ski in early Jan 2013

Any advice out there?

We are a party of 14, looking for a catered chalet to ourselves. Our skiing is not very advanced (all been once before) so looking for plenty of greens and blues, easy access to and from slopes, good food etc. I know some places claim good greens and blues, but access to them or back to the village can be difficult. Age range from 12 - 50yrs. Looking for good accommodation,not spartan, but we don't have an unlimited budget. For reference last ski trip we were at Le Dauphin in Alpe D'Huez, which was great, but we'd like to try something new.

Thanks for your always helpful answers!

This January we were 20 people in Courchevel 1650, France. In 2 chalets, 10 people each. We booked somewhere end of last July, and the price was like 1600 euro per chalet, and the conditions were simply great.
The ski runs are great, well connected to other areas, we also got discount passes for group booking. I recommend you to search there, definitely liked it.
Another guy from the group booked the chalet so I don't have the agency handy, but if you want - I'll ask him about it, just send me a PM to confirm.

Now is the right time to get really good pricing so don't wait :)

BTW our chalets were self-catered, but suppose there are plenty of catered ones too.

I would think that the first thing is a list of priorities.
For me these would be .......

How early in January? Resorts can still be waiting for the first big dump, you don't want to be left with a long journey up to some snow.

Then - country? Any preferences?
Then start looking at resorts. As a group with modest ability you don't need to go to one of the top resorts with miles and miles of pistes. Somewhere smaller and cozier will mean it is easier for you all to be keeping together and meeting for drinks and lunch.

Then accomodation. Close to the snow by the sounds of it, or at least very convenient - short bus journey with frequent buses for example. Close to the snow can be different to close to the nearest lift, especially early in the season.

Free lifts for first weekers can be an advantage.

In France how about looking at Valmorel? Maybe one of the Beaufortain resorts?

The advantage of a smaller resort is that you tend to get more for your money in terms of accomodation.

Keep the info coming and you'll get lotsa of suggestions.

Les Brevieres, Chalet Bonjour....

What a good idea Iceman

I think Camelthief is looking to rent a chalet all to themselves, and whilst the Bonjour-Bonjour chalet in Tignes is very nice, we will be in it on the 13th January, and the previous 2 weeks have already been booked.

How about Cervinia? It's a ski resort we're considering for 2014, and it seems to be pretty good for beginners and intermediates (whilst Zermatt, to which it is linked, is very good for advanced and expert skiers).

Thanks for advice so far, I'll look at the suggestions. We're going for a week from 5th January.Is it advisable to go high then for a better chance of good snow? Struggled to find good catered chalets that can take 14 in Courchevel. Have been recommended Meribel, any views on that? Been focussing on France as chalet options seem to be better and more, but open to suggestions.