Les Arcs, France

H&D from IRELAND writes:

We are just back from a week skiing in Les Arcs 1950. What a fabulous week with plenty of snow and sun. The resort itself is great with an excellent variety of runs suitable for all abilities.

However, this is our second year to come back to Les Arcs 1950 and we noticed some things this year that we were disappointed by. The queue in the ski hire shop (Concept Board Shop) on the Sunday morning was horrendous (our family queued from 8.10 am and were not out until 10.45 am, meaning that I missed an hour and a half of a lesson with a ski instructor. The operation did not seem as efficient as last year and the staff were not as attentive. My son cried and told the assistant that his boots did not fit, but the assistant insisted that they did fit and he wasn't trying to get them on - it was much later on in the day when we realised that the boots were new and there was paper stuck in the toe. Another family member received a pair of boots which should have been relegated to the bin and after the first day she had to change them, but not before she had developed five quite severe blisters which severely hampered her ability to ski for the rest of the week.

Additionally, I was horrified at the rudeness and general unpleasantness of a member of staff at the ski pass booth - in this day and age there really is no need for this type of high handed attitude.

We stayed in an appartment in the Radisson SAS that was excellent, as ever. The appartment was clean, warm, spacious with good cooking facilities, however, I did notice some cutbacks from our previous visit. Our rooms this year were only tidied once as opposed to daily last year and towels weren't provided in the swimming pool area - these are only minor things, however, important in terms of service delivery.

All in all, it was a great holiday and would recommend Les Arcs as a resort. There is a array of excellent restaurants and the ski instructors are very professional.

2009-02-27