From reading some of the other chalet reviews here you would think Alpine Elements had people staying in straw filled barns in a village no where near Arc 2000 and offered next to nothing. Our experience this winter was the opposite - great skiing and a real laugh.

The phrase, get what you pay for springs to mind. You pay a relatively low price for an Alpine Elements holiday which is all inclusive and you actually get a pretty good deal. The only poor part of our recent trip of 6 friends was the massive crowds at Geneva airport heading home and the slightly long bus transfer.

Our apartment block was new and well furnished, all the towels there and clean sheets (pillows were rubbish but I've had that in 5 star hotels in Paris - that's France). Our hosts were great fun, just gap year kids doing their best, but that was exactly what we expected. Numerous ski shops right next door and 3 bars. The ski lift linking into the main area is not ski in and out literally, but if it's too much to ask to walk 100m or less to access 400 acres of skiing you should probably do a less energetic holiday!

The pool and sauna are indeed a walk through the car park underground which was weird, but the only bad thing about it was too many kids, you just need to take flip flops to walk down. The cooking was generally good and plenty of wine. Being a group of 6 hard core skiers/boarders the chalet staff got on well with us and helped guide round the mountain but never overstepped the mark by letting things slack. Meals were always ready when we wanted and afternoon tea waiting from each day's skiing.

I've been skiing for over 20 years, done 3 seasons and my summary would be pretty simple: don't get carried away by descriptions of luxury etc, it isn't - look at the price, it's about a third of a luxury catered chalet. What you will get is a perfectly amenable ski holiday run for people with a sense of humour who are there to enjoy the snow and the socialising...at a reasonable price. If you're in your 20's, no kids and the thought of a hang over doesn't terrify you, you'll probably have a great holiday with this package.

Spent Christmas week at Chalet Altitude with family and friends (a wide variety of ages from 11 to 76!). The chalet was absolutely lovely with plenty of room for all of us (9 people) and very clean and comfortable. Our host for the week - TIM - was amazing! A fabulous cook - every meal was just fantastic and served with a smile. We couldn't have wished for a better person to look after us all-he is wonderful. A bus stopped just opposite the chalet which took us down to the slopes - this was easy to do and ran regularly. The view from our balcony was fantastic and a very good place to watch the fireworks on Christmas Eve. We also used the pool and sauna most evenings which was a perfect way to end a day on the slopes!! A lovely place to spend Christmas - but would definitely like to have Tim look after us again.

because people only write in when they have had a bad time,i thought i`d put everyone right!
we got back 2 days ago and we had a great time!
booked with alpine elements and had no problems,transfer was long,but how else do people expect to get there! met by tom at the airport,who told us which bus to get on,had a break half way for food stop! we were staying in maximilian with 4others, we met our host ross who was great,we were lucky with the other guest who were great too! food was really good,missed our host on his day off! rooms were clean and tidy,dont expect 5 star luxury it is a lived in ski apartment after all! and we went for the boarding not to moan about a messy kitchen!! the resort rep tom was really helpful,told us when lifts were shut,which other travellers didnt get told from the likes of neilson and crystal! we used the steam room at de neiges coz ours wasnt as good(2 min walk down the road!) overall alpine elements were great for us,but then we are`nt fussy,good food and company are what matters!

Overall the Chalet looked like it had been lived in and evidence of this was clear by the state of the kitchen area, general untidiness of the sitting area and the fact that we found items of clothing under the pillow in one of the bedrooms and under the beds belonging to previous guests. Additionally the twin bedroom with an ensuite had a bedside lamp broken and had exposed electrical cables while the curtain was hanging off the rails and could not be closed.

As you can imagine, we were deeply upset about what we experienced and found it difficult to sleep and woke early. Further inspection of the downstairs area only ephasised further concerns which included extremely dirty windows, no cover on the extractor duct, carpet in need of vacuuming and work and hob surfaces in dire need of cleaning. The whole kitchen area was in a disarray, the attached photos clearly show this to be the case. The hygiene of the kitchen area was disburbing and unacceptable to what we were prepared for 4 star rating as mentioned in the brochure.

Later that morning the chalet host arrived to prepare us breakfast and we raised our concerns with him regarding the cleanliness of the area. He explained that he had waited up late for us and finally retired at midnight, as instructed by the Chalet Representative, hence left the Chalet in a state. We found this response utterly unacceptable and amazed that our Chalet could be left in such a poor and un-hygienic condition prior to our arrival. Upon meeting the Chalet Representative that evening we re-emphasised our concerns with her but to no avail, stating she had full confidence in her staff and never had concerns of hygiene from the chalet host in the past. Again I found her position amazing and very unsympathetic to our plight. She promptly left the chalet without further assurances of improved standards or further scheduled meetings. At this point we took it on ourselves to sanitize the kitchen, clean the windows and vacuum the carpets to make us feel better and assure ourselves that we would not become ill from the poor hygiene and boost our moral.

Throughout the week we continued to encourage the chalet host to clean the chalet to the standard recognised in your brochures but this fell on deaf ears, as such we continued to clean and monitor throughout the week. Further disappointment came to light when we were advised that the bedlinen would be changed midweek which never happened, nor did the cleaning of the bathrooms. We did however receive fresh towels which were left for us.

We found the chalet host to be very young and in many ways inexperienced, whenever there was a shortfall in provisions, it was down to us to request replenishment items. On his day off the chalet host informed us the night before that someone would bring us fresh provisions so we could prepared the meals for the day. This never happened, so had to go out and purchase some fresh provisions from the local supermarket. There was also no continued supply of mineral water nor was toiletries and no British Newspapers were provided.

Overall we are very disappointed with the service provided by Ski France and if is was not for our intervention we could have become ill. We have been on several chalet holidays through different companies prior to this one without any concerns. On the day we were leaving we were given the Ski France Customer Feedback Forms which we wanted to discuss with the Chalet Representative before completing them, however the representative failed to meet with us on our last day hence we didn’t complete them but felt this letter would be more appropriate and have a better chance of being actioned.

We feel Ski France falls very short in addressing personnel’s health issues and safety concerns and all in all charged a lot of money for a service that did not reflect the premier service that was offered in the brochure. The lack of care in preparing the chalet and the standard of the food provided left a lot to be desired and a huge disappointment in what should have been a enjoyable premier chalet service. We have written a letter to let them no but guess what no reply to our grievances, so dont think we will be booking a chalet thru them again!!!!