February half term school holidays is the most popular time of the year to bundle the family onto a plane and head off to a nice ski resort somewhere in Europe for some fun in the snow. It’s also traditionally the busiest time of the season….and the most expensive.
So this year we tried something a little more low budget and away from the mainstream resorts throughout France, Italy and Austria, and we headed for the Czech Republic!
A little village about a 2 hour drive North of Prague called Spindleruv Mlyn was our chosen destination after doing our research on the net. We were taking this resort completely at face value as we didn’t know anyone who had visited there before. There are other options for skiing in the Czech republic and a quick Google search will soon get you into the right websites to explore what’s best for you, but Spindleruv Mlyn looked family friendly, well equipped and quick enough to get to.
After a 2 ½ hour flight out of Gatwick to Prague we picked up the hire car from the airport and headed off to the resort. Flights to Prague are operated by several airlines, and there are options of early afternoon flights which means not being up at 5am struggling down to the airport with tired unhappy kids.
As you can imagine the Czech Republic is an extremely old country with some stunning architecture dating back hundreds of years. Prague has an old town and a new development. Although we didn’t spend very long in Prague, (this is a ski holiday remember), we did briefly tour the old town which was interesting to see. If you have time to spend in Prague then there are plenty of landmarks to visit such as the old St. Vitus Cathedral and the famous Charles Bridge.
Spindleruv Mlyn- Esplanade Apartments
Arriving at Spindleruv Mlyn, we drove through the resort centre which at first impressions was a very picturesque small town that was well supplied with plenty of restaurants catering for different cuisines from local food to Italian, Mexican and even a Kabab take away. There was a selection of shops, a large aqua park swimming pool for the kids and a tourist office with money changing facility. Incidentally, the Czech Republic use their own currency, the Koruna, but some restaurants and shops will accept Euros. Make sure you check you can pay the bill with the correct currency before ordering, as we discovered, some restaurants are cash only.
Right in the middle of the town was a chair lift situated in the large carpark which was free parking, to get you quickly up into the mountain to start your day’s skiing and boarding.
We stayed at the Esplanade Apartments which was just a 5 minute drive out of the town and close to another ski lift station which also hosted the main kids ski school area, restaurants and ski hire.
We were welcomed by the hotel owner / manager with a complementary drink by the open fire in the restaurant lounge area. The kids were immediately at home amusing themselves with the selection of toys and games available for them to use…..this was definitely a child friendly hotel.
The hotel itself is a 4 star rated accommodation which is very modern and well kept. The apartments are very large with a kitchenette if you want to cook your own food, and separate bathroom. There is everything you would expect from a 4 star hotel including excellent free WIFI, satellite TV boot room etc.
The food on offer in the hotel restaurant was excellent. In my opinion, well above a 4 star rating. There was a large range of dishes on offer, and anything could be prepared for you to your satisfaction. Mike, the hotel manager, spoke perfect English and was happy to help you with any request we had, or offer his local knowledge and advice on the area, ski facilities and things to do.
The atmosphere was very cosy and relaxed, where you could fully enjoy your stay and feel like you were well and truly on holiday!
Skiing facilities and conditions
The snow conditions are relatively good on the mountain. We had fresh snow every day when we were there, however it wasn’t particularly cold which meant the top surface was quite soft and a bit slushy making it difficult and lumpy on the lower slopes once there had been a couple of hours skiing. Check out InTheSnow – https://www.youtube.com/c/inthesnowmag for the latest ski reports.
From 740 – 1310 m above sea level, skiers, snow-boarders and telemarkers will find top prepared ski down-hill runs with all levels of ability with together 25 km and 5 chair lifts and 11 T-bars lifts with the total capacity 20 000 skiers per hour await you.
With only one ski pass, take advantage of more than 25 km downhill slopes, 95% under snowmaking offers a top quality for all skiers covering the 3 different resorts of Spindleruv Mlyn (St. Peter, Medvedin, Horni Misecky).
The resort Spindleruv Mlyn is popular among the snowboarders thanks to two snowparks and one halfpipe.
Spindleruv Mlyn also offers 100 km of daily mainteined tracks for cross – country skiers.
For the kids….there are daily ski school lessons beginning in the kids club park and the progressing onto the slopes when they are ready. The ski school catered for all ages from 3 years up.
Costs and service
On the whole, the Czech Republic is quite cheap in comparison to the more main stream European resorts. We booked all our own flights, accommodation, ski and car hire etc without going through an agent for a package as that gives us the full flexibility we like. However there are packages available for this region if you search for them online.
Eating and drinking was quite reasonable. Around 80 pence for a glass of beer, (1/2 pint), and on average around £10 to £15 for an adults main meal. An adults ski lesson for 4 hours was £12 and the kids lessons were around £8 for 2 x 2 hour sessions.
On the whole the service you receive is very friendly and helpful. Most of the locals can speak at least enough English to get through a conversation…..there are also a lot of German speakers there if that helps.
The quality of our accommodation was excellent, and every meal we had either in the hotel of in the town was extremely good.
If you really want to ski on a tight budget, then there are options here for accommodation as low as 8 euros a night. Check out http://www.spindleruv-mlyn.com/en/ for deals and options.
To sum up…
On the whole we really give Spindleruv Mlyn the big thumbs up. The kids loved it and were happy and entertained from start to finish. It’s quick and easy to get there, and you feel very welcomed and relaxed whilst you are there. If you are the sort of skier or boarded who likes to cover a lot of distance and variety in your day on the mountain, then maybe this might not be as challenging as you would like and you’d be better suited to a higher and larger resort; But if like us, you wanted to introduce the kids to skiing and do it on a budget then take a look at this region as it has a lot to offer!