Tell us your tales of ski resort price horrors on the form below
I bought a lift pass for my sister for the day. She got on skis for 30
minutes, hated it and went back to the rental shop. Ker-ching.....that's £39
for the day pass plus £22 for boots and skis for the day - total cost £61.
Or £2 a minute.
I also bought a one-day pedestrian lift pass for my Mum. She really didn't
want to ski (nor did my sister, as it turned out). But she wanted to go up
the hill in a bubble lift to see what it's like up the mountain. And she had
a coffee - that's £11.40 for the pass and £3.50 for the coffee - total cost
£15.10. Ker-ching....
The Alps are alive with tales of skyway robbery, of soaring bills, of exhumed
arguements over whether we really should join the Euro. On a straigth 1:1
conversion rate, even a game of pool was £2.
It is crippling, from the £212 weekly lift pass in our resort (Serre Chevalier
in the French Haute Alps) to the £6 pint and £5.50 panini. I can now relate
to those tall tales of bar prices in Iceland and cocktails in Hong Kong.
There were 12 of us skiing over Christmas and it was superb - four beautifully
sunny days with excellent snow. Apart from Mum and sister, 10 of the family
planned to ski or take lessons - so I am very grateful we pre-booked our
lift passes, ski and boot hire (the passes cost £147, compared to £212 in
resort).
And booking a catered chalet, as we did through Crystal
Ski, it saved a fortune on eating out, with wine provided for the
evening meal (we only really went out one night after dinner, and six drinks
cost an average £30 a round).
There are a lot of January ski holiday discounts available - as our ongoing daily
monitoring of holiday deals reveals. But what is saved on the package
can easily be spent in resort.
The impressive new Les Grandes Bains, a spa and pool complex, costs £17 just
to get in. A basic massage would cost £36 on top and a facial, an impressive
£48. It would even cost £33 to get hosed down.
Our village, Villeneuve, was lovely. Not so lovely were the giftshop prices -
£55 the price tag on a last-minute Cinderella doll. A copy of The
Times cost £4.
So do go and have a fabulous ski holiday, and I hope you get a bargain. But
watch your wallet. And let us know your tales of spectacular prices in
resort.
