Friends

Skiing with a group of friends is really nice, it means there are more options to ski with somebody of your own level, or even take a non ski day shopping, snow shooing or lazing in the hot tub!

It also means you are more likely to have a group big enough to rent a full chalet and that too brings its own benefits.