Le Fitz Roy Hotel

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This was one of the best skiing holidays we have ever been on. Val Thorens is on the edge of the Trois Vallees area but it is the highest resort and therefore a good bet for early or late skiing holidays.
For skiing holidays in the past we have nearly always travelled with Inghams but prices of all the operators are exorbitant over key holiday periods (ours was over the New Year) so we checked the sum quoted against booking it independently. A good job we did as we saved over £800 on a family of four (2 rooms), got a shorter transfer time from Lyon in a private taxi and an extra day skiing with an evening (21.30) departure - all travel booked through easyjet. The hotel we booked direct by phone having found their details on the web.
The hotel rooms were spacious with very good quality bathrooms and (essential in a ski holiday) plenty of storage space. The hotel only has around 30 rooms so you get to know the staff all of whom were superb and worked tirelessly over the New Year Festival - I’m not sure whether they had any sleep at all for 24 hours! Cuisine at the Fitzroy has to be one of the highlights of any stay there - classical French and as good as I’ve sampled in any hotel, approaching Michelin star standards. The wine list is extensive and as in all top French restaurants exclusively devoted to its home country (there has to be some negative points) but a fantastic range and particularly good above the £50 mark. Eating and drinking here isn't cheap but it is the best I’ve had in the Alps, it was like going out to a special restaurant every day for a week. They also do a very special lunchtime buffet based around seafood, which you can choose to have instead of the evening meal (you couldn’t manage both!)
The position of the hotel (as with most hotels in Val Thorens) is right on the slopes - climb the steps out of the ski room and ski down to the first lift which then links you in to the Trois Vallees circuit.
Snow conditions when we were there were only fair at lower altitudes but the links throughout the system were all open with quite a bit of man made snow at the lower resorts such as Meribel.
There were virtually no lift queues due too the efficiency of the 6 man detachable chairlifts that are widely installed now with split queues to give people time to get on - not as efficient people management as in the States or Canada but a lot better than it used to be. Slopes did get crowded however especially on the return to resort around 15.30 - 16.30 and beginners or nervous skiers would do well to avoid these times - most people plan a circuit so it is the link runs that are the worst, get back to your resort earlier and continue skiing there is the best plan.
Transfers by ATS were superb - a private taxi rather than waiting for the delayed flight from Birmingham to arrive before the coach can set off makes a far more relaxing start to the holiday and when you’ve saved £800 it’s all the more gratifying!
All in all a fantastic holiday and one which we may well repeat despite our yearning to try something new every year. Not cheap but worth every penny! Why not 10/10 - is perfection possible? I don’t know, but this came close!