Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Review of Flaine

27th February 2006 by cliff mcelhinney 

What can I say, it was exactly as predicted. An absolute eyesore with nothing of any interest off slope. The skiing however was amazing. Great snow and plenty of well marked blues and reds to keep us happy.With young children in a mixed ability group it was perfect.
One point I must take up with you, Flaine is marketed as a great resort for kids., I must clarify that, if you have skiing kids over 4 years fine, We also had our 2 year old in a buggy and shared childcare with adults in our group. The resort is a morgue for anyone not skiing, no play areas available for infants and no real outlet for adults not skiing either. (shops etc…almost non existent).Alpe d’huez (where we were last year) is better suited to skiing/non skiing parents and infants.
The appts. at hameau were fabulous (best yet!) but again be careful…nowhere in the brochure did it mention duplex appt. or stairs….again a big problem with our very mobile 2 year old son!!
bus service from hameau is good, but only runs to flaine foret, so you need to get off the bus to get lift to forum. Our kids where not able to ski down first few days. Nightmare with kids,skis,poles and baby!!
hameau itself is pretty but again nothing to do!! The shop/restaurant/bar/skihire is all in one building and convenient to accommodation. The bar has lovely ambience, log fire ,great views and fantastically friendly staff, but very expensive. Restaurant too very good food, but very dear. I thought it very good, other 3 adults in our party thought it overpriced. You could not eat out there every night of the week, be warned!
Shop limited range but again friendly staff will order items for you. Could not get over the friendliness of staff at hameau…very refreshing for france.
As for the slopes…fantastic skiing. plus run CRISTAL from the top is fabulous and well within capabilities of most 3rd week skiers, petit balachat was also great for skiing with my 6 year old son, who loved diving in and out of the trees.
we used ESI for private lessons. Great instructor for skiing, all 3 kids have come on amazingly, HOWEVER the instructor let my son and 10 y.o. cousin ride chairlift together and did not tell them how to get off or the need to pull down safety bar. luckily they survived, this may explain why he disappeared 10 minutes before lesson ended, leaving a 10,6 and 5 year old to fend for themselves until our own private lesson was over. NOT IMPRESSED. the overall standard of instruction was hit and miss. 3 instructors…2 good, one indifferent which is the first time i have ever been disappointed with either esi/esf private lessons.
overall loved flaine skiing but resort itself very depressing. Alpe d’huez has the edge for more to do in resort, especially with young kids. The runs may not be as pretty but it was a better holiday all round. As for flaine , we will be back when 1. the kids are older (over 6) and 2. intrawest get flaine montsoleil built!!

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