Family skiing

Many avid skiers will already be aware that skiing with other members of your family can be the best of times – It’s a chance for you to experience being away in the mountains whilst enjoying some quality time with other members of your family and doing something active at the same time, and it's also the holiday your kids will always want to come back on, even when they are teenagers and grown-ups!

I first took my kids skiing when they were aged 4 and 7, and we have been lucky enough to take them most years since then, apart from the two seasons that were most significantly affected by the pandemic. Now aged 12 and 15, both can ski well after learning in Baqueira and Montgenèvre and having had several weeks of lessons, and we are now reaping the benefits of being able to ski together as a family.

All our resorts are well-suited to a family ski trip, and our chalet-hotels have family rooms that can accommodate at least 4 people, meaning that you can all stay together in the same room if you wish to. The advantage of this is that we offer a room-sharing discount for any third/fourth/fifth person in the room. However, if you don’t wish to share a room with your children then you also have the option of taking separate rooms, and in some of our chalet-hotels we also have ‘family suites’, which offer adjoining rooms with shared bathroom facilities, and these can work very well for a family group.

FAMILY DISCOUNTS

To help families, we offer discounts for any 3rd, 4th or 5th sharers in a multi-occupancy family room, these are as follows:

- £100 discount for adults (ages 16+).
- £150 discount for children aged 4-15.
- £200 discount for anyone sleeping on a fold out bed (instead of the above).
- A 50% discount on the package price for children aged 2-3.
- For infants under 2 years old, they will not normally need to occupy a seat on the flights, or a bed in the chalet-hotel, and so we simply charge a fixed price of £50.

Depending on their age, children will usually also benefit from cheaper lift passes and equipment rental prices in resort, rates will vary depending on your destination.

Our hand-picked resorts are generally lesser-known to the British ski market, and the advantage of this is that they are less busy than most of the big-name resorts, which is quite a crucial factor if you are restricted to taking ski trips during school holiday periods as they are often the busiest times of the season, so less people in the resort in general means less time queuing for lifts and more time on the pistes.

All our resorts also offer cheaper lift passes for children, which means it is cheaper for your children to go skiing, and some of our resorts also do family lift pass offers as well. Our best resorts for beginners are Baqueira in Spain and Montgenèvre in France, as they both have excellent learner slopes, and it is also quite easy to graduate from these to some cruisy green and blue runs once they are starting to feel a little more confident. All our resorts also have very good ski schools with English-speaking instructors, which can help younger skiers and snowboarders to find their snow legs more quickly.

The Tannenburg is our own chalet-hotel and we believe it's the only one in the Gastein valley offering inclusive holidays, making it a good-value find. It is centrally located in the heart of Bad Gastein, in a quiet spot just below the top level of the village, so it's convenient for the ski slopes, the local shops and the thermal spa baths.

In keeping with its stunning surroundings, the Rosa is a traditionally-built Swiss chalet-hotel, which is owned by Ski Miquel and located right in the heart of Lauterbrunnen village. Originally built in 1658, it was renovated for us in 2006, and to typically high Swiss standards.

Located in an excellent position in the heart of Montgenèvre, less than a minute's walk from the main front and only 175m from the Parial chairlift, the Elise has a spacious lounge with a bar and a large separate dining room. It offers a selection of twin, triple and family rooms, and is ideal for large groups or smaller parties.

Exterior shot of the Chalet-Hotel Lucille

Brilliantly located, in a quiet position in the heart of Montgenèvre and only a few minutes’ walk from the lifts and main village centre, the Lucille boasts a spacious lounge with a bar and a large separate dining room. The bar is always well-stocked, and the prices are cheaper than elsewhere in the resort.

The Christina is our own chalet-hotel in Saalbach village. It has a great central location, a light and airy feel and has recently been renovated to the usual Ski Miquel standard. It has a large, open lounge with comfy sofas, a separate dining room, and the cheapest bar in town!

The Charlotte is owned by Ski Miquel and has a charming picture-postcard feel. A one-time monastery and then a family home, it has since been converted to a chalet-hotel, and it is owned by Ski Miquel. Our guests love its historic character and cosy ambience, with its original stonework ceilings and timber beams, whilst the bedrooms are light and airy.

However, it is not only the kids that can benefit from skiing with you – Many of our guests also like to ski with their parents as well as their children, so we often take families away on our holidays with three generations of skiers in their group, and it can create very special memories if the grandparents are able to ski with their grandchildren. Even if the grandparents have decided to hang up their ski boots and no longer wish to ski, all our resorts have lots of other activities as well, which means that any non-skiers can still enjoy being away in the mountains with the rest of their family. For example, why not try the thermal spa baths in Bad Gastein or Serre Chevalier, or the 'Monty Luge' run in Montgenèvre.

Another benefit of our ski holidays is the communal nature of our chalet-hotels, as our guests all eat together at mealtimes, and they can also ski together as well if they wish to join our ski hosting groups. This creates a very sociable atmosphere, and we often find during the school holiday weeks that kids from different families will make friends and spend time in our chalet-hotels chatting or playing together, which means the parents can then take time to enjoy a slice of cake with their afternoon tea, or a pre-dinner drink at the bar!

We currently still have some availability for most of the school holiday weeks, at Christmas, New Year, February Half Term, and the Easter weeks in April. We are also running the pre-Christmas week in some of our resorts, which can be a very cost-effective week if you are wanting to go on holiday in December, depending upon when the children are due to finish school. All our prices are available to view on our website, and please feel free to contact us if you would like to check our remaining availability, or if you would like some advice on the best resort to choose for your family ski trip.