Well this was my first ski holiday, it will be one to remember for all the right reasons. Overall this was an excellent holiday, booked as a package through Crystal, it included a free ski pass for the resort, transfers from Turin airport which was all great value.

The transfer from Turin is long it took us 3.5 hours, very twisty turny, so even if you dont get travel sick take some tablets before you leave it will make even the best travellers tums turn over for sure!

I shared my apartment with a couple of friends, the apartments were approached via a very slippy driveway, thick with ice and snow, some grit would have been nice for our arrival, they did put some down later in the week.

The receptionist was not available for our arrival and the rooms were not ready at 4.30pm which was a dissapointment, they were very disorganised so we left them to it and headed into the village for something to eat which was great, the small resort was friendly and quiet at the end of Jan, choice was limited but more lunch eating spots were on route in 1650 during our ski-ing days (main resort slightly lower down the mountain).

When we eventually checkin the service was poor, very limited english and very little information, the only info we received about the resort & facilities was in french! We would reccomend the welcome evening, this is a must,there is a crystal rep on hand in the resort and he was helpful, he gave us a map of the runs with a bit of info on the best bits etc.

The room was great, modern and generally clean. The kitchen was espically well equipped if you wanted to cook, but remember your dishwasher tablets! The view was excellent towards a red run over the pool and the two storey two bed apartments which are seperate to the main building. The apartments are ski to the door, their is a locker room downstairs where you keep your kit, walk up the hill in front of the other apartments and straight onto the baby slopes to warm up, its that easy! Coming back it was even easier, we skied directly to the door, it was very easy to pop back for lunch etc if we wanted to eat in the apartment.

The bed was poor apparently, very hard and the pillows very cheap. But the bedroom in our apartment was private with a sliding door. Bathroom with shower over the bath, seperate loo which was handy. The sofa bed was very uncomfortable, it became a bit of a joke as the week went on, but the skiing made up for the rubbish beds, this is an excellent resort for the beginner, I managed all the green, blue and even a red on my first trip having learnt to ski during the summer in the uk at the snowdome.

I could really reccomend "La Bouscatiere" restaurant in the village, just a few minutes from the hotel, it was excellent and great value for money. The other restaurant opposite was ok, Snow Frenzy I think it was called, but no comparision. Couple of supermarkerts in this tiny resort and again they were excellent, lots of choice and very fair prices. It is worth adding that this is not an Apres Ski Hot Spot, there are a few bars and overall the nightlife is limited, but it would have been wasted on me anyway as the skiing was so good. Its worth taking a torch for walking around the resort at night as they tend to swicth off the outside lights on the footpaths after 8pm!

Every afternoon, early evenig we went to use the pool, sauna and steam room. These were clean and a great treat after a busy day's skiing and this proved an excellent way for us to relax, the outdoor pool was very warm but the path was thick with ice which would have been a real hazard if you didnt see it.

The hotel is noted as having free wi-fi, it doesnt, you have to pay for it. We could get a really strong signal but were unwilling to pay for it when it should have been included in the package.

Overall an excellent holiday, great skiing, good accomodation location and excellent resort for the first time skier, however I would reccomend learning to ski before you come to get the most out of your holiday. Learning basic french might be an idea too if you want to converse with the receptionist and read the menu's in the restaurants!