Brown Bear Lodge - a more luxurious option.....

Brown Bear Lodge is part of the Reach for the Alps portfolio of chalets.  These offer Luxury accommodation in and around the Les Gets resorts.  Brown Bear lodge and some of the other accommodation offer short stay options during certain dates in the season.  Offers include, Full Board inc wine, Geneva transfers and a Portes du Soleil Ski pass int he price.  For the 2011/2012 season prices for a short stay start from £495 per person.  Not one of our bargain recommendations, but if you are after something a little more luxurious then one of the best options around.

https://reach4thealps.com/Winter/brown-bear.php

Apologies

Sorry for the recent lack of updates. Work has taken over in the last few weeks. Hope to be back online with the latest short break news from next week.

Skiweekenders

SnowCarbon - the green way to go skiing

For those of you looking for a more environmentally conscious way to go skiing, SkiWeekenders has stumbled across a great website covering all you could ever want to know about going skiing by train!!!  http://www.snowcarbon.co.uk/ offers advice, online booking with all of the major operators across Europe, resort reviews, and easy to read guides on how best to travel by train to some of the best resorts in Europe.

The site is easy to use, and provides plenty of advice on the best options and routes.  The Resort guides are independent and well written and include train specific ski packages which are available for each of the resorts.

Travelling by train is a great option if you are going for a longer trip, but I'm sure with SnowCarbon making it this easy it could become a viable option for longer weekends aswell.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

Ski Deals and Partners

As you may or may not have noticed, there are a few adverts on the site from some of our partners

If you get a chance please take a look, as many of them are offering some great deals on early season Skiwear, and also parking and travel insurance - all essentials for a successful Ski Weekend

Happy Skiing

SkiWeekenders

Quick Note

Please note that all the information that we provide on the site is purely a guide, our aim is to offer a central locatuion and source for our users to easily find the best places to stay for short skiing breaks.  We are not out to criticise anyone and all informaiton nan reviews on the site are generated by us.  We aim to be as neutral as possible and provide the infromation to you to go out and book the best holiday you can!!
Thanks and Happy Skiing

SkiWeekenders

Hotel Stella Alpina - Sauze D'Oulx

Hotel Stella Alpina offers the perfect location for a Short (or Long!!) weekend on the snow.  Situated in the heart of Sauze D'Oulx, at the base of the main Clotes run back in to the resort, it is truly ski in and ski out....



Stella Alpina - The perfect Location


Sauze offers great skiing in it's own right, but is one of the gateways to the Milky Way ski area and has direct access to it's neighbouring resorts of Sestriere and San Sicario.

With all short breaks you ideally want to make the travel portion of the trip as cheap and painless as possible.  Sauze is easily accessible from Turin in just over an hour, with Turin Airport offering a number of great flight options from across the UK.

Stella Alpina itself is a family run hotel offering a choice fo B&B and Half Board options.  Prices range from Euro 49 per person per night for a standard room. The hotel also on the adjoining ski shop and can provide discounts on passes, ski hire and help to arrange airport transfers if required.   Please follow the link below to find out more information.  http://www.skisauze.com/hotel-stella-alpina/.

In summary Stella Alpina looks to be great option in one of our favourite resorts - should any of you decide to give it a go, be sure to come back to us with your comments to the website, our twitter feed @skiweekenders, or by email skiweekenders@live.com

Ski3V - Catered and Self Catering Short breaks in the 3 Valleys

Ski3V offer excellent short break option in 2 areas of the 3 valleys. 

Chalet Felipe is located in modern, yet charismatic Reberty 2000 in Les Menuires.  Chalet Georgina is in charming, historic yet well equipped Bettex village.  Both offer 3 and 4 day short breaks (along with full weeks) ranging from approx £249 for a catered stay including breakfast, evening meal with wine and your airport transfer.  Both chalets offer high quality accommodation, and are ski in ski out chalets, with great resort access.

Chalet Maison Blanche in the picturesque village of La Grange, which is under 5 mins from door to piste.  This offers Self catered short breaks from £149 for a 3 days stay, including transfer, and a free ski shuttle bus to the resort.

Both options appear to offer a value for money (and in the case of the catered chalets a luxury option) for a short break in the fantastic snow sure skiing of the 3 valleys.  Transfers are from Geneva which offers a huge range of flight options.

If you've stayed, or are going to stay with Ski3V then please drop us a line or add your comments to the blog.

Its Snowing........

Snowing in Avoriaz - fresh stuff tomorrow and Fresh snow forecast in many resorts across Europe over the next few days.

Check out Snowforecast for the very latest news

BAA Airport Parking - cheap and close

Pretty much an essential expense for all airport based excursions - advanced booking with BAA Airport Parking offers the cheapest deals consistently in our experience - and there's no point in paying more than you need to......

Snowchalet - La Clusaz

Snowchalet offer flexible short break accommodation int he resort of La Clusaz, only an hours transfer from Geneva.  Short breaks can run midweek or over a weekend and can be taken on a self catered, B&B or Catered basis.  Prices range from around £30 - £80 per person per night (b&b) dependant on room type.

The ski resort of La Clusaz is part of the 220km Aravis ski domain and itself offers 130km of well maintained slopes for all level of skiers and an unlimited area for off-piste adventures. plenty of mileage for a long weekend.

The chalet is fantastically appointed and only minutes from the slopes - check out the website for further information - http://www.snowchalet.co.uk/





ChaletArc - Riders Hostel - Les Arcs/La Plagne

SkiWeekenders has stumbled upon a great value short break Hostel situated in Nacroix in the Les Arc ski area.  Le Maison Quatre Balcons offers clean, basic self catering accomodation from £20 per night on a flexible basis - you can even make it your home for the whole winter season.  Rooms are basic, and ofer bunks in rooms of 4 or 6 people with a communal living area and kitchen.

Looks perfect for a long weekend!!!!

Check out the website for more information http://www.chaletarc.co.uk/index.html

Snoweye - Webcam Central

If your anything like me, as soon as you have a trip to the mountains booked you immediatley start checking weather forecasts, snow reports and any resort webcam you can find.

http://www.snoweye.com/ offers a one stop shop for all official and unoffical webcams for ski resorts from all around the world - over 5000 webcams in one place.

Covering both Europe,North America and most other major ski areas the site is easily searchable by country and resort and then you can browse the live feeds to your hearts content either happy in the knowledge that it's dumping down or nervously sending you back to SnowForecast to check the impending weather.......

Powderbeds - independant accomodation in France and Austria

SkiWeekenders has stumbled across another good site - Powderbeds

very slick website provides week long or short break options across many of Franc e and Austria's best resorts.  Clear and concise search engine allows you to look for specific date and accommodation easily, and suggests alternatives should your prime dates not be available.  Site also provides good honest resort reviews.

Another good site and worth a look.

If you've used it or have any experiences with any of the accommodation provided then please let us know, or add a comment to the site.

Alternative accomodation - French Youth Hostels

An alternative option, especially if travelling in a single sex group are the excellent French Youth Hostels.
Several hostels are located in or close to many French Resorts adn we sepak from experince that the Hosetl in Les Deux Alpes is one of the best.  Excellent Accomodation, Food and it's ski in/out in the heart of Deux Alpe.


The Hostel has been recently refurbished and prices have not been releaased yet for 2011/2012 but certainly worth a look.

Les Deux Alpes - Youth Hostel

Accomodation Review - Hotel Gran Trun - Sauze D'Oulx

Sauze D'Oulx – Hotel Gran Trun



Double Room



Hotel Gran Trun is situated in the picturesque old town of Sauze D'oulx.  Tucked away, it provides clean and basic accomodation which is ideal for a short break.



The Hotel provides Bed and Breakfast accomodation, based on 2 people sharing.  SkiWeekenders has not stayed at this venue but has frequented the bar under the hotel - which is excellent!!!





Hotel Gran Trun

 

The resort itself is great, providing an excellent selection of restaurants, bars and most importantly skiing.  Sauze is part of the Milky Way linked area, which crosses from Italy into France.  Sauze, Sestriere and San Sicarrio were all used as major resorts for the Turin winter olympics and as such have recieved significant investment.  It also means there is skiing for all levels.  It is superb.

Access to resort is very straight forward, and is an easy hours drive or so from Turin.  You can also get a train from Turin to Oulx at the base of the mountain and a short taxi ride to resort. 

In summary a great option for a short ski break, although not as high as other resorts, if the snow is good there is nowhere better.

Key facts:

Accommodation Website:- www.sauzeonline.com/accommodation/gran-trun/

Approx Prices:- Bed and Breakfast €40- €80 per night, based on 2 sharing (prices correct at time of publishing)

Ski Pass:- €92 (ViaLattea pass for 3 days)

Ski Area:- MilkyWay (ViaLattea – 400km of pistes) Milky Way Piste Map

 

How to get there:- Fly into Turin then short 60min transfer to resort.

Should you have any comments or would like to add your own review, then please comment below or send your review to skiweekenders@live.co.uk

New Short Break Provider - Take Me to Ski

SkiWeekenders has stumbled across a new Short break provider - Take Me To Ski - http://www.takemetoski.co.uk/



They appear to offer short break option to Alpe D'Huez and Tignes, two of Europe's best resorts, and provide a range of B&B options in rooms of varying sizes.  Accomodation options look great and they offer a variety of travel and transfer options and advice. 

Overall first impressions are very good - please let us know your thoughts via the comments section.

Chalets Direct - Solutions Room

One of the greatest sources of deals and excellent offers we have found in the last few years is the Chalets Direct Solutions room.

Chalets Direct



The site alloows you to post your specifc needs on a forum, dates, number of people, which resorts and the listed members fo the chaltes direct community come back to you directly with availablity adn offers for their indeopendant accomodation.

It works brillinatly, and provides you access to some of the best accomodation around.  Also works for the summer should any of you fancy a mountain bike trip to the alps.....

Further excellent advice and guides

Ski Club of Great Britain website has been heavily re-vamped.  Looks great and provides rafts of useful information on resorts, travel guides, ski reviews, snow reports etc.

Check out the link below for their specific guide to short skiing breaks

Ski Club of Great Britain

Accomodation Review - Alpe D'Huez - Hotel Le Chamois

Alpe D'Huez – Hotel Le Chamois - HolidayAlps

Hotel Le Chamois is situated in the Centre of Alpe D'Huez, and provides genuine doorstep skiing and access to the superb resort.  Alpe D'huez is made for a long weekend, around an hour away from Grenoble airport by car, all bar the last famous hairpins pretty much on Autoroute.



Hotel Le Chamois

Hotel Le Chamois is a relatively small hotel situated above the famous Underground Bar (also run by the hotel and definately worth a visit)  It provides clean and basic flexible accomodation in a variety of formats, Bed only, B&B or half Board.  Rooms vary in size, and when we stayed we had a very adequate 4 bed room, with balcony.  Food in the hotel is great, buffet breakfast and a 3 course meal every evening.




Hotel Le Chamois - typical room

 

Staff in the hotel are friendly and in most cases are returning seasonnaires, who will be happy to give you advice on the best on and off piste skiing.

The resort itself is superb, offering the longest Black RUn in Europe - La Sarenne at around 17km, and the option to complete 4 different top to bottom of the mountain runs of over 2000m without touching a lift.  Our personal favourite is "The Tunnel" which was knee deep in Powder in the last week in March....fantastic.

In summary a great option for a short ski break due to high snowsure resort and easy transfer from Grenoble airport.

Key facts:

Accommodation Website:-  Hotel Le Chamois Website

Approx Prices:- Room only €38 - €60 per night, Half Board €50 - €75 per night (prices correct at time of publishing)

Ski Pass:- €117 (VISALP pass for 3 days)

Ski Area:- Visalp – 235km of pistes including a 3330m Glacier
Alpe D'Huez Piste Map

 

How to get there:- Fly into Grenoble then short 60min transfer to resort.

Should you have any comments or would like to add your own review, then please comment below or send your review to skiweekenders@live.co.uk

Accommodation Review - Chalet Mazot - Les Coches/La Plagne - France

Les Coches – Chalet Mazot 1&2 – Mountain Sun

Chalet Mazot is situated in the small village of Les Coches, on the outskirts of the La Plagne Ski Area, and within 5 minutes skiing of the Vanoise Express connecting La Plagne to les Arcs.  The Chalet is run by Mountain Sun (http://www.mountainsunltd.com/short_breaks/) and in our opinion offers some of the best short break deals and accommodation that we have come across. 

Chalet Mazot 1

The accommodation is made up of 2 well equipped chalets which can sleep individuals, or larger groups in a variety of rooms.  Accommodation is basic, but very clean and perfect for a short break. The chalets share a communal dining area and lounge, where the excellent staff provide a hearty breakfast, afternoon tea and cake and great home cooked dinners which include wine.  The lounge are also offers a help yourself bar service and free wifi.



Chalet Mazot 2



Les Coches is a small resort, and if you're looking for a lively Apres Ski then you should look elsewhere.  The chalet is situated a short walk from the village centre and in good conditions you can ski to within a very short walk of the door.



In summary this is an excellent, great value choice for a short ski break.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, which was in late March, and the combination of La Plagne and Les Arc ski areas provide more than enough snow sure runs to keep the keenest skier or boarder happy.

Key facts:

Accommodation Website:-  Chalet Mazot Website

Approx Prices:- 3 days skiing, 3 nights full board (inc wine from £99 - £159 per person including Geneva transfers  (correct at time of writing)

Ski Pass:- €138 (2010/2011 season prices)

Ski Area:- Paradaski (La Plagne and Les Arcs) – 425km of piste including 2 Glaciers Paradaski Piste Map

How to get there:- Fly into Geneva or get the Train to Aime or Bourg St Maurice direct from London St Pancreas.

Should you have any comments or would like to add your own review, then please comment below or send your review to skiweekenders@live.co.uk

First Acommodation reviews go Live...

First Accommodation recommendations are now live on the Accommodation Page - please check them out - more detailed reviews to follow.


Ski Weekenders now also live on Twitter #SkiWeekenders

SkiWeekenders Goes Live....

June 2011 - SkiWeekenders Blog goes live………..

Appreciate this is not the ideal time to kick this off, but should allow me to generate some great content ahead of the 2011/2012 season

Any feedback from visitors on the layout, content, etc of the site would be greatly appreciated.  We will mature the site as we move forward but hopefully the key info is easily accessible

Thanks for visiting!! and spread the word......

Testing, testing, 123

Test post....more to come soon