Grande Claviere Hotel, Claviere, Italy
Hotel Information
Hotel Class:
Hotel Description:
Club Hotel Grande Claviere combines all the facilities, space and comfort of a 3 star hotel with the friendly atmosphere and meals of a club hotel. Operated by our own staff, the club hotel is ideal for families, groups or individual bookings, with the perfect location and accommodation to ensure everyone enjoys a relaxing and comfortable stay. The hotel is located right by the border with France and only a short walk to the ski lifts and village centre. As an added bonus for non skiers, nature lovers and cross-country skiers, your trail into France starts from the back door! Adjacent to the French border · Approx. 3 minutes to ski slopes · Lounge and bar · Sun terrace · Afternoon tea · 3-course evening meals with local wine and coffee included (6 nights per week) · Weekly carvery dinner · All bedrooms have private shower, WC, TV, safe and some have balcony or terrace · Pre-bookable baby monitors available · Pre-bookable celebration package loading...
Nearby Hotels Viewed by Other Travellers
Grande Claviere Hotel Reviews
" In our opinion this hotel does not... "
Submitted By: Mrs C Coller
In our opinion this hotel does not have the facilities and comfort of a three star establishment as claimed by the tour operator. It is shabby, in need of refurbishment and thorough cleaning. The hotel has a seventies feel to it and judging by the decor it was probably the last time any money was spent on it. We are aware that skiing accommodation can be basic and have stayed in a club hotel before (Thomson) but this does not excuse poor hygiene standards and lack of basic maintenance. We found the restaurant staff helpful but slightly chaotic as there didn't appear to be anyone in charge which meant often having to persue staff for a cooked breakfast and glasses which often seemed to run out. The food in general was ok, the high point being the italian meal on the final night, childrens tea was disorganised with their often not being enough places available for the number of children attending. It would have been helpful if the childrens menu was available alongside the adult menu in the evening as our youngest either had to eat on her own earlier or have the adult menu later on which wasn't always to her taste (again Thomson offered this last year). The bar area was cold and unwelcoming not helped by the surly bar staff who spent their time scowling at guests. Another offputing aspect was the smell of cooking oil which seemed to have impregnated all the towels and linen! On a positive note Claviere is really beautiful with fantastic skiing and I would certainly recommend it to people just not this hotel.
- Date of Holiday:Mar 2008
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Crystal
" On arrival our rooms had been mixed... "
Submitted By: Mrs A Allen
On arrival our rooms had been mixed up, when we finally got our room it was dirty and dusty and the toilet looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. When I asked the manager about this he called me a liar and I was told they were cleaned every day. The hotel is run and cleaned by a group of teenagers, who are there only to ski/snowboard. The manager is extremely rude and ignorant and did not help us with any of our inquiries ( when he was even around to answer them and not skiing!) On two accounts he was verbally abusive and a member of our party was attacked by a young lad who was part of the crystal team working in the hotel. Police were called but no futher action was taken. We were later informed that this was the 3rd time this rep had threatened a guest. People like this should not be working as a rep, especially with children around.
Here is a quote from a young rep working in the hotel " Not alot of poeple like the manager here and we get complaints but we think he's alright as he lets us off the hook alot. If we do something wrong he lets us learn from our mistakes, instead of other crystal managers where you get 3 points and your gone, here we can mess up as much as we like".
The hotel had no ice at the bar, on 3 accounts they ran out of bread (when soup was being served!), The childrens menu is not suitable for children at all, not to mention the length we had to wait to receive our food in the evenings. This hotel is not worth staying in!
Here is a quote from a young rep working in the hotel " Not alot of poeple like the manager here and we get complaints but we think he's alright as he lets us off the hook alot. If we do something wrong he lets us learn from our mistakes, instead of other crystal managers where you get 3 points and your gone, here we can mess up as much as we like".
The hotel had no ice at the bar, on 3 accounts they ran out of bread (when soup was being served!), The childrens menu is not suitable for children at all, not to mention the length we had to wait to receive our food in the evenings. This hotel is not worth staying in!
- Date of Holiday:Mar 2008
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Thomas Cook
" The comment about the lift pass is... "
Submitted By: Mr PEM McQuillan
The comment about the lift pass is absolutely accurate except for one point, you can buy the combined French/Italian pass both in Italy and France - so you can pop down to the local lift pass office in Claviere and buy the combined pass.
All the Tour Operators in Claviere (Crystal, First Choice and Equity) offer either a Local Pass or a Area Pass - the Area Pass is horrendously overpriced at 175 Euros at high season and is an absolute NO for most people.
The Local Pass at 112 Euros gives you 6 days of skiing in the Claviere Area (which is not the biggest, but has some lovely runs), 1 day in the Milky Way and 1 day in the local (and gorgeous) French resort of Montgenevre. Now the major point, it only costs 20 Euros for an extra day in the Milky Way!
The Area Pass at 175 Euros (! although this does reduce to 155 Euros during Low Season) gives you 6 days of skiing in Claviere and the Milky Way, and still just 1 day in Montgenevre. (17 Euros for an extra day regardless of which pass you have) So to do a bit of maths, you need to ski 4 days (out of 6) in the Milky Way to make the area pass worthwhile!
Now the somewhat *secret* pass that none of the Tour Operators offer - a pass which covers Claviere AND Montgenevre + 1 day in the Milky Way for 149 Euros. (with the 20 Euros per extra Milky Way Day option) This pass is considerably better as Claviere and Montgenevre are (mostly) excellently linked - certainty better linked than Claviere and the Milky Way which involves a lot of lifts. This pass is head and shoulders better than the other options for both the Advanced and Beginner Skiers or Boarders - you'll have to find a bloody decent Rep to know about this pass as the Tour Operators will avoid mentioning it as they do not have a contract to sell this pass. (and so cannot make any profit out of it)
For Advanced Skiers, Montgenevre has dozens of excellent runs, a half-pipe and a border cross - and for Beginners offers another alternative in the form of a long nursery slope to the Claviere nursery slope so an absolute beginner is not stuck on a single slope for the week.
All the Tour Operators in Claviere (Crystal, First Choice and Equity) offer either a Local Pass or a Area Pass - the Area Pass is horrendously overpriced at 175 Euros at high season and is an absolute NO for most people.
The Local Pass at 112 Euros gives you 6 days of skiing in the Claviere Area (which is not the biggest, but has some lovely runs), 1 day in the Milky Way and 1 day in the local (and gorgeous) French resort of Montgenevre. Now the major point, it only costs 20 Euros for an extra day in the Milky Way!
The Area Pass at 175 Euros (! although this does reduce to 155 Euros during Low Season) gives you 6 days of skiing in Claviere and the Milky Way, and still just 1 day in Montgenevre. (17 Euros for an extra day regardless of which pass you have) So to do a bit of maths, you need to ski 4 days (out of 6) in the Milky Way to make the area pass worthwhile!
Now the somewhat *secret* pass that none of the Tour Operators offer - a pass which covers Claviere AND Montgenevre + 1 day in the Milky Way for 149 Euros. (with the 20 Euros per extra Milky Way Day option) This pass is considerably better as Claviere and Montgenevre are (mostly) excellently linked - certainty better linked than Claviere and the Milky Way which involves a lot of lifts. This pass is head and shoulders better than the other options for both the Advanced and Beginner Skiers or Boarders - you'll have to find a bloody decent Rep to know about this pass as the Tour Operators will avoid mentioning it as they do not have a contract to sell this pass. (and so cannot make any profit out of it)
For Advanced Skiers, Montgenevre has dozens of excellent runs, a half-pipe and a border cross - and for Beginners offers another alternative in the form of a long nursery slope to the Claviere nursery slope so an absolute beginner is not stuck on a single slope for the week.
- Date of Holiday:Mar 2008
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Crystal / First Choice
" We enjoyed the holiday. The food was... "
Submitted By: Mr J Willoughby
We enjoyed the holiday. The food was good and the Hotel staff helpful.
However there was an issue with the lift pass. On the Ski Club of Great Britain website many contributors say that ease of access to other parts of the Milky Way is exaggerated and this was our experience. It was good to get across to Sansicario but involved a lot of time on lifts. The skiing in Claviere was good but there are not sufficient runs to spend too long there. The best skiing is probably in Montgenevre.
Which brings us to the problem. The lift passes sold in Claviere and promoted by the Rep are of two types. You can have a local pass which gives unlimited use in Claviere but only one day in Montgenevre and one day in the Milky Way or an area pass which gives unlimited access to Claviere and the Milky Way but only one day in Montgenevre. But if you avoid the Rep and walk 20 minutes up the road to Montgenevre you can buy a local lift pass giving unlimited access to Claviere and Montgenevre and a day in the Milky Way or an area pass giving unlimited access to everything.
For most beginner to intermediate skiers the local lift pass bought in Montgenevre is the best option and, according to the Crystal brochure, about €60 cheaper. To stay in Claviere and buy a pass which only gives one day in Montgenevre does not make any sense but that is what the Rep will try to sell you.
However there was an issue with the lift pass. On the Ski Club of Great Britain website many contributors say that ease of access to other parts of the Milky Way is exaggerated and this was our experience. It was good to get across to Sansicario but involved a lot of time on lifts. The skiing in Claviere was good but there are not sufficient runs to spend too long there. The best skiing is probably in Montgenevre.
Which brings us to the problem. The lift passes sold in Claviere and promoted by the Rep are of two types. You can have a local pass which gives unlimited use in Claviere but only one day in Montgenevre and one day in the Milky Way or an area pass which gives unlimited access to Claviere and the Milky Way but only one day in Montgenevre. But if you avoid the Rep and walk 20 minutes up the road to Montgenevre you can buy a local lift pass giving unlimited access to Claviere and Montgenevre and a day in the Milky Way or an area pass giving unlimited access to everything.
For most beginner to intermediate skiers the local lift pass bought in Montgenevre is the best option and, according to the Crystal brochure, about €60 cheaper. To stay in Claviere and buy a pass which only gives one day in Montgenevre does not make any sense but that is what the Rep will try to sell you.
- Date of Holiday:Dec 2007
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Thomson
" The Crystal Grand Claviere Hotel was... "
Submitted By: Mr J Olby
The Crystal Grand Claviere Hotel was definitely not a 4 star rating in my opinion. The rooms were basic and had the feel of a summer apartment in Tenerife with cold tile floors rather than a warm cosy hotel/chalet that you normally associate with a winter holiday. The communal area too was reasonably bare with cold tile floors and in the lounge where there was once a nice open fireplace which would have added some warmth there now stands a large 32" TV playing Sky.
The staff were all very pleasant and it was their first week of the season so they were still finding their feet. The food was OK but not as plentiful as you would normally associate with a winter All Inclusive hotel and the wine was limited to one small jug at dinner.
The hotel bar was very expensive compared to the local bars and cafes and the quality of the bar food was not great. On the plus side the Kids club was great and the girls did a brilliant job looking after the little ones.
All in all the holiday was great down to the piste conditions, people and the Claviere resort but as for the Crystal Hotel, I think Crystal need to change their rating for this hotel so that expectations are set in advance!
The staff were all very pleasant and it was their first week of the season so they were still finding their feet. The food was OK but not as plentiful as you would normally associate with a winter All Inclusive hotel and the wine was limited to one small jug at dinner.
The hotel bar was very expensive compared to the local bars and cafes and the quality of the bar food was not great. On the plus side the Kids club was great and the girls did a brilliant job looking after the little ones.
All in all the holiday was great down to the piste conditions, people and the Claviere resort but as for the Crystal Hotel, I think Crystal need to change their rating for this hotel so that expectations are set in advance!
- Date of Holiday:Dec 2007
- Board Basis:Full Board
- Tour Operator:Crystal Ski
