Visitor reviews for Brides Les Bains Ski Resort

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• January 27, 2010
  Mrs C from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Went to Brides Les Bains with my husband a few years ago. Remember getting bagettes and cheese from the local shop and translating for some Polish people who didn't understand French and were new to French cheeses. We bought local food and cooked in the evening. I remember going up the on the gondola. It was romantic. On one occasion we went out for a meal. That was special. We had a fondue. We took candles with us to Brides and enjoyed the mulled wine in the day and the bottled wine in the evening. I had only just learnt to ski so it was quite new to me. Where we stayed wasn't luxury but it didn't matter.

• January 09, 2010
  david 0 neill from IRELAND
  

  Have stayed in Brides Les Bains for the last three years with directski. It's a cheap way to ski the Three Valleys. If you can ski, you can ski all the valleys for a fraction of staying in a main resort. If you ski all day, where you stay is not important, just the snow - Three Valleys rocks.

• December 13, 2009
  Peter Sutton from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Brides (Brides Les Bains) is a small and pretty town. I've stayed there many times since 1995. The gondola opens at 8.30-not 9.30 and closes at 5.00(5.30 in peak season). Queues can be bad at New Year and during French holidays. Arrive by *.20 and you have no problem. During certain peak weeks the bubble opens at 8.15 am. You can queue for the return but also avoid queues by arriving at the lift by 4.00 or waiting til shortly before it closes. The town at Brides Les Bains has some good restaurants and locals are very friendly and helpful. If you're driving try Residence Cybele(lagrange holidays)or travel by coach with Ski Weekends and stay at the hotel Verseau. Off-peak their deals cannot be beaten.
  Peter Sutton

• February 05, 2009
  Paul from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  We went to Brides (Brides Les Bains) last year in March and I thought it was quite a good place to stay.
  Around a 20min ride in the gondola to get to Meribel and we were the first ones on every day, and getting back was ok too as the gondola runs until quite late.
  Our hotel at Brides Les Bains was the Verseau with reasonable beer prices and good food. Because there were not many other places to go there was a bit of a party atmosphere in the evening.
  We will be back at Brides Les Bains soon in a couple of weeks.

• September 06, 2008
  Bob Crichton from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Bride is a brilliant place. I can drive to it in 7 hours from Calais. Love it so much have bought a house in town. It's so nice in the summer too. Only leaving this message because I was so angry at the Alex Vickers comment not sure where he paid 12 euros a pint but it wasn't Hotel le Centre where the prices are reasonable and the staff are lovely. There are some lovely restaurants my favourite is the Hermitage; great fondue bourginion. I intend to retire there!!!

• March 23, 2008
  Karen Cox from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  We have been to Brides Les Bains many times. We have found the people friendly and very helpful. There are some very good restaurants to eat in and very reasonable accommodation. We have enjoyed our holidays so much that we have now bought our own place. One way to avoid the queues is to drive there. This is very easy and gives the flexibility to drive to Meribel villages and Meribel itself. The ride up from Brides in the gondola is picturesque. Brides really does offer the ultimate in flexibility.
  

• March 08, 2008
  Geoff Cantillion from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Stayed in Brides in Feb '08. Wasn't expecting much and was happy with the town when I arrived. The first day of skiing was a little labourious as everyone else is doing what you are doing (getting lift passes, sorting skiing hire, not knowing where to go etc), but after that it's ok! The gondola to Meribel is quite pleasant although the walk to the Meribel lifts is a trudge. It is a gateway to the 3 Vallees on a budget.
  Please do not go with a tour operator though. The reps base themselves in Meribel (30 mins away) and generally can't be bothered to come down and deal with issues, excursions, etc. Crystal are particularly rubbish in my experience.
  The locals are great and there are some lovely restaurants.
  Don't get your skis from ski set by the gondola, he is a right miserable, racist, dirty frog. He'll try and rip you off. Don't use his boot & ski lockers either as they are too expensive. Most apartments have a shuttle bus that take your skis.
  Enjoy.

• February 05, 2008
  Sonja Taylor from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  I would like to defend the pretty resort of Brides....
  It depends entirely on how many hours skiing you wish to do. If you are content at leaving Brides after the crowds and returning before the crowds, you can ski for hours and have a fantastic time. If you are not fanatical about being one of the last off the slopes, the journey back from Meribel is quite relaxing.
  I have stayed in Brides 4 times now and would thoroughly recommend it for those who want a relaxing skiing holiday, with apres-ski activities and friendly hotels.

• September 13, 2005
  James packer from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Brides les Bain is an average sized town situated at the bottom of the meribel valley and in the heart of the largest skiing domain in the world, the 3 valleys. There is easy access to the 300km of snowy piste via the olympe gondolas which take you directly to the main lift station in meribel (1450m). You can take full advantage of the pistes until its time to go, you may have to taKe the gondolas back to the town or possibly in january or february there is a small piste available, though this all depends on snow cover.

• 
  alex vickers from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  This report is a bit late I know as we stayed in Brides last Christmas week into the new year 2007, but I do feel the need to warn people that staying here has no advantage what so ever.
  Reason 1. Brides is 30 minutes by gondola to Meribel, but the problem is that the gondola does not open until 9.30 then you have a sizable queue, but the biggest problem is that you need to get in the queue at least 45 minutes before it closes as the queues are massive at the end of the day, which means you lose over TWO hours a day when it is already very short.
  Reason 2. Brides itself is very small so even at Christmas eating out was tricky as there are not enough restaurants in the town and we found ourselves eating in the same places several times, also they weren't the best restaurants on offer either.
  Reason 3. Beer was a total rip off, a review for Val Thorens on this site suggested that they were paying 8 Euros a pint which is very expensive, but in Brides we were paying 12 Euros a pint! That is truly ridiculous.

  I wouldn't go back to Brides if I was paid but we are, however, returning to Meribel this Christmas as the entire three valley area was the best ski area I have ever been to. Meribel is really pretty with loads to do apart from skiing, and no matter what level you are, there is something for every one. I'm a snow boarder and found loads of off-piste on the Mont Vallon area and over in Val Thorens.

  Just take this on board if you were thinking about staying here at Brides because lots of the tour operators and websites make you think that it's not a problem to stay here, but it really does have issues, and you really are detached from whats going on further up the mountain.