We have stayed at Club Med resorts quite a lot. This hotel is located in a great ski domain, but is very dated. The bathrooms are beyond description; they are small, old and in need of major refurbishment.

We usually stay in 4 tridents so it was a little of a shock as this one is a 3. The ski room had the most horrible smell I have ever come accross (probably because it is so damp). We were expecting proper ski lockers (ie locked cupboards) like the ones you can find in Tignes or Pesey Vallandry. Unfortunately this was not the case. There was no way to securely warm your boots (you could leave them on a shelf in the open which everyone had access to so I guess you were to leave your boots/skis at your own risks.

The food is not bad for a 3 trident but the 3-daily queues to get to the buffet were a killer but thankfully we had a great waiter (Alexis) who could not do more to assist/help. Thibaud one of the GO's there was also extremely funny and nice to deal with. Our room was on the 6th floor and the person in charge of the room cleaning was also extremely helpful.

The apres-ski afternoon tea was a bit boring with the same food daily. It was also finishing far too early to allow everyone to take advantage of.

We had daily ski lessons with ESF; the ESF instructor was really good (Cyril) but unfortunately I think there were just too many of us in the same group (up to 13/14!). In my opinion, 7 or 8 people in the same group should be the maximum allowed. I understand everything has a cost but cost cutting should not come in the way of safety.

All in all we had a good experience (mainly becaused it is in the best ski domain for us) but remember that if you can't ski for any reason, then there is nothing to do! The swimming pool is very small and so is the gym. The opening hours of the gym are not really practical if you ski and it is unfortunate that access to the sauna was not included.

This is our third trip with Club Med. Having been to Club Med Val D'Isere (4*) and Club Med La Plagne (4*) we had something to compare it to. I have to say I was really impressed with not only the great service that we received, far better than Val D'Isere but the brightness of the place. Whilst it wasnt as nice as La Plagne it wasnt far off. The only real difference was not having a bath and not having individual heated lockers in the boot room. I wouldnt really complain about the boot rooms as they are always busy! No real difference from any ski resort I have been. The rooms werent large but were very clean. My only complaint was the corridors smelt really bad of smoke and the walls were like paper so any noisy neighbours could be heard reallly well. Apart from that and the loss of our suitcases which had gone to the wrong floor everything else was great. It has a lovely pool and spa. Rooms as I said were very clean and and water and towels were changed daily. We had a beautiful view of the resort and mountains. Food was great. Very varied. We were a large group of 20 adults and children and last year at Val D'Isere they wouldnt reserve tables for us but at this resort they were very kind and reserved the tables for us every day. All in all a really enjoyable trip apart from the fact there was too much snow and on quite a few days lifts were closed because of high winds but you cant blame that onto the Hotel. Out of the 3 Club Meds we have been too I would place this one 2nd, with La Plagne coming in first and Val D'Isere coming in 3rd. Also a benefit I forgot to mention is that its ski from door.

We stayed at this hotel with our small kids aged just under 2 and nearly 5. It was our older child's first experience of skiing & children's holiday clubs (mini club), and the staff were brilliant with him. A few wobbles initially but he was enthusiastically skiing (over mini jumps too!) by the end of the week. The staff at the hotel were wonderful, especially with the kids, we didn't get all their names but Eleana (mini club) and Mustapha (dining room) deserve particular mention - many thanks for making us feel so welcome and all your kindness!

The rooms are basic but adequate. We had interconnecting twin rooms rather than a family room and there were a few issues regarding small kids: we were on the 5th floor & yet the windows did not have window locks & opened wide - scary! (Bring duct tape to stop the kids opening them?) It's not possible to stop the kids locking you out via the interconnecting doors, so hang onto those keys! ;) Finally the room did smell of tobacco smoke, if you have very young kids or asthma you might want to specify a non smoking room. Can't comment on child-friendliness of family rooms as didn't see one, and in fairness the niggles with ours were surmountable. :)

If you need to store medication they will very helpfully store it in a fridge behind reception.

One other issue (in common with most hotels) was meal times for kids - dinner is served at 7pm, which can be quite late for little ones when they have to be up for mini club at 8.30 the next morning (well, our snoozy heads need 12 hrs sleep anyway, doh!) They do get high energy snacks in the afternoon at mini club (cakes etc).

The food was lovely, with plenty of choice & availability. We certainly didn't get bored the whole week. (Might have gained a few pounds though!)

The pool is good, there are floats (swim noodles etc) available if you want them.

Location is lovely, it really is ski from the door! Hotel ski hire service was good. ESF instructors whether for private lessons or with the miniclub are great.

Would be even better if they had some form of mini club that took kids under 4...but overall, we had a wonderful holiday & are keen to return!

Having stayed in club Med before I thought I knew what to expect - horrid rooms, old tired furniture and the worst bathrooms in Europe which paled into insignificance when one enjoyed the great food and hospitality.
Not at La Sarenne. Very average food - the same menu constantly repeated with long queues for popular dishes, a vast dining room where you had to hunt for a seat.
The skiing was poor - not the resorts fault - just a bad season which didn't help. However the worst thing was the lack of friendliness and interest in any guest who was not French. The evening shows were geared to the kids - ok - again all in French but where was the usual fun in the bar pre-dinner? Where were the music quizzes and the English speaking resort staff to sit with us?
Poorly managed hotel - not at all up to other Club Med resorts - avoid it if you are English - Villars in Switzerland is far better and I would recommend it to both travellers and the resort manager at la Sarenne - you could learn something!