AllyG wrote:Tony, I think they must have renovated the Sauze hotel since you were there last, or it wouldn't have had such good reviews on Trip Advisor.
Back on topic:
One of the main differences I have noticed between chalets and hotels, from the financial point of view, is that chalets seem to give you free drinks of tea and coffee and wine with meals, whereas hotels seem to charge for all drinks other than at breakfast when you can usually have a choice between fruit juice, tea or coffee.
And also, chalets give you something when you get in from ski-ing, usually cake and tea/coffee, at around 4 p.m. Mind you, some of the hotels are starting to do this as well. I notice that the Sauze is offering 'tea' from 4-5 p.m. I hope this includes actual 'tea' and not just something like peanuts!
Oh, and here's another tip for you Sm4sh, have a look at the reviews on Trip Advisor for whichever chalet/hotel you are considering. They are often most informative. I just checked the Sauze ones (again) to find out about the afternoon tea, and it says this:
'The bar. At reception there is a small bar and whilst lacking in apres atmosphere they do offer the cheapest drinks in town. They also provide tea and cake for when you get off the mountain. Oh did I mention the free wifi.'
Hey Ally, I just had a look at the Sauze website. Looks very much to me like the bedrooms have had a lick of paint, but they're still very much the same as when I was there a few years back, and the bathrooms are unchanged, maybe some new furniture. Best of luck.
As for trip advisor - I think its a really useful tool for getting a general idea of what a hotel comes across as, but you have to consdier a couple of things: firstly the kind of people who go to these places and say its brilliant. For example, look at reviews of Playa de las Americas in Tenerife - not somewhere I would ever consider going, but some of the reviews are incredibly good, but you have to consider the type of people who go there, and what they are looking for. My experience of Hotel Sauze was that if you wanted to party all night and crawl back in a 3 or 4am and wake everyone in the hotel up, then you'd say it was a great base. If you were one of the people trying to get a good nights sleep to ski hard early next morning, you might say it was a dreadful place.
Secondly, people only tend to write a review if they have had a really bad experience and want to warn others, or if they have a vested interest in promoting the place, or unless it was genuinely fantastic.
But you will get a flavour from a consensus as to whether the place is good or not. Expect mixed reviews, as it is all at the end of the day extremely subjective.
As for hotel vs chalet, Ally is right about the food and drink. In a chalet, the main difference is usually they are smaller and cater for maybe 6-18 people often. Some places are bigger, but mainly a chalet is more intimate, like a home from home. You will be looked after by a host who will cook for you, and they will usually be very flexible about what time they serve meals, based on what the majority of guests request, and also what they will cook. Whereas a hotel tends to advertise times for meals, and my experience says if yo miss the first sitting food can often be hard to come by, so eat early!
Chalets will allow you in and out all day, much more flexible on what you are allowed to wear around the place, whereas a hotel may specify what you can wear in certain areas. A hotel will have a bar, a chalet you can bring your own beers in and put them in the fridge or buy them cheap from the hosts if they prefer that way.
You will get wine served technically free with dinner, and if your host if a decent guy or girl, generally they will let you help yourself to the wine from tea time to bed time. Some companies are a little more "stiff" and less flexible, stingey I have heard it called!
And yes, you can get free hot drinks all day every day in a chalet, whereas in a hotel you probably would have ton either pay or they may only provide them at restricted times.
No big queue for breakfast or dinner in a chalet either. I've found myself waiting at 8am for someone to come and open gates or a rope into the dining area in order to get breakfast done as fast as possible, with the owners pedantically waiting until exactly 8am until they open up! Whereas in a chalet we have had the hosts agree to serve breakfast from 7.30 for example so that we are out by 8 and on the first lift at 1/4 past, thus killing every bird with the same stone and avoiding any lift queues as well.
Everyones different, everyone has their preferences, and one experience in each could be quite different to another. Personally I really like chalet holidays, more intimate and personal, less stiff if you like, less regulated and better value for money in the main. But I have also had some extremely good hotel holidays, mainly in Austria as the quality there seems to be higher than in Italy certainly, and much of the French ones I have been to as well, unless you pay through the nose of course. I still say Club Med offers very good value for money as an overall package, especially when you take into acocunt you can eat lunch on the slopes in their dedicated restaurants and the food quality is excellent. Only 2 people I travelled with felt the food was not good, but then they are the sort of people that ask for chips every meal and want half a bottle of ketchup all over their food, so probably wouldn't appreciate the better food anyway. You know the type....
Anyway Sm4sh, plenty to consider. Don't be put off a chalet holiday if you are bothered about people in your chalet, its a sociable thing and you all have the one love in common, skiing.
I hope you make a good choice and enjoy it.
