We (a family with three young teenage children) arrived in Pas de la Casa following a 4 hour bus transfer from Toulouse. The transfer took a little longer given that it started snowing halfway through the transfer, which caused a few hiccups on the roads. Snow chains needed to be put on the coaches' wheels about half hour out of the resort of Pas.

On our safe arrival in Pas, we unloaded our cases at the bottom of the resort to be transported by mini bus to our lodgings of choice. We booked bed and breakfast at the Manzano Apartments a week before the holiday with Crystal; the accommodation was graded 2 star.

It is a good 15 minute walk uphill to the Manzano from the coach park; on check in you need to hand over €150 (cash deposit) and your passports. 

The first thing you might notice about the Manzano (and other such public places) is that smoking is permitted and taken full advantage of by those who partake of this habit! Even at breakfast some smokers were only too happy to light up whilst our family coughed and choked on the tobacco smoke whilst we were trying to enjoy our freshly cooked breakfast.

Breakfast included cereal, a single glass of orange juice and cooked breakfast. Coffee was extra at €2! Whilst the breakfast was ok, on the first morning it wasn't explained what the choices were and we had to ask - every other day was fine and all our hot meals were cooked to order.

The rooms are as advertised: basic! The kitchen equipment is shoddy and consists of chipped crockery and mix and match utensils. We stuck to using the microwave, toaster, kettle and fridge; we avoided cooking anything complicated. Beds are reasonable, but sheets and blankets are all you have to keep warm at night; the electric heating isn't that great! Showers were always hot; the bath was about 4' long and just about big enough for a child; adults over 5' forget it! Towels are provided and are changed on Wednesdays. Be sure to check your room and all equipment provided on check in and report damages/missing items or you will be billed!

There is a ski hire shop in the basement of the Manzano; staff quickly sorted us with the necessary items as per our pre-booking through Crystal; there are ski equipment lockers conveniently situated near the check-in desk, a key is provided on your room key tag.

Once dressed for the slopes, having used the locker to retrieve our boots and skies etc, the walk to the nearest slop (access via the side of the Olimpiades Apart-Hotel) is a short 5 minute walk down the hill; take care as the walk back up to Manzano after a day's skiing can be a little slippery tho!

From the slope access point at the Olimpiades, there is a gentle 25m run down to two chair lifts. One takes you to a nice blue run whilst the other takes you to the top of Pas. Here you can ski back down on a nice red and access two additional lifts a little further over on the other side of the resort. The Pas de la Casa lift provides access to the whole Grandvalira via other sectors. During our stay it was possible to ski to El Tarta and back in three hours with a stop for great-tasting hot chocolate and doughnuts at Llac Del Cubil (in the Soldeu sector).

Generally the slopes were well covered and maintained, tho a little icy in places; snow cannons were in operation in areas that required extra snow covering. There were plenty of cafes and places to eat throughout the five sectors, each offering a good variety of food and snacks. The cost of a coffee was on average €2, whilst a hot chocolate cost around €2.50 The cost of a sandwich/baguette/kebab with chips and cold fizzy drink cost on average €10. Pizzas range from around €8-12. 

We ate lunch on most days at the Olimpiades (a new looking building located on the left of the main slope as you come back down into Pas with English speaking staff) where children's meals (pizza/burger/sausage & chips, drink and ice cream) were available for €7 They also do a lovely cream-topped mug of hot chocolate for €3!

If you are self-catering and require groceries, then beware of the SPAR shop in Pas: do not take in shopping bags or other groceries bought elsewhere unless you have a receipt; we got accused of 'stealing' after purchasing goods in the independent supermarket opposite (where customer service is friendly and welcoming) which we then brought with us into the SPAR shop to get other groceries not available across the road! However, once we produced a receipt, the rude staff in the SPAR shop were satisfied we had made our purchases elsewhere, but their demeanour was appalling and the two female staff members displayed the worst customer service skills ever! Not even an apology was offered for the unreasonable accusation - it's not as if the area gives an impression that there are shoplifting problems; tourists therefore are clearly an easy target for such accusations, so beware! Be sure to get a receipt for every transaction or get a member of your party to wait outside with goods/groceries bought elsewhere!

Back at the Manzano, the rooms were reasonably comfortable, but a good night sleep cannot be guaranteed! The Manzano seems to be the choice of your average British twenty-something looking for cheap accommodation to fall into after a night on the town! Every night we were woken by rowdy revellers returning to their rooms, often proceeded by spirited singing and generally loud antics. Whilst smoking is not permitted in the rooms, it was obvious due to the smell of smoke that this rule was regularly flouted by other guests.

They say you get what you pay for: just be prepared for very basic accommodation; lack of sleep; and a tobacco smoke atmosphere.

Wifi at a cost of €1 per hour is available in the bar area (if you can tolerate the cigarette smoke) of the Manzano. The data speed (quite slow) seemed as reasonable as anywhere else in the resort (free wifi is available at Olimpiades Restaurant - ask a member of staff for the password). However, despite the slow speed, it was possible to FaceTime (smartphone video call) back to the UK if you got to the Manzano bar area early in the morning (8am was a good time for us) and were the only people accessing the wifi.

Manzano is good for: young people looking for somewhere to crash after a day's skiing and a night on the town; access to the slopes; and a reasonable cooked English breakfast.

Manzano is OK for: families looking for a cheap B&B/self catering option and who are willing to put up with rowdy youngsters returning to their rooms in the small hours, and a tobacco smoke atmosphere throughout the apartments.

Pas de la Casa overall is a nice resort probably most suited to young people. However, it isn't exactly club 18-30 so don't be put off if you are not a youngster as the skiing and other facilities are great for people of all ages.

The local ski schools were well organised and professional; our three children certainly improved their skills and gained confidence as the week went on. We would probably return to Pas one day, but possibly after exploring the other resorts in the Grandvalira area such as El Tarta and Soldeu.

The Manzano provides basic apartments at good value for money. The rooms are clean and the hotel is located a few hundred meters from the nearest slopes. A ski-hire shop is conveniently located in the building's basement.

Internet access is available in the restaurant area only, costs €1 per hour for wifi, and is slow. (There's an Internet cafe nearby and most bars & restaurants offer free wifi.)

Pros: Well-located, inexpensive, clean.
Cons: No free wifi, unpredictable shower temperature, noisy, smokey.

Manzano apts were really good for the money - there were two of us in an apartment with one double bedroom, one bunkbed in lounge and a single bed in lounge so there was plenty of space! We also had a mountain view.The lockers and equipment hire were right on site too and the pistes are a very short walk - it would be hard to beat the location! It's a bit of a walk up hill on the way back from town though (but nothing major).
Cooking equipment wise - we had a toaster, kettle, microwave etc all as stated which was great. The only downside really was that the tv had no English channels, which doesn't usually bother me on holiday (!) but we wanted a couple of quiet nights in after hard days on the slopes!
The other downside is that it's pretty noisy, not much sound proofing so bring earplugs as you'll sometimes be woken up by groups returning from a night out otherwise.
There was ALWAYS hot water - the shower was great!!

The thing that we weren't told, which was a pain, is that the Manzano asks for a 150 euro/cash deposit on arrival - if we had known, it would have been helpful!! They don't take card as deposit.

The bar's quite expensive (5 euro vodka) but friendly staff and we just bought really cheap beers from the shop in town - booze is sooo cheap in the supermarket!

We had a great time and would go back for sure (with earplugs again :-) )wouldn't recommend for families.

Nothing to do with Manzano itself, but Our transfers with Crystal were a pain, on the way back we had a walk and cold wait for our coach for ages - wrap up, but Crystal reps great otherwise.

Also be careful if you go on the organised bar crawl - someone was out stealing coats - don't take your lift pass out it can't be replaced!!

ALL IN ALL - Manzano highly recommended! P.s we were self catered

Nice hotel to stay whilst you are having a great week away snowboarding or skiing!
6 of us stayed in a self catering apartment, very clean and tidy!
Great price, cheap and clean!
The hotel staff have great humour and banter which makes it all the better!
Good night life, if you have a rep they will hangout in the hotel!
ski hire shop on the bottom floor of the hotel!
good lockers for you ski/snowboards and boots,
i would recommend this hotel for a cheap price and good fun and very clean!