Catered vs non catered accommodation in the French Alps

I've always thought that one day I would buy my own ski chalet. Somewhere near Lyons or Geneva so I could pop over for a weekend of snow, sun and après-ski. I’d get to know the best ski runs, I’d speak to French like a local and I’d probably have an affair with an instructor called Yves.

Until I earn significantly more than I do, I will have to accept rental accommodation. Over the years, I've stayed at a variety of ski rentals. With everything from a huge apartment block in Val Thorens to a catered chalet in Meribel.

Having recently returned from a ski trip to La Plagne, I thought I would explore the benefits of the different types of ski accommodation.

In my view, there are two main types:self-catered apartment or catered chalet. You can obviously stay at traditional hotels, but for me, this is a very expensive way of going skiing. And, given that ski holidays are one of the dearest holidays you can go on, I don’t know why you would suffer the extra expense.

Benefits of self-catering apartments

• With a self-catering apartment you get the freedom of cooking your own food to your own tastes and dietary needs. This can be especially useful if you have allergies or picky children
• You can eat when you like. You don’t have to be up by nine in order to catch breakfast, or leave the slope side bars by 7 in order to catch dinner
• If you meet people or there are different groups of people going on the holiday, you can easily invite them over for dinner without it being an issue
• Eating on the slopes can be expensive. So you can make your own packed lunch and take it out on the slopes

Down-sides of self-catering apartments

• There are some mini markets on the resorts, but the produce is limited and expensive so you have to be more organised and stop off at a hypermarket en route
• It means you either have to cook and clean every day or accept the expense of eating out
• Often, the cost of self-catering apartments is not significantly different to catered chalet
• Apartments can be large, multi-story affairs. My advice would be to try and avoid the real eye-sores

Benefits of catered chalets

• Everything is done for you. The sheets are generally changed every day, your plates and glasses are tidied away and your bathroom is cleaned daily
• You have three meals cooked for you on all days apart from the leave day (generally a Wednesday). So, breakfast and supper as well as tea and cake when you get back from the slopes
• You generally get unlimited white and red wine with your evening meal. That’s right, unlimited wine
• The chalet staff are on hand every day to help with questions and advice. They’re all doing a ski season, so they know the best slopes, the best restaurants and where to stop for steak hache on the mountainside
• Chalets tend to be smaller buildings. So can be more attractive than the cram-them-in apartments
• Unless you are a group, you’ll generally share with other people. This can be useful if you're travelling with different abilities or if you are looking to have a spot of holiday romance (please note, this can also have downsides, see below)

Downsides to catered chalets

• If you have very specific dietary requirements, a catered chalet may not be for you. In the larger chalets in particular, you often don’t get much of a choice around what you are presented at 7pm
• Unless there is a large group of you, you’ll generally share with other people. This can mean you get stuck with people you don’t like, screaming babies or overly familiar people
• The chalet staff are often there all the time. If you don’t like them, they can be annoying
• The chalet staff make additional income from the “honesty bars” that they operate. Some chalets therefore operate a rule where you can only drink alcohol purchased within the chalet. Which is obviously more expensive than if bought elsewhere

My top tips for finding accommodation

Here are my five top tips for finding accommodation:

1. If you have specific dietary needs or tastes, you might be better off with a smaller chalet rather than a larger one. We recently stayed at a smaller, boutique-style chalet in Les Coches where the chef cooked us bespoke food each day. It meant that they were able to cook a gluten-free cake for when we got back from the slopes and cook evening meals without dairy.If you have ever been on a ski holiday in France, you know that most meals are topped with cheese or doused in cream so this is an absolute luxury. Here’s my review on TripAdvisor of the place we recently stayed as it was excellent.
2. You should always look for accommodation that backs out ontothe slopes. Having been on many holidays where I've had to lug my skis up hillsand onto shuttle buses, it really isn't much fun. Also, check the ski ability needed for the slopes located by the accommodation. If you are a beginner,you’re not going to be able to ski out onto a red or black run.
3. Following on from this, there is nothing worse than finding out that the ski rental shop is a bus ride from your chalet. Honestly, skis,boots and poles are the most cumbersome and heavy items to lug around. It may cost you a bit more, but if you can get the ski people to deliver and fit your skis at your accommodation, it removes a lot of the hassle.
4. If you are catering for yourself, be organised. You’ll need to stop off at a large supermarket before you start climbing the mountains.But, if you run out of anything, you may not be able to get everything you need in the local markets. Plan what you are going to cook and shop accordingly.
5. If you are sharing with other people, tread carefully. You may find yourself agreeing on the first day over a glass of free wine to going to ski lessons altogether,only to discover that you have nothing in common by day two. Absolutely, it’s great if you can find people at a similar level to you that you can head out to the slopes with. But, if you fall out, things can get awkward.

I hope this helps you plan your next ski trip. Have fun and enjoy the après ski. I would recommend a vin chaude every day at around 11am.

How can you tell if people are enjoying a meal? By the click of an iPhone of course!

You used to be able to tell the quality of a good restaurant by the volume of the conversation or the scraping of empty plates. These days, there’s a technological indication- people taking photos of their plates using their iPhones (other smart phone devices are available).

The other week, for example, I had supper with some colleagues at a restaurant near Swindon called The Pear Tree at Purton. I’d been to the restaurant before and knew it was good so I’d recommended going there.

The food, as always, was exquisite. To start, I had Marinated, Smoked Beef Fillet, Sweet Potato and Coriander Salad followed by Steamed Paupiettes of Lemon Sole, Salmon and Lemon Grass Mousseline, Vegetable Spaghetti. It was absolutely delicious and looked pretty as a picture too.

My delicious meal at the Pear Tree at Purton

My meal was so pretty in fact that I decided to take a photo and to my surprise, my colleagues followed suit! All three of the ladies at the table took snaps of their food (the only man present refrained!)

Now, I quite often capture shots of my food as it helps me to remember what I have eaten so I can write about my dining experiences on my blog. I also frequently photograph really nice wine so that I have a record of the label enabling me to buy it again in the future. But I'm fairly sure not all my colleagues have blogs, or are as obsessed with wine as me.

So why do people do it? Simple. Because they want to share their positive dining experiences with their friends and family through social media. It’s not really a surprise since people share photos of their holidays and parties, so it makes sense that they should share photos of other things they have enjoyed such as really nice meals. It acts as a sort of rating of restaurants – see how great the food looks, you should definitely eat here.

I think more restaurants should take advantage of this. If people take photos at their tables, they are more than likely to end up on Facebook, probably with the venue name tagged, acting as a recommendation to friends.

Some of the bottles of wine I've photographed in restaurants over the years.

Some backward restaurants are missing a trick though by not allowing diners to take photos at all. I was in The Ivy in London recently and the table next to me were enjoying a special 50^th birthday meal. They wanted to take photos to document the special occasion and you could tell they were excited to be eating in the famous Ivy. However, the waiter soon put a stop to their fun, stating that house policy is there should be no photographs taken in the restaurant.

Presumably this is to protect their celebrity diners and stop them from getting bothered by cameras during their meals. It’s just a shame for the other customers, as their enjoyment is outweighed by a desire to protect celebrity. And, I think they are missing an opportunity for people to talk about the venue on social networks.

I personally love it when my friends post pictures of food they have eaten or even cooked themselves on Facebook. Frankly, it makes a change from the sea of baby photos that seem to populate my timeline. I’d much rather drool over a plate of delicious looking cuisine or a cherry red glass of the strong stuff.