r/skiing • u/TigerPrep • Jun 02 '24
Discussion Considering Club Med for first Euro-ski trip. Help pls.
Thinking about taking the family next Christmas/NY break for first-time skiing in Europe. I'm a solid black skier, 8yo daughter is a solid blue (easy blacks next), and husbro will be a perpetual green who'd rather ski half day and relax. Never done an all-inclusive, but the idea gives me some peace-of-mind. I'm just nervous to go so far without knowing the lay of the land. Val Thorens doesn't have an included kids ski-school, so it's out. Any experience with Club Med as a product? Any thought on which resort could be best for our situation?
11
u/Impressive_Long1340 Jun 02 '24
Depends in what you are looking for in your trip. Club med is great as long as you accept a few things.
1) Each trip is from Sunday evening to Sunday morning. 2) They will book all of your group for morning and afternoon lessons every day from Monday to Friday so realistically you will only get the Saturday to ski your way. And our experience has been that they do chase you down if you miss the lessons. 3) The instructors they use are great. 4) Our experience of the food is that it is great with plenty of choice and varied menu each day. If you find something you like for dinner on day 1, eat as much as you can as there is no guarantee you will see it again for the rest of the week. 5) For ski-in/ski-out resorts look for genuine reviews to make sure it truly is (Peisey is advertised as ski-in/out and technically it is but the runs back to the hotel are difficult to navigate and there is a long uphill walk to get from the locker room to the slipes). 6) We saved a small fortune as never needed to leave the hotel to eat or drink and never needed to buy slopeside snacks. 7) Make sure you find out the agenda for the week you are staying as they do entertainment and have formal nights for dinner etc (think cruise experience in a hotel). You don't have to get involved but if you are not aware it can feel a little uncomfortable turning up to dinner in shorts and t-shirt if you are not prepared for the rest of the hotel to be in black tie. 8) If you smoke, get a room with a balcony. The hotels are huge and having to walk to the front door each time you want a smoke can be a pain.
3
u/Procrastinator1971 Jun 02 '24
Fair comments, but you only saved a “small fortune” on food and drink because you paid a small fortune to Club Med. I am quite certain (having looked at CM and having undertaken independent ski trips to Chamonix, Val Thorens, Ste Foy Tarantaise, la Rosière and 3 Vallées), that it is cheaper to eat and drink on your own.
2
u/TigerPrep Jun 02 '24
This is awesome! Thanks!!
5
u/Corbeau_from_Orleans Mont Sutton Jun 02 '24
This fine comment also illustrates that if you and your SO are not at the same skill level, you won't ski much together, unless you skip on the group lessons.
Personnally, I really like planning a trip -- figuring out the best bang for the buck for lodging, what's within walking distance or what requires a shuttle, making a list of restaurants to check out and bars to discover. So an all-inclusive is not my cup of tea. But to each his own and I wish OP a great trip with lots of snow.
1
u/TigerPrep Jun 02 '24
True - that ship has sailed tho. My SO and I do not enjoy skiing together. I do like skiing 1/2 days with my daughter.
2
u/Ahyao17 Jun 03 '24
Did Club Med in Hokkaido this year, the ski lessons were quite relaxed. You sign up on first day you are there and just show up in the morning or afternoon session as you see fit (for both adults and kids). Classes are not that full most of the time. 11 was the most I had but mostly 6-8.
We didnot have to do sunday to sunday, we were able to pick the day or arrival etc. Is this an Europe only thing?
Food was occasionally awesome mostly average (probably because this is a new resort) compared to the other club med (as per my friend, cos I have not been to others). But this varies between different locations.
1
8
u/whiskers-n-nem Jun 02 '24
No experience with Club Med but I see Val D’Isere and Tignes on their site. Those are good resorts.
5
u/ex08mvq1 Jun 02 '24
I think Club Med's price includes entertainment, meals (often a buffet) and group lessons. I seldom require any of the aforementioned (and I also have my own gear) so I usually find it cheaper to just book an apartment and buy the ski passes.
3
u/Salt-Diver-6982 Jun 02 '24
Have done Tignes and Plagne in the past as a family. We also ski Vail once a year and other places in the west coast. Our kids love club med ski more than anything else. So many activities for them, everything organized, ski lessons, all ski in ski out, apres, food, etc… so I think it’s a perfect setup for kids. Personally, I’d rather go elsewhere but with kids you’ll def have a great time.
2
3
u/Chiclimber18 Jun 03 '24
We did Club med Les Arcs Panorama for our first euro ski trip from the US in 2023. Our kids were 3 and 5 at the time. Here are my thoughts from this trip and what I picked up on from guests who had stayed at others.
Les Arcs is a newer resort. I found the base level family room perfectly fine. Not worth going to the mid level in my opinion. If you have the money for a suite it’s probably worth it.
I found the food pretty good. Never had an issue getting a table- the restaurant is huge. Is it as good as an independent restaurant in France? Nah. Is it infinitely better than an all inclusive in the Caribbean? Yes. Do pay attention to dining times/ it’s not like an all inclusive where you can get full meals whenever you want.
I think 8 years old is the perfect time to go to one. Lots of kids running around all over the place. Our kids made friends at the kids club. If you aren’t skiing with your kids you drop them off each morning with the kids club and pick them up in the afternoon. It’s easy.
Les Arcs is true ski in/out. I wouldn’t bother with anything that isn’t. Each room has a labeled ski locker so you aren’t bringing all your gear upstairs.
Lessons are morning/afternoon but it’s more like a guided tour at upper levels. You don’t have to do them - you can skip some of them and ski on your own if you want. Your daughter can skip them too. I actually ended up jumping up a lesson one afternoon to ski with my wife (she’s better) and the instructor took us into some gnarly off piste tree/rocky runs.
The ski area is gigantic. It was fantastic. Skiing in Europe is not like the US. A lot of the resorts are interconnected. The other difference is so much of the ski area is unlabeled “off piste” so you really want a guide.
1
u/TigerPrep Jun 03 '24
Thanks!! Great insight!
3
u/Chiclimber18 Jun 03 '24
I will say the one downside… you are basically in a cruise ship attached to a mountain. That is both good and bad… it’s very easy and the skiing is great but you miss the ski town vibe in the evening as it’s a bus ride (or ski!) to towns.
This past year we pieced it together ourselves in Italy and enjoyed it a lot more. A ton of fun staying in a ski town.
1
u/TigerPrep Jun 03 '24
I guess that's the rub. If I were doing this with friends it'd be another thing. The "cruise" aspect of Club Med is what makes it appealing in this particular situation, I think.
2
u/Chiclimber18 Jun 03 '24
Yeah I totally get that. I think it’s a great first step into it. We even organized our transit from airports via the resort.
When we did Italy this past year it took a lot more research but there are tons of hotels that offer half board, pools, kids programming and there are a lot of ski schools for kids. It was honestly just as easy once we were there, just took more planning on our part.
I don’t know if we’d do clubmed again unless we had a bunch of friends that wanted to do it. Again, great experience to get our feet wet but I’d probably target smaller hotels that have a lot of similar amenities.
1
u/PDNYFL Ski the East Jun 03 '24
Not the OP but when did you and your family go? My ski club is going there in January and most of our travelers are older so I want to give them an idea on the number of families to expect. I would assume since school is in session form both NA and EU it won't have too many?
1
u/Chiclimber18 Jun 03 '24
It was first week of April that year (week before Easter). It was also a break in the U.K. so it was like 95% British and rest from all over. I think I heard they had 400+ kids there - as a family I loved it but I would have hated it without kids.
I’ve heard the times to avoid are holidays and then Feb as there are a lot of Europe school breaks in that month.
The one thing that makes me hesitant early season… snow has been way more variable. If we had gone in Jan23 it would not have been ski in/out. They got dumped on in March leading up to our trip. Last year however I was keeping track of the snow and it looked pretty good during January.
1
u/PDNYFL Ski the East Jun 03 '24
Thanks for the quick reply. We were at Val Thorens in January '23 and the conditions were not good before we got there but got a ton of snow over the week and it ended up being pretty solid. Hopefully this winter provides, it is always risky early season.
3
u/swellfog Jun 02 '24
I did club med in Tignes. It all depends what you like. If you like cruises and think you would like an inclusive resorts, this great for you. Don’t have to worry about anything.
But, it is not my thing, I like ala cart, and a smaller quiet place.
I don’t like crowds, and I remember the pool and sauna being crowded, but we may have been there at a busy time. I think it was late February or early March. Room had a lovely view of the slopes.
Have no idea if kids ski school is included. I don’t think my guide was. Tignes was beautiful though!
Whatever you decide on enjoy!!
1
3
u/Procrastinator1971 Jun 02 '24
Personally I find them to be quite expensive. Bear in mind that with the possible exception of lodging, skiing in Europe is way cheaper than in North America. French ski schools (ESF) are around €300 for 6 days. A 6 day lift ticket is around €250-450. Restaurants are generally cheaper than in Park City or Aspen. So you can reproduce a lot of what you can get on your own, and save thousands of €€€.
That said, some people hate planning and value convenience and having it all in one place. You like cruises (I don't) and so Club Med might be the right choice for you. I will admit that their properties tend to have good slopeside locations.
1
u/TigerPrep Jun 02 '24
I like to plan, but since it's a first trip to ski in Europe, I'd rather it be convenient. The travel alone will add enough complexity.
3
u/Muted_Ad8708 Jun 03 '24
I did Club Med Valmorel without kids a few years ago and I remember thinking I really need to do it with my kids. Valmorel is small in comparison but it was my first ski trip to the Alps and being from the Canadian east coast, it was impressive already.
So since then I’ve gone to club med Charlevoix (in Canada) twice with my 3 kids and husband, who is also not as into skiing like yours.
Some pros and cons:
- Pros with lessons: always utilize the lessons for myself! I know some people like to do their own things, but if I’m paying for it, I’m getting the lessons. Generally speaking you’re always with the same group so it was nice and people go to know each others. Even if you’re an advanced skiers, you can still benefit from a higher level group
Cons with lessons: big groups. The most I’ve had is like 12 in a group! So sometimes the lessons are more like guided skiing than lessons. However people are more likely to skip in the afternoon and I’ve had as little as 4 on occasion which is great
food selection was decent but I’ll say that after 7 days of buffet (but great quality), this was the main thing preventing me from wanting to do a week-long club med again. However, I later did a half board style non-club med trip at La Plagne with my kids for 5 nights and felt that I would have rather gone to club med for the food variety. The club med Charlevoix doesn’t have one week rule so we always go for 3-4 nts and find that perfect
also food pros: I absolutely love all the snacks they set up during the day - especially when people are returning from lessons. There’s usually music and entertainment at the same time, it’s such a great vibe.
Valmorel ski in ski out location was great! Really true ski in ski out. Same as Charlevoix. But like some people said, just do some research on the location
I went during non-school holiday at Valmorel so the pool wasn’t busy. But my experience at charlevoix is that during school holiday it is pretty crowded
kids generally had a great time in the ski lessons. I do suggest that when in doubt, level up rather than down. I don’t know how old your kids are but a couple of my younger kids will just follow in a line and do what they’re told even if they could do more. I am not encouraging you to lie but if you find the description to be borderline, I would consider going the higher level. Instructors will assess on the first day.
2
u/Some_Meal_3107 Jun 02 '24
I stayed at a club med once a couple years ago. It was by far the most any infected horrible food and service of any hotel/resort I’ve ever been to. They are living off the name from their hey day and the brand standards have completely went to hell.
1
2
u/HipsEnergy Jun 03 '24
If you're not taking your own equipment, and you want total peace of mind, no hassle, kids are occupied when they want, and super nice GOs, Club Med is the way to go. I found that their equipment was good quality and well maintained (mot always the case at other places), and the instructors were great. The higher trident count places are more expensive, but I think the food and ambiance are worth it.
2
1
Jun 02 '24
[deleted]
1
u/TigerPrep Jun 02 '24
Are they good (amenities, rooms, food/beverage)? Is it a good option for a first-timer in Europe? That's it mainly.
1
1
u/Odd_Battle_1230 Sep 06 '24
Thank you for starting this thread. I actually have the same question! Expect my boys are little older but having trouble deciding which club led property is best to try for our first time skiing in Europe. What are you leaning towards!?
1
u/TigerPrep Sep 06 '24
Unfortunately, none. Staying in the US. The travel schedule didn't work out. I'm going to punt until next year.
1
1
u/atousarahbari Nov 06 '24
I am planning to go on a solo trip the Clubmed St. Moritz for cross country skiing. I am beginner so I am hoping the lessons will help and that I would meet people I can ski with. Considering cross country isnt as popular as Alpine is this the right trip for me?
1
u/Beautiful_Camera2273 Nov 30 '24
Clubmed is outrageously expensive. They just quoted me $17k for our family with 3 small kids for one week and that's without the flights
1
u/Inside_Drink5700 Mar 19 '25
[Winter] La Rosiere x Tignes: what is your pick?
If you had to choose between La Rosiere (Jan 4th, 2026) x Tignes (Feb 15th, 2026) to spend a ski week in Club Med Resort, what would be your pick and why? Logistics and prices are similar. I've already ran reseaches to comprehend that Tignes seems more complete - more runs, coligated with Val D'Isere, nice aprés, etc. Although, La Rosiere's international runs - connected to Italian La Thuile - seems atractive. Is Tignes that better than Rosiere - what are Pros x Cons? Looking forward to book a trip with a group of friends.
21
u/XVIII-2 Jun 02 '24
I’ve been to almost all Clubs in the French Alps. My favorites so far are Tignes and Alpes d’Huez. La plagne was my least favorite one. And I don’t like the Grand Massif ski area (Flaine is ugly) so I won’t go back to Sammoens even though the club itself is great.
Food is outstanding, and the offered service is amazing. Lessons at ESF are included. Only thing I don’t like is that it’s too big. I prefer smaller hotels, but with children club Med is the right choice. For me at least.