Visitor reviews for Claviere (Vialattea) Ski Resort

Claviere (Vialattea) Ratings

Overall: 3.8. Based on 4 votes and 11 reviews. Vote

Snowsure: 4.5

(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Claviere (Vialattea) is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.

Variety of pistes: 4.2

(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Claviere (Vialattea) has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.

Off-piste: 4.0

(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.

Scenery: 4.5

(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.

Access: 4.2

(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Claviere (Vialattea).

Public Transport: 3.3

(1) There are no buses or taxis to Claviere (Vialattea), (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.

Accommodation: 4.2

(1) No places to stay in/near Claviere (Vialattea), (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.

Cheap Rooms: 4.0

(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.

Luxury Hotels: 3.7

(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Claviere (Vialattea).

Ski in/Ski out: 4.0

(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.

Childcare: 4.0

(1) There are no child care facilities at Claviere (Vialattea), (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.

Snowmaking: 4.5

(1) Claviere (Vialattea) relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.

Snow Grooming: 5.0

(1) There are no snow groomers at Claviere (Vialattea), (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Claviere (Vialattea) are groomed daily.

Shelter: 4.0

(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Claviere (Vialattea) is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.

Nearby options: 4.3

(1) If snow conditions are poor at Claviere (Vialattea), it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.

Regional rating: 4.3

(1) Claviere (Vialattea) usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.

Lift Staff: 4.5

(1) The staff at Claviere (Vialattea) are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Claviere (Vialattea) are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.

Crowds/Queues: 5.0

(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.

Ski Schools: 5.0

(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.

Hire and Repairs: 4.2

(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.

Beginners: 4.0

(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.

Intermediates: 4.2

(1) No intermediate terrain at Claviere (Vialattea), (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.

Advanced: 3.3

(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.

Snow Park: 3.0

(1) Not even a kicker at Claviere (Vialattea), (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.

Cross-country: 2.7

(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Claviere (Vialattea), (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.

Luge/Toboggan: 1.3

(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Claviere (Vialattea) has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.

Mountain Dining: 4.0

(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.

Eating: 4.0

(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.

Apres-Ski: 3.0

(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.

Other Sports: 1.7

(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.

Entertainment: 1.3

(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.

Winter Walks: 2.7

(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.

Ski Pass Value: 4.2

(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.

Value (National): 4.8

(1) Overall, Claviere (Vialattea) is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.

Value (Global): 4.3

(1) Overall, Claviere (Vialattea) is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

Show all 35 ratings

March 29, 2013
Richard Vile from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
We stayed at The Grande Claviere over Christmas 2012. Two adults and two children (aged 11 and 9). This was the kids second week on the snow after a couple of missed seasons. Obviously, the snow for the entire 2012/2013 season appeared to be brilliant wherever you went in Europe but here was no exception. The skiing was good and plenty for all abilities if you had a Via Lattea pass. The skiing, in Montegenevre next door, encompassed a larger area with generally more challenging runs. The Crystal hotel was, quite simply, brilliant; charming and helpful staff (mainly very young); superb food and comfortable. It was a walk to the lifts, but not too far, especially when you found the route through the car park. To sum up, we all loved it so much we're going back next Christmas (2013).
March 07, 2013
Howard Beanland from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
We stayed in the Grand Claviere Hotel from 9th to 16th February. The hotel is exceptionally good value for money and well situated for the pistes (about 100 metres to walk down to them in the morning, and almost back to the door at the end of the day). Claviere is a fairly small resort but there’s a good mixture of blue and red runs. There’s one black run back to the resort which is a soft touch, but no green runs for complete beginners. Unless you are in the latter category the Claviere lift pass would be insufficient to keep you interested. Unfortunately, there’s a proliferation of lift passes, which is quite confusing. We bought the joint Claviere/Mongenevre pass which gives unlimited skiing in both resorts and one day in the Milky Way. There’s also a Milky Way pass which has unlimited skiing there (Claviere included) with one day in Montgenevre. It’s a bit of a trek over to Sauze or Sestriere and however fast you ski you won’t do it in less than an hour as most of your time is spent on lifts. Getting to Montgenevre is easy (1 lift) and getting back is simple along the bottom piste, although you will need to do a bit of poling. The return via Colleto Verde takes quite a while (slow lift) but the skiing from there is excellent. We found there was a sufficient variety of runs in Montgenevre to just about keep us happy for a week. In fact, the resort has one of the best and longest green runs in any resort I’ve been to – right from the top of the Gondrans lift back to Montgenevere. Generally, there were no queues for lifts in Claviere and although the pistes were busier in Montgenevre, the longest we had to wait was a couple of minutes. One unfortunate side effect is that the lift company has not felt the need to update some of the chairs e.g. the Chalvet and Observatoire chairlifts were pretty slow. Overall, Claviere (+ lift pass of your choice) would be a good choice for intermediates. On its own, the resort is really only suitable for beginners.
November 28, 2011
Gavin Rodway from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
I Stayed at the Grand Claviere (Crystal Ski) at the end of March 2011. It is a good hotel with good food and very friendly, helpful staff. I took my 6 year old daughter on her first ski holiday and could not have been happier with the resort or the staff. Any worries I had with just the two of us travelling were gone within minutes of arriving. Being a family hotel she made friends straight away and loved ever minute. I dropped her of at Whizz Kids after breakfast, caught up with her at ski lessons and picked her up at 2 o'clock after lunch so we could have a few hours skiing together. The runs at the resort were uncrowded and at several times throughout the day you could be the only person on the piste. There are some cracking reds to keep the inters happy for a few days and some easier reds that run into blues for the beginners or 1 to 2 weekers. Montgenevre is immediately next to the resort and has some amazing sweeping runs that can be easy or very challenging depending on your needs with south facing slopes for the colder mornings and north facing slopes for the warmer afternoons. The black run that comes back into Claviere is immense and well worth hitting a few times. (I would, however, say it is noticeably more expensive to eat and drink on this side of the border). Sestriere on the other side of the mountain is readily accessible and has some fantastic skiing too with massively long reds and some real short racing ones. Boarders are better getting the chair lift across or face a 10 minute walk on a really flat section that joins the resort. I am seriously considering taking my now 7 year old and my 5 year old daughters back to Claviere this year.
February 28, 2011
JT - Coventry from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
I also stayed at the Grand Claviere courtesy of Crystal Ski in January 2008, my first ever skiing holiday. I have to agree with the favourable comments regarding this hotel, I thought the accommodation and the meals were great and would be happy to return there - if not only to try some more of the actual ski terrain, as I was only a beginner at the time. Skiing lessons were provided by 'Scuola Italiana Sci', and (a very patient) instructor called Nesto - thanks again for getting me started! A pleasant small town with some good bars restaurants and shops also.
January 15, 2011
Robert from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
We visited Claviere (Claviere (Via Lattea)) for Christmas 2010 and stayed at the Grande Claviere (Crystal Ski). My wife and 2 kids (aged 8 and 5) all had a wonderful time. The hotel was excellent, Crystal staff could not have been more helpful and the childcare was second to none. Our rep was also very knowledable, helpful and always on hand to answer questions. We arrived in Claviere to heavy fresh snow. The resport is small and friendly. There are several small shops including a small supermarket. There are several restaurants, cafe's and bars all of which sold excellent food and prices were very reasonable. We collected our ski equipment from the hire shop and the staff were helpful, spoke English and the quality of the equipment was of a high standard (we only hire skis). Our room was a family room with 2 bedrooms and ensuite. It was clean and very spacious. The hotel is very warm which is great to dry ski gear but at night we found it too warm. We ended up sleeping with the window open as you can not alter the temp of the radiators. Food was very good with cooked breakfast options and the usual cereals, toast, fruit etc, etc. Evening meals are all 3 course meals and if required children can eat earlier and opt for a more child friendly menu. Wine is provided with the evening meal. The hotel has a small bar, large lounge area with comfy seating. We picked the hotel due to the childcare facilities being located in the hotel. Both of our kids went to Whizkids for the morning and they took them to ski school. They both loved it and made new friends. The staff were all very friendly and professional and we had no concerns leaving our children. The hotel has an excellent ski room. It has loads of space for equipment and has a dedicated boot room with new boot dryers for all guests. Both my wife and myself booked ski lessons as a refresher and the tutors were very good. My wife progressed very well. I was in an advanced group and the tutor, called Net, was excellent and had lived in the village all his life so was very knowledable about the area. My wife's tutor, Steffano, was also very good and she progressed very quickly. Lifts are all chair lifts with some high speed. Lift staff are very helpful, especially when you are with children. The runs in Claviere range from cruising long blues, through interesting reds and some blacks. One nice thing we liked was that runs of differing difficulty weave together so groups of differing ability can still ski together. The Italian pistes were excellently maintained even after a full night of heavy snow. The same can not be said about neighbouring French Montgenevre. We got local lift passes and these give you access to all Claviere lifts and a couple shared with the neighbouring Montgenevre. It also allows a full day in the Frence resort Montgenevre (only 10mins ski away) and one day in the Milkyway. Ski conditions during the week were excellent with loads of fresh snow. On a couple of mornings visibility was not good but this tended to clear by lunchtime. You can ski to the lifts from the hotel but, whilst it is not a long walk back to the hotel, it is uphill and can be tiring for kids. Overall, we had an excellent week and we have already booked to return for Christmas this year.
February 12, 2009
Pat from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Christmas and New Year 2008/2009 in Claviere was wonderful. The snow conditions were perfect and the ski instructors, excellent. Claviere is a small village, but has nice bars and restaurants. The people are very friendly. It is possible to ski the Milky Way from Claviere or just to go into Montgenevre and have a day on the French slopes. We will definitely be going back to Claviere.
March 25, 2008
Laura from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Just back from a great week in Claviere, we stayed at the Crystal Club Hotel which was clean, good food, excellent staff. You can ski in and out from the back of the hotel, and can easily ski to and from France. Ski school in Claviere was brilliant: the beginners in our group progressed very quickly. The runs are very interesting and picturesque: mainly reds but some easy enough to be blues. Montgenevre has lots of greens and blues which are wide and good for beginners but we preferred Claviere. A few bars, shops and restaurants, pretty quiet town, a lovely resort no lift queues and quiet pistes, would recommend it!
January 15, 2007
neil from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Skiing in Claviere is ideal for the beginner and intermediate. We have just arrived back from a weeks stay in the Merimonti Hotel where, I can say for a two star Hotel, the food was excellent and the staff very friendly. The rooms are basic but very clean. The ski area is not very taxing if you're looking for adventure but I would like to advise that you get your own ski lift pass yourself as the holiday company’s in that area probably will sell you a pass that is limited. We were skiing on hard packed snow in Claviere and chose to ski the neighbouring resort of Montgenevre which we skied to from Claviere very easily. But Montgenevre is in France and the ski pass we had only gave us one days pass. A further 16.5 Euros a day had to be paid if you wanted to use the lifts in Montgenevre. At the ski pass station they will sell you the areas you want. Depending on the snow conditions the Milky Way is accessed via Sanga-Longa and if there is a shortage of snow it's a long lift down and back up the other side. My advice is get a one day pass to the Milky Way to see if you can ski it ok.
January 12, 2006
Nina from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Claviere is a small village with great views. The snow was good and the ski school was very good. We stayed in the Grande Claviere which was a nice hotel with friendly staff. Our daughter loved whizz kids and enjoyed the skiing too. There isnt many good wide runs for the level between complete beginner and Intermediate and if you want a good variety of challenging runs this resort may not suit you. No black or green runs. Montgenevre in France which was included on our pass for a day was great if you enjoy big long wide greens and blues and if you want to do a black run. You also have access to the rest of the milky way for a couple of days. Christmas 2005 was a great time to go, We had a great christmas.
March 15, 2004
Andrew Simpson from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Just returned from a fantastic week in Claviere. Very friendly resort, with good accommodation at the Crystal Hotel (which we chose for the excellent creche facilities). Snow conditions were excellent and lift queues almost non existent - enjoyable skiing for intermediates especially. Children learnt quickly in Ski School with some English instructors - however long and steep drags to access upper mountain not ideal for beginners (may be redressed by new chairlift this year)