This year, our family ski holiday consisted of a group of 9 adults and 7 children aged from 2 to 7 years old. The party contained three non-skiing adults (Grandma and Aunties!) who, between them, acted as ‘nannies’ - looking after the kids when they weren’t skiing and giving the chance for the skiing adults to occasionally enjoy some ‘kid-free’ runs. Our skiing abilities were mixed; the adults’ ability ranged from beginners through to advanced, the younger members had either never skied or had up to 4 weeks’ skiing under their belts.

With this in mind we were looking for somewhere offering good facilities and activities, both in the chalet and in the resort, that the non-skiers could enjoy too. 

As our holiday was in mid March we were looking for somewhere with a good snow record but with (fingers crossed!) a bit of sunshine – always beneficial in helping the younger children keep warm when on the lifts. We therefore knew that the choice of resort and chalet would make or break the holiday; a resort which would suit all levels of skiing abilities, with an emphasis on improving the childrens’ skiing ability, plenty to do for the non-skiers and a large spacious chalet with ideally good access to the slopes and resort amenities.

Why choose Alpe d’Huez ski resort for your family ski holiday?

We selected Alpe d’Huez ski resort for a number of reasons. Firstly Alpe d’Huez is a brilliant resort for mixed abilities and in particular beginners and children. The resort simply makes sense; the lower slopes are made up of long wide greens; blues and reds make up the majority of the slopes in the middle of the resort, with blacks generally at the top. Europe’s longest black,  The 14km Sarenne runs from top of the Pic Blanc down through the delightful Gorges de Sarenne valley to the Alpauris chair. It’s best on skis rather than a board as the bottom half of the run is pretty flat. The resort runs are also really well connected, helping you to ski to all areas without getting lost and wasting time having to get multiple lifts just to get high enough to get home at the end of the day.

The resort is high, the plateau of Alpe d’Huez sits at 1,860m with the highest point of resort at 3,330m (Pic Blanc). The resort is know as l’Ile au Soleil (Island in the Sun) and boasts an average of 300 sunny days a year, so without guaranteeing good weather, your chances of taking in some rays are fairly high. The mountain ranges are spectacular with amazing views whether you’re in resort or up one of the mountains.

Alpe d’Huez has a good selection of activities for the non-skiers, including sledging areas, swimming, dog sleds, horse riding, ice rink, and an ice cave with sculptures. For those non-skiers who want to get up the mountain there are some excellent mountain restaurants, many accessible by walk-on gondolas or express chairlifts (suitable for pedestrians), with views to match if you all want to meet up for a lunch time family gathering.

The skiing was ideal for us. We skied for around an hour and a half with the kids on the lower slopes then dropped them off at the chalet so we could have the rest of the morning to bomb around the resort and then meet up for lunch. After lunch on the first couple of days the kids had their ski lessons which gave us another couple of hours to ski and then go and meet them for an hour’s skiing together, before going back to the chalet for afternoon tea.

Choosing your family ski chalet in Alpe d’Huez

An important consideration is your chalet; being quite a large group we were looking for sole occupancy and easy access to the skiing, but were not too bothered about being in the centre of town as our full-on party days were long gone some years ago. The Altiport area of Alpe d’Huez was ideal offering mostly ski-in ski-out access. We stayed in the Chalet Louisa which sleeps 16-18 people, offers ski-in ski-out access,  a hot tub, sauna and has all fully en-suite rooms. The Louisa is one of the most popular chalets in the Altiport due to its value for money, size and facilities. If you have a different group size or are on a smaller budget then there are also plenty of other alternatives in the Altiport like Chalet Ariane 2 (sleeps 12) which also has a hot tub and is ski-in ski-out.

Had we been a smaller family group without our own child care arrangements we would have opted for the Chalet Hotel Le Mariandre (sleeps up to 67 people), where you can ski back to the front door. The Telecentre ski-lift and piste are only 30m away. The rooms are all en-suite and you can opt for family rooms or suites with south facing sun terraces. The chalet has its own nursery and kids club facilities plus an evening baby listening/child patrol service so you can relax and enjoy your evening meal in peace!

There are plenty of other chalet options in Alpe d’Huez, for example if you have a mixed group with older children then Chalet L’Escapade (sleeps up to 68 people) is ideal for families, there are several rooms offering half price places for children all season. The Chalet L’Escapade benefits from great facilities and a superb location, you can ski-in ski-out onto an easy green piste. Whilst all the rooms are compact they enjoy en-suite facilities and many are south facing with balconies overlooking the piste and the chairlift. Guests enjoy the luxury of an outdoor hot tub, sauna, steam room and exercise area which are free for guests to help ease muscles at the end of a great day’s skiing. Round off the perfect day with an aperitif in the bar before your meal.

The recently built chalets La Chapelle ( sleeps 14) , La Ferme (sleeps 10), La Maison (sleeps 8), Le Chateau (sleeps 14-15), Le Manoir (sleeps 12) are all luxury chalets with the piste running past the front of them, linking the Rond Point des Pistes with lower Les Bergers area. For an all-inclusive family holiday there is the Hotel Club Med Alpe d Huez La Sarenne situated just below the Les Bergers centre.

Our chosen family ski chalet – Chalet Louisa

We stayed in Chalet Louisa, a great chalet. Apart from the obvious benefit of being ski-in ski-out, it has a very spacious living and dining area with south-facing balcony which is great for enjoying a beer at the end of the day swapping ski stories. A word of advice though; if there are wooden balconies, either pack slippers for the kids or a pair of old socks as wooden balconies can lead to a lot of splinter picking if you have bare feet!

The excellent ski room on the ground floor has a very good ski rack and heated boot warmer plus plenty of benches for all to sit at while donning ski boots. If I was being picky, a few more hooks would have been useful for hanging ski jackets etc. The large hot tub and sauna are also on the ground floor a long with two bedrooms. Be aware that if you are a light sleeper you should not put yourself in the room near the hot tub as the heat regulator can make varied loud noises during the night! The alternative, or course, is to ask the chalet girls to turn the hot tub off as you go to bed, but you’d better remember to have it turned back on first thing in the morning or your other chalet mates may string you up after they’ve leapt into a bubbling cold tub!

Read More: See Part 2 of our family ski holiday blog which features useful tips for your family skiing holiday.

Rupert’s group stayed in the Chalet Louisa in Alpe d’Huez, which is available during the 2010-11 season from £499 per person including Gatwick flights. If you’d like more information on this or any of the other family chalets featured above then please drop us a line or call us for an in depth chat.