What should you expect from a catered chalet ski holiday?

Unless you have been on one before, it may not be immediately obvious what staying in a catered ski chalet actually involves. So, I thought it might be useful to explain how it all works…

First and foremost, people choose to go on a catered chalet holiday because they want to be looked after from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave. You can book a catered chalet holiday on a room-by-room basis and meet other like-minded skiiers or you can get a big group together and book the chalet exclusively.

Each day normally falls into 4 sections as follows:

Starting the day

• Breakfast is served. At AliKats, in addition to the croissants, pain-au-chocolate, toast, cereal, tea, coffee, fruit juice, yoghurt & fruit, we offer a hot option each day as well ranging from a full-English to fritata or blueberry pancakes
• Once you are fuelled up and ready for the mountains, it is time to hit the slopes! At AliKats, we take all of our guests directly to the bottom of the gondola in the AliKats minibuses so that you don’t have to walk anywhere in ski boots!

Skiing

• Whether you are a complete beginner or practically pro, if you have come on a ski holiday, the chances are you will want to spend most of the day skiing
• Skiing itself is pretty simple: get taken to the top of the mountain on a comfy chairlift and then ski down. Repeat until hungry or tired
• Lunch is normally a good way to break up the day and recover from tiredness and/or hunger. Having said that, you may not need lunch in addition to an AliKats breakfast and the culinary delights that await you in the latter part of the day back at the chalet
• There is plenty for non-skiiers to do as well though – snow-shoeing, swimming, perusing the shops of Morzine. You can find a full list of activites here

Relax

• After being driven back to the chalet after a full day’s skiing, you will want to relax. And that is likely to involve:
  1. Drinking. There is nothing like a glass of wine to compliment the exhilaration of being in the mountains. At AliKats we offer an unlimited supply of good quality wines to all our guests and there is not a 5-litre box in sight!
  2. Soaking in the hot-tub. What better way to help your aching muscles recover than sitting in the hot-tub looking out over the mountains. At AliKats, our hot-tubs always have incredible views to remind you of the day you just had. Note, this activity can and should be combined with activity #1
  3. Eating cake and drinking tea. There is nothing better than a cup of tea and a slice of cake after returning from skiing to keep the wolf from the door
  4. A nap. You don’t have meetings to go to, you are on holiday. Napping is allowed! And recommended…

Dinner

• Skiing makes you very hungry. Fact. So, the evening meal should be one of the highlights of the day (if not THE highlight!)
• To get you excited about the main event, pre-dinner drinks and nibbles are a great way to get the taste buds going
• Sitting down round a big table with other hungry skiiers eating delicious treats rustled up by the in-house chalet chef is a fantastic way to finish off the day.
• At AliKats we pride ourselves on serving our guests delicious, home-made food lovingly prepared fresh that day. Our hosts will serve you 4 sumptuous courses (starter, main, dessert & cheese) plus tea & coffee to finish it all off
• By this point, you are ready to do nothing more than slump on the sofas in front of the fire and discuss highlights of your day with other guests, who will now hopefully be your friends too!