Really great center. Nice staff. Perfect location - you can ski right onto the slopes. And the…read moreprice is really reasonable for a week of ski passes, rentals, lodging, and food! The bar is reasonably priced and fun. The teachers are nice and can really help you improve your skiing/boarding over the week. You do have the risk of getting an upper bunk - and its not super easy to climb up. Also the quality of the food is dubious on most occasions - with a few pleasant surprises mixed in. This is not the fault of the cooking staff and more a question of the quality of the ingredients. I have gone two years and maybe I'll do a third one... All I can say is: Folie Douce!

Wow! This place is great. I had trouble finding ski touring equipment (Randonee as it is known in…read moreFrance) as most ski places do not carry it. I went with a friend to another (not Sport 1600) nearby ski shop where they only spoke French, had lost his reservation he made online and they literally threw the equipment at him and made no effort to make sure it fit or be helpful in anyway. Some locals suggested I try Sport 1600 and I am so happy I did. The staff all spoke English and French (as well as a selection of other language) and were very friendly and helpful. They took great care to make sure that everything fit perfectly and made sure I knew how to use the bindings (very different to nordic or alpine ski bindings). They offered to come to my accommodation to fit my gear for me but the weather was good and it was a short walk up the hill to find them. The equipment was excellent and well maintained. I emailed the shop ahead of time and they were expecting me and had the right size equipment set aside for me. The staff were so helpful and kind and the ski gear was great. They also had a good selection of clothing and other equipment in the shop. I highly recommend Sport 1600 and will be back next time I am in Meribel.

Probably one of the better chalet complexes I've been in. This was nicely situated in Vallandry and…read moreright next to one of the lifts. Surprisingly after only a short while in the morning we were able to check in to our apartments (previous trips elsewhere has normally meant checking in at around 4pm or so) and we were able to get squared away before hitting the slopes. There is a ski rental place built into the main building which made it very easy to get our equipment and return it at the end of the trip. It's about a 10-15 minute walk from the main Sherpa Supermarket and the majority of the restaurants in town, but only a few minutes to the nearest bar/restaurant Mont Blanc. The bakery is about a 5 minute walk from the chalets but you can order from reception to pick up the following morning. The Chalets are nicely furnished in terms of both furniture and equipment, although we had some issues with the oven. A couple of negative points about the place. Firstly only 2 wifi codes are provided for each apartment, this means that only 2 devices can be connected at any time. I guess this is to manage how much bandwidth is used but when chalets start as a 2 room apartment for 4 people. For an apartment with 6 people, it made it difficult - thankfully I had a gizmo that fixed that for us... Secondly is the trip from the lobby building (where the spa is located) to the chalets. It's outdoors - not a big deal, but it is also 5 sets of stairs... not that much fun if you have a) luggage, b) ski equipment or c) have been skiing all day... However, not much they can actually do to fix this short of building an elevator or escalator! Maybe a magic carpet? All in all, not a bad place to stay, they have all the facilities you want and it's in a nice quiet area of town with the nightlife close enough to get to but far enough not to bother you.

This is an excellent apartment complex. It's reasonably priced, clean, offers practically ski-in,…read moreski-out in some of the buildings and has an on-site spa that has a steam room, sauna, hot tub and swimming pool. There's also an on-site ski hire shop and they offer a fresh bread delivery service every morning. I'd happily stay here again. The reasons it doesn't get 5 stars are: 1. It's a bit of a walk from the main reception area to many of the apartments, up several stairs. This is annoying especially when going to use the spa. 2. It's not very close to the main part of the village. It's perfectly accessible but if you want to go out for a drink after midnight you've got a bit of a walk to the main village (and back). 3. Larger buses can't drive up the road to the main entrance so you have a bit of a walk with your luggage to get there, but this is typical of many ski resorts.

Great place! The slopes are awesome and there is every skill level you could want. Well maybe not…read moreso much in the way of glades but that is what you get when you are this high up in the mountains. Really nice lifts for the most part and lots of fun stuff to do. I keep dreaming that someone will one day come to France to make reasonably priced yet decent food on a ski slope...like the burgers you find in Sun Valley in the US... One day... One day... Until then, Val Thorens is as good as it gets.

I think this must be the most friendly ski-hire shop I've ever been too. The two brothers who work…read morehere spend the time to make sure you get exactly what you need. They're also, of course, extremely knowledgeable about the best places to ski - it's good to get some advice when you have the world's largest skiable area to explore! I'll definitely be going back there this year and attempting le grand couloir on their equipment. The free homemade jam you get with every hire is a nice touch! Delicious. UPDATE FOR 2008! Of course we went back to Sport Gliss. What's changed? Nothing - it's better than ever. The brothers aren't brothers though! They're mates who look EXACTLY the same! JB's my new best friend. The jam is still great. And I'm still not quite good enough to tackle the Grand Couloir. Next time, my friends, next time...

3 star hôtel with 4 star prices - Rooms haven't been…read morerefreshed for 30 years - Basic breakfast for 25 euro per person which is very expensive - Expensive restaurant with average menu - Very expensive spa

This resort is perhaps best suited to families and beginners because the Meribel bowl is wedged…read morewith easy blues and greens, whilst giving access in to the more challenging Courchevel & Val Thoren Valleys for the better skiers in the group. (Most decent skiers spend the first hour every morning getting out of the Meribel valley to find some decent thrills!) There are Ski Schools aplenty, loads of half decent restaurants around the valley and really easy access for pedestrians up the mountains so that Granny can meet you with the kids at lunchtime! All the facilities that you could possibly need are in the resort including Professional Ice Hockey!! The final comment is that people who only have French as their main language struggle in Meribel IT'S VERY VERY ENGLISH

Chill Chalet offers a great location to explore some of the best mountains in the world in winter…read moreand summer. The good food, comfortable accommodation and chilled vibe make us a great option for your alpine adventure and i will tell you why ... We are not your traditional chalet. We are the cool alternative ! We are not all about posh nosh and big dosh holidays ! At Chill Chalet, its about the atmosphere, making memories, fantastic snow covered mountains to enjoy & free snowboard hire! To make your life a little easier you can start your stay on any day of the week and book by the night for up to 13 guests. We always offer guests free snowboard and binding hire to help the budget. Breakfast is served everyday and there is tea, coffee and biscuits available all day. We serve good food and enough of it. Evening meals include red and white wine and we will throw in some beer or soft drinks if requested. We are really in the centre of town ... in fact, we are so central i could throw my boot to the train station, the tourist office, the nearest shop, the bakery, a cafe, a restaurant and 3 bars ! We also have a garden with BBQ and an outdoor fire pit because we think its cooler than having one inside and we can make real fires, warm spirits and spark that end-of-day-chatter with a mug of mulled wine. We also have secure storage for all your gear ( bicycles, boards, ski, etc ). We have a large lounge area with a TV and a large selection of movies and music, a Games console and iPod docking station to enjoy. We are flexible on check in and out times as well so you can get the most out of your time here, so as you can see the atmosphere at Chill Chalet is friendly and relaxed, "your home away from home". Come and give us a try. We are owner run and always on hand to take care of the little things http://www.chillchalet.com/about-chill-chalet/

Very handy spot in the centre of town with free wifi. The staff are friendly and helpful and you…read morecan find out pretty much anything there is to know about Val Thorens here.