We stayed in the Sport in Jan 2010 and I was a little apprehensive having read some of the reviews. The hotel is quite basic, but more than adequate. It's owned by Marilyn who is English and her Italian husband. Her husband and sons are local ski school instructors, so great for advice for where to go on the mountain and where is best to eat etc. There is ski storage and boot storage in reception, and the hotel is a short (uphill) walk to the Clotes lift.

The food wasn't amazing, but it did get better during the week.

The service from Marilyn and her family is amazing, we had a minor issue with having no heating one night, we mentioned it to Marilyn and not only was the problem resolved that night, but she gave us some free drinks at dinner too!

I would expect even the most basic hotel this close to the lifts to be much more expensive, so value for money is, in my opinion, excellent.

Some reviews have mentioned noise from Paddy's, but to be honest, I wonder why anyone who is that bothered about noise would book themselves into a hotel above an Irish bar??? As it was, we were in a room at the front of the hotel, and we barely hear anything from Paddy's.

I would both stay at the Sport again, and recommend it to friends.

REMEMBER: Skiing is not for Princess's

We loved hotel sport. It's more or less over Paddy Mc Ginty's Irish bar. If you are a heavy sleeper, this place is the business. The hotel was warm, clean, the rooms were spacious and the showers were hot and powerful. It was very central for going out at night and only a short walk up to the slopes. i was really happy with where we were staying, if apres ski is important to you, this is the place to stay. We had a two minute walk home every night, in comparison to other people waiting and getting cabs home.
Dinner every night, as we had half board, was a 5min walk to villa cary, another hotel, the food was tasty and the staff couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful and attentive.

The Sport Hotel offers the essentials for skiiers for only a little bite out of your wallet. It is great for students and younger couples particularly- those who aren't too fussy when it comes to food and have got used to sleeping through noise, if they're not out seeing the town themselves.

You won't go hungry here, but be prepared for a breakfast of two types of cereal and some bread rolls, with ham, cheese and jams. That's it. The main evening meal is filling but, apart from the starters, not very Italian-inspired and dessert is often a choice(?) of fruit or icecream.

Rooms were clean and attractive, with quaint outside wooden shutters to pull down at night and a TV with BBC World, Sky News and ITV1 to keep you feeling in touch with home.

The only warning I must give is that we stayed at The Sport off-peak and even so we needed earplugs on some nights to drown out the noise of wailing women and moaning men karaoking in Paddy McGintys Irish bar- which is directly below the hotel.

If all you want is a comfy bed and shower- because you will be hitting the slopes for the full day- this hotel can offer just that. But pack the earplugs! If you want more, search elsewhere but be prepared to double your accommodation costs.

We had the misfortune of staying in this hotel for a week in Jan 05. The hotel was above a VERY loud disco that went on until the early hours and was in a street that had an all night pizzeria and other all night discos so the noise from the street was phenomenal. We got very little sleep in this hotel which ruined our skiing. As well as this there was very poor heating so the rooms were cold and there was nowhere to dry wet ski gear, no ski and boot room to dry out wet boots. Food was extremely basic and served at another hotel. On day one we were promised a van to take our luggage up to the hotel which never turned up and so we carried it, and on the way back we were promised an early breakfast and a van to carry our luggage to the coach. Neither happened. Upon arrival our passports were taken and held for the full week as a key deposit. If you didn't want to leave your passport the charge was 50 Euros. There was no reception and never anyone around for advice so we couldln't find out about ski buses etc, the place was like an abandoned chalet. If you do stay here bring ear plugs and sleeping tablets, that was the only way we got through the week.