Visitor reviews for La Plagne Ski Resort

• April 07, 2009
  Paul from United Kingdom
  

  Got back from La Plagne last Saturday after an excellent week's skiing. Snow was good, Belle Plagne was excellent and, apart from one day, crowds were almost non-existent; often had the pistes to ourselves. Great for a mixed-ability group, and enough variety to keep most skiers busy; I accept that there weren't masses of blacks, but with the Paradiski lift pass we spent a day in Les Arcs too so found enough to entertain us. I'd highly recommend La Plagne resort.

• March 29, 2009
  david (grand montets) hemingway from United Kingdom
  

  La Plagne is one of the better high altitute stations and it's great for kids. Generally ugly and a bit tatty like all the high stations. If you want a 'choclate box cover' go to Switzerland. Off-piste at La Plagne is excellent; was very surprised. Tree runs off the Arpette and lines off Bellcote and Grand Rochette are great. Would go back but only with good snow or it would be a bit boring as piste skiing is very lame above intermediate.

• March 28, 2009
  Sian Glynn from United Kingdom
  

  I have just got back from La Plagne (about 20 mins ago). I loved it. The runs were just brilliant for my 5 yr old and some of the really experienced skiers.
  The staff on the slopes were very friendly .
  I would love to go back to La Plagne as there was just so much more we didn't get to ski. It has to be one of the prettiest resorts I have been to.
  Definitely recommend La Plagne.

• March 16, 2009
  Colin from United Kingdom
  

  A group of us have just got back from La Plagne staying at 1800 in Clubhotel Rhododendrons, there were 2 boarders and 5 skiers.

  The hotel - cheap but more than cheerful. We got what we paid for and a bit more. The room was basic, 4 sharing, 2 singles and one bunk bed. A bit tight but was perfectly adequate for 4 blokes if a bit smelly. The food was a bit disappointing at breakfast; continental, but was made up for in the evening by an excellent 3 course meal. The bar was a bit uncomfortable and would not accomodate all guests at the same time but did the job during happy hour when beer was 3.5 euros a pint. There was also a games room with pool & table football. Great staff and manager.

  The resort Plagne 1800 - arguably the better looking resort but not the best for night life, the only usable bar to speak of was La Mine which got very busy when the bands were on. There was another Pizza/bar but it was always closed when we turned up. Given the choice, I would have booked Plagne centre; lots more bars and just felt a bit livelier. However, in 1800 there is a Spar and a Tabac so you could buy beer, fags and snacks without any problems and we still managed to enjoy ourselves at 1800.

  Transport - excellent - free, regular and on time bus services that serves 1800, Belle Plagne and Plagne Centre. V useful if you are tired at the end of the day and don't fancy skiing or boarding back. You can get taxi's but I have no idea of rates. The one from Plagne centre back to La Plagne 1800 was running up until 12.45 so you can have a reasonably late night if you want it.

  Cost - yes it is expensive but as long as you find the Happy Hour's you can get a reasonably priced beer up until about 9pm, ususally 3.5 euros a pint. Thereafter you end up paying between 5 to 7 euros depending on where you are and what you are drinking. We were catered but lunch times we did eat out and we were paying 10 euros for a massive Pizza & chips that we shared between 2, which was reasonable enough. On chef's night off we went to Le Chaudron and had the set menu which was 30 euros each plus wine & coffee on top - not too bad. You can also pilfer bits from breakfast for your lunch however, if you board like me you may end up with an unappealling, soggy, wafer thin croissant.

  Skiing - the skiers amaongst us tell me that the skiing was excellent for all abilities at La Plagne, off piste, moguls, forgiving reds, tough blues and long sweeping motorway pistes. Additionally, you can get to Les Arcs as well. Everyone in our party had a great weeks skiing and cannot fault it. The lifts seemed only really busy first thing and one of our group got the first lift up and the last lift at 5.30 - he is a nutter but La Plagne accommodated him well.

  Boarding - so, so. We are not the best boarders and found the amount of paths at La Plagne torture. There were very few runs that did not involve a path or two and the subsequent thigh and calf burning agony was a little off putting. There were also some large sections where it was either flat or (slightly) uphill and if you either fell over or stopped to look at a map or a junction, you can find yourself skating or walking a bit. More competent boarders would have no problems I'm sure and we did indeed see them whizzing past us at great speed. They also had a snowpark, 2 half pipes and a boarder cross section so they catered well for those whose abilities surpass my own. Despite this, we still had a brilliant time.

  Weather - loads of snow first few days then petered out leaving blue skies and sunshine. More snow = easier boarding - hooray. Piste bashers = less snow, harder boarding - boo.

  As a boarder, I will not be rushing to go back to La Plagne (the paths) but the 5 skiers would go back at the drop of a hat. A great time was had by all.

• March 09, 2009
  Mitch from Australia
  

  I'm a seasonaire in La Plagne this year, and I have been frustrated to read comments from skiiers complaining about piste management and ludicrous prices. The piste management here is brilliant, people shouldn't expect black runs to be pisted, otherwise they wouldn't be blacks.
  The restaurants are expensive, but as is every French ski resort. The prices here are alot lower than that of resorts like three valleys and Val d'Isere. Most bars here offer Happy Hours, great Plat du Jour food, and if you can avoid the obvious tourist traps, food that does'nt make you feel sick at the amount you've paid for it. I think alot of people are just feeling the burn of the pound falling to be par with the euro.
  There's so much off-piste skiing in La Plagne, that is very accessible, and absolutely brilliant. La Plagne is a huge ski area, great for skiiers/boarders of all levels, especially with a Paradiski pass giving you access to Les Arcs. I find it very unfair to criticise La Plagne so heavily.

• March 07, 2009
  graham boulton from United Kingdom
  

  Graham Boulton March 09.
  Just returned from a weeks skiing in La Plagne and I would highly recommend it. With some lifts open until 5.30pm, March skiing is better value. The horrendous prices in the bars and restaurants did not deter us as we picnicked and drank in our rooms to keep costs down. Hopefully, next year the French will understand as the only night we ventured out, the town was empty. The vast domain of Paradiski is impossible to cover on one visit and we will return. Our stay at the Terra Nova hotel was comfortable; check out the 'windy miller' lookalike English waiter who was very helpful. The food was of a good standard and the rooms were clean. Be careful on the transfer and don't be conned into hiring skies and boots from the rep at a cost of approx 150 euros each. We trotted into Ski Republic and hired two for one at a cost of 129 euros for 2 sets of skies sticks and boots.

• March 05, 2009
  Henry from United Kingdom
  

  If you're a serious skier then La plagne is great for it's variety, convenience and sheer size of the ski area. You don't have to do the same run twice in a week if you don't want to. On the downside, the architecture at La Plagne is disappointing and the whole place needs a revamp, apart from La Plagne 1800 which is very pretty.

• March 04, 2009
  Tommy from United Kingdom
  

  We have just returned from Belle Plagne (La Plagne). Skiing was absolutely fantastic as was the village, ski in ski out from all the apartements, which makes a real difference as you can easily go back for lunch. The only predictable moan would be regarding the prices for food and drink. Inside of 'happy hour' you could get a beer for £4 but the cost of a meal for a family was horrendous. You'd think the French owners would take the hint as the bars\restaurants were absolutely dead even though the resort was quite busy. Id definitely do back to La Plagne but next time well be packing a bag of our own supplies.

• February 21, 2009
  Graeme Tucker from United Kingdom
  

  We stayed in a resort lower down than La Plagne that was really nice. Not much going on even over new year. The apartments are sketchy and the apartment service even sketchier. The lift pass was hugely expensive as was eating out. There was loads of choice about where to go and some really nice runs particularly off La Plagne central. Some of the lifts have very tricky run offs; beginner snowboarders beware. We saw many wipe-outs and even had a couple ourselves. The runs down to Monte Albert are narrow and get very chopped up by the evening; hard work if you are trying to keep it together at the end of the day. If you are driving to La Plagne do get some snow tyres. The journey back is doable in a day but that is tough going. There are better places to go. Like The Dolomites or Val d'Isere.

• February 08, 2009
  Jim from United Kingdom
  

  I’ve just returned from La Plagne. Great snow and great weather. It’s not a resort for those who like black runs as most of the runs are blues and reds. The vast majority of the blacks were moguls which was fine for a while but we were unable to find a single pisted black run. There were also some blue runs that were very narrow and had huge moguls on them. This was ok for us, but I dread to think how the beginners coped. There were some serious deficiencies in the piste management at La Plagne this year. Too many blue runs resembled reds and even black runs and this shouldn’t happen in a resort that boasts that it’s one of the worlds best.

  One thing was very, very noticeable though; it was incredibly quiet. The mountain bars and restaurants were practically empty the whole time. You could walk into a place at lunchtime and be absolutely guaranteed a choice of tables. The reason? £9 for an omelette, £15 for Spag Bol, £5 for a (small) bowl of chips and £8 for a pint (sometimes not even full) of lager.

  They are, quite simply, taking the mickey, and it seems that everyone has got wind of it now and are making other arrangements. To cap it all – the levels of service in some places are poor. We walked out of one restaurant because the service was not exceptional (if I’m paying £15 for a spag bol I expect service that would put The Ivy to shame; I didn’t get it so I took my money elsewhere).

  We saw lots of people taking their own sandwiches up the mountain and eating them at the side of the slopes; something I’d not seen before. Some bars (Monica’s in Plagne Village) has a happy hour from 5-6pm – and for that hour its about £4/pint. The atmosphere was great – the bar was packed, until 6:10pm when it was utterly empty again.

  I suspect this year the French resorts might make some money – but next year they’ll be scratching their heads and wondering why nobody is visiting them. You can only con people once, the next time they’ll vote with their feet.

  Will I go back to France skiing? No, not whilst the extortion continues. I don’t mind people making a profit whilst running a business; it’s a good thing but I object to feeling aggrieved and ripped off every time I stop for a drink. It ruins the overall enjoyment of the holiday. Italy or Austria from now on I think.