It's a wonderful little resort, relatively unknown to us Brits, nestled in the Spanish Pyrenees. It has an almost alpine feel, with some great local, traditional architecture and only a few ugly eye-sore concrete blocks. I don't think it's a 'working village' but it does have a thriving summer hiking and mountain biking industry so it'd be safe to assume that it doesn't close down after the winter season.
I was really impressed by the quality of the local restaurants and tapas bars. The food was excellent and the prices (food and drink) are comparative to what you'd pay in the UK. Although we stayed in a catered chalet, we did go out to dinner one night and had post-ski beers and tapas every day. Dinner for the 4 of us came to €70, for a two course meal and a couple of bottles of decent wine. Beer costs about €4 & coffees €2 and what's refreshing is that the prices are pretty much the same on the mountain.
Local amenities are a bit limited, only one supermarket, one pharmacy and a 3 ski hire shops. There is a ban on selling cigarettes in Baqueira (surprising considering that most Spaniards are smokers) which I found odd and if you are a smoker, you can only buy them out of a vending machine in the 5* hotel or else take a trip to the next nearest town.
We went with SkiMiquel (our first experience with them) and I can't say we were disappointed. The Chalet Salana is a nice, basic but comfortable hotel/chalet. It has a heated boot room/ski storage, a rather poor hot tub and a nice lounge, with an open fire and cheap bar! The chalet staff are fantastic, friendly and attentive. Nothing is too much bother. There is also ski hosting everyone morning (bar their day off) and they do take you all over the resort. My only gripe was that breakfast was very basic (muesli, bread/toast, cold meat and cheese) and afternoon teas didn't deliver on the promise of 'freshly baked cakes everyday'. Dinner was good though, 3 tasty courses and unlimited wine!
The ski area is split into three different areas. The lifts are fairly modern and for the most part, pretty quick. They still have some older, slower lifts in use but, thankfully, very few drag lifts. I was bemused that they still require lift passes to be scanned manually (at the main lifts) rather than the automatic/electronic systems everywhere else I've been to.
The main area is, obviously, Baqueira. This is primarily aimed at the beginners/intermediates, with wide open blues and reds. There is nothing much of huge interest from the top of Baqueira to the bottom but the red which runs home under the gondola is excellent. Narrow, fast and icy! It is possible to ski from 2500m (Cap de Baqueira) to the gondola base station (1500m) in one go, albeit tiring on the legs.
Either side of Baqueira is Beret and Bonaigua. Again, it much of the same in that the vast majority of the runs are wide, fast, cruisy reds and blues. The few black runs they have are fairly short but they are steep and icy.
Of the three, my favourite area was Bonaigua and I'd find myself heading back over there time and again. This is where the best runs are, IMO, and also where the best off piste is to be found.
Although I talk of there being three separate areas, the reality is that anything in between a piste is open game if you have the skill and the balls. It's possible to ski from Beret to Bonaigua without venturing onto bashed pistes and from what I saw, the majority of the people who ski Baqueira only stick to off piste. The stats indicate that there is only 110km of pisted skiing but the reality is that you could quadruple that if you take into account the off piste. I'm not clued up on this but the distinction they draw with other European resorts is that Baqueira is modelled on the North American ski resorts. Anything within the boundaries of the three areas is skiable. So, from what I understand, you don't need special insurance for off piste skiing because, technically, you are skiing within the territory. I still don't understand it now so don't ask!
There are some great little restaurants dotted all over the mountain, and with the exception of the Moet bar, all are reasonably priced. The quality of the food is excellent and there is plenty of variety. The Spaniards love their food and wine and there are no shortcuts in the mountain restaurants. A plate of spare ribs, chips and chargrilled vegetables is only €20, a large pizza (cooked in a pizza oven) is €10. Compare that to France! My favourite places were the Moet bar and the San Miguel bar. Both attract the wealthy skiers and it's always nice to have some eye candy when one has stopped for a beer. And you've got to try the hot chocolate. None of this thin, watery stuff we normally get. This stuff is thick like wet mud and definitely gives you a chocolate hit.
I could say plenty more but I'm pretty crap at writing up reviews after then event. I'd definitely go back to Baqueira as I really enjoyed the whole package. Great skiing, great weather and a much slower paced atmosphere than the Alps. Although the snow wasn't great the week before I went, they had had a huge dump just before we arrived and it's still snowing now. I guess their claims of having better snow than the Alps isn't unfounded. Much much better than Andorra, which is strange when you consider they aren't that far away.
The major drawback is that English isn't widely spoken so you'll have to engage in the universal language of gesticulation. I'd also definitely go SkiMiquel again, as value for money goes, it can't be beat.
Tony H, you'll love it son!
The hot chocolate!
My attempt at off-pisting!
There's loads more pics but I'm wary of uploading too many!
