I have never written a review before but I felt I had to put something online (have complained in writing to my rep whilst on holiday of course). We had booked half board - breakfasts were ok (hard to get wrong) but dinner was a nightmare, the first night I poured enough grey water off my plate to fill a soup bowl, fished three hairs out of my mouth from the bolognaise sauce and had an upset stomach a day later. My teenage daughter burst into tears at the dinner table and I took her out afterwards to get a bowl of soup from a bistro. The food sat out keeping warm for three hours - most people were very careful about what they chose to eat so most of the kept warm meat was produced in the same or a different form the next day. We and most others stuck to chips or plain pasta and the imaginative salad selection (which consisted of iceberg lettuce and quartered tomato). Unless people had large families most people there seemed to eat out at least every other night. on the fourth night we were there the lady on the table next to us fished a rodent's tooth out of her food ( it really was, we saw it!) she kept it and took it to the manager - all the kitchen staff came out and peered at the dishes on the buffet - took one dish away and bought it back five minutes later!. That was the last straw and we ate out after that. Not only did eating out add to the cost of my holiday but also, after a day's skiing, we didn't really enjoy having to flog back into town while it was snowing just to get something to eat.
Good points - I lost weight from lack of food! The rooms were basic but clean, very warm (which was great) we turned the radiators off or opened the window to bring the temperature down but it was much better than being cold. Bathrooms were great - good size, plenty of hot water - bit worried about having to hold the hairdryer socket in place in the wall whilst using it though!
We liked the location - 5 minutes walk from the slopes but not in the town centre with all the noise from the bars.
We would stay there again if it wasn't for the disgusting food.

Probably the furthest room from the lift, but gives a good chance to warm up and down from skiing.
The room was basic, spotlessly clean and noisy esp during mealtimes and later at night.
The food was very basic, breakfast was cereal, tinned fruit salad and a warm selection of beans,omlette and hotdog type sausages.
Overall the staff were polite but with a mishap with my coat being left in the bar and then no-one knowing it was there (one police report 3 hours later) I found it tucked under the bar, made me feel a little upset that there was no concern as obviously no time was taken to look.
Lastly no free wi-fi or lounge area make this more of a 1 star room

My friends and I stayed at the Cal Ruiz the week comencing 07/02/2011, for a week. We booked with Crystal and paid roughly £500 for our flights, accomadation, and lift passes.

I've bullet pointed the relevant categories below to make for an easier read.

- Travel to the hotel: Roughly a three hour transfer from Toulouse. The coach drops you at the bottom of the resort and it will take you around 5 minutes to walk to the hotel with your kit.

- Hotel: Reasonable sized with one lift, bar and dinning area, hot-tub and sauna. The hotel was clean and tidy throughout, as was the bar area, resturant, and spa section. The lift was busy on our arrival due to various people checking in, however I can't remember a time other than this where we weren't able to use the lift quickly.

Sauna, and Hot-tub (free of charge): Small to medium in size but worked well, and didn't ever get too busy. Open at 5 between Mon and Fri, but be sure to contact reception before heading down there as usually not switched on (they needed reminding).

Bar and Resturant: Bar, average selection of drinks, service fine as English speaking workers. Would certainly make use of happy hour as prices double outside of the relevant times. Good value within happy hour though. Resturant, good selection of food in the morning and evening. Not the greatest quality but really no complaints. Their's something to suit everyone and the standard is fine. Buffet layout so you can eat as much as you like. The staff are very attentive and quick to clear finished plates. Would recommend taking your own drinks in to keep costs down. Shop next door and you can just walk in with your drinks in hand. Think you could buy water in the resturant but would cost much more than shop.

Rooms: Clean, basic, slightly small but has everything you need. TV is crap, but you're not ther to watch TV. Bathroom is fine in size, it's also clean and has plenty of towls. Service is good, new towls and bed made daily. Room was slightly dark as no main light in centre of the room, just smaller ones at the bedside. Also, a little noisey due to the thin walls. 307 is the room we stayed in, back door was broken and the view was rubbish...not a sight seeing holiday though.

Location: If you're on a snow holiday I presume your legs work (no offence intended). The walk to the slopes takes about 5 minutes, ten at most with kit. It's really not a big issue although the hotel is one of the furthest away. I wouldn't bother with the ski lockers personally. You're a stone's throw away from the town and not too much further from the slopes.

To sumarise, the hotel is good value for money. We're all in our mid twenties and in good health so a little walking wasn't a problem. In my opinion the hotel is fine for what we needed, it's clean, reasonably sized, and you can eat and eat! The sauna was a nice bonus too. If you want luxury look elsewhere, or go on a cruise. If you want a decent hotel that does the basics well, then CAL RUIZ is not the place for you; just joking, it's fine.

I'd recommend it and I'd stay there again, no problems. PS, the chef is always chewing something, odd, but looked like a nice enough chap and the waitress fancied me (I think). Anyway, I'm going off-topic. This is a serious and genuine review, and I hope it helps x x x

had a great week, everyone very friendly, very clean. a tip would be not to get a room near the lift as it can be noisy with other guests coming and going. easy walk to town and chair lifts. all in all fantastic value for money and we would go again.