Family ski holidays

Only the best will do

We have gone to great lengths to ensure that you will enjoy your ski holiday with childcare, and you will feel absolutely confident in our nannies ability to care for your children. We take on nannies with NNEB or equivalent qualifications, or experienced teachers who pass our own rigorous screening and CRB checks. All nannies then undertake our 2 week training programmes, including a paediatric first aid course.

As keen skiers with little ones ourselves, we fully understand that happy children make for relaxed parents and that quality childcare is an essential ingredient to every family holiday. The growing reputation of our childcare is reflected in the consistently glowing reports received in our questionnaires, and the number of nannies who return to work for us each season.

Ratios

One private nanny is permitted to look after:

• TWO Infants aged 6 months-2 years, or
• THREE children aged 2 and over, or
• FOUR children aged 5 and over

If you have children of mixed age groups, please call our childcare line for advice on how many nannies you will require. Please note that in some instances you may be advised to book 2 nannies, even if the above ratios are being adhered to i.e when 3 children are 2 years old, we would recommend 2 nannies. Half days or reduced hours are available on selected weeks, please call us on 0844 557 3119 for prices.

Prices - any 8 hours between 8am & 8pm

* Dec 8 and Apr 20 dates apply to Val d'Isere only. ** Peak dates are 22 & 29 Dec, 16 Feb, 30 Mar and 6 Apr. 
Prices quoted are for 5½ days from Monday to Saturday with a half-day off mid-week (normally Wednesday). On the nanny half-day, you can choose for your nanny to work 8:30am to 1:30pm or 12 noon to 5:00pm.  

Babies under 6 months old

We want all the family to experience the delights of snow, so will endevour to provide childcare service for little ones as young as 12 weeks old. Please do call Rachael, our Childcare Manager on 0844 557 3119 to discuss your requirements.

Hotel Montjola shared nanny

The 2013-14 season welcomes the introduction of Montjola Kids, created specifically for those families staying in the Hotel Montjola with ski school aged children.

Flexible Hours

We realise that not everyone had the same routine, especially whilst on holiday, so our private nanny service is built on flexibility. You can choose which 8 consecutive hours you would like your nanny to work each day between 8am and 8pm. There is no need to confirm these times until you meet your nanny in resort, and you can even choose to change them day to day. Our nannies work 5½ days from Monday to Saturday with a half-day off mid-week (normally Wednesday). On the nanny half-day, you can choose for your nanny to work 8:30am to 1:30pm or 12 noon to 5:00pm. 

Half days or reduced hours are available on selected weeks, and are equally flexible. Please call us on 0844 557 3119 to discuss your requirements.

Welcome Meeting

We know how daunting it can be planning a ski holiday with childcare, and a daunting experience for the children meeting someone new. Which is why on the first evening of your holiday, your nanny will come to your chalet to meet you and get to know the children. This is a good opportunity to chat through the week ahead and discuss your children’s routine. Your nanny will also come to ski school on the first morning, irrespective of whether this falls inside the working hours you have requested, to meet your child’s instructor and confirm class details. 

What The Children Can Expect

Our private nannies will care for your children in the comfort and familiar surroundings of your own chalet, and arrange with our drivers for any lifts needed for children’s weary legs after ski lessons.  In Les Gets, the nannies will be able to use the children’s playroom in the hotel.

Lunch time will involve something fresh and nutritious, but most importantly something your child likes – your nanny will discuss this with you when you arrive. For younger infants on bottles or purees, your nanny will happily prepare any special feeds needed too.

Any good workman has a big box of tools, and our private nannies are no exception. Your nanny will bring a box of goodies to the chalet; games, books, toys and art materials, and the youngsters can look forward to creative activities, baking, and messy play too. Weather permitting, and with your consent, they will go out for walks, trips on the bubble, build snowmen and have fun in the snow.  Your nanny will know all the best sledging areas, tastiest hot chocolate and hidden secrets of the resort, whether it’s a visit to the farm in Val d’Isere, the huskies in Alpe d’Huez or ice caves in La Plagne.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to the popularity of our childcare facilities, early booking is absolutely essential. Our private nanny service is available in all resorts, with the exception of Zermatt and Verbier. For further information, please contact our childcare manager Rachael Waite, on 0207 100 5323 or childcare@vip-chalets.com.

Here are some little known facts about our fantastic nanny service. We take great pride in providing the perfect ski holiday with childcare;

• You will receive a ‘nanny profile’ before you travel so you know a little more about who will be looking after your children
• A Sunday night welcome meeting with your nanny gives you the opportunity to ask any questions and discuss the plan for the week
• Complete flexibility - you can change hours from day to day, no need to decide ahead of your holiday
• Our nannies can accompany younger children during ski school (subject to ski school consent)
• Our nannies can bring children up the mountain to meet you for lunch
• Our nannies can administer medication (with written permission)
• Children can look forward to play dates with other children and nannies 
• Our nannies are more than happy to help with any holiday homework
• All nannies have mobile phones so are fully contactable

Our ski resort nannies are personally recruited and trained by Rachael, our dedicated Childcare Manager. They are chosen for their experience, and maturity, confidence and enthusiasm. The average age of our nannies last season was 24. During their training course at the start of the season, as well as updating Health and Safety qualifications, the nannies have sessions in practical cooking, basic French, indoor and outdoor play and even learn how to sledge safely!

Rachael gets to know each nanny personally, and will try and match the most suitable nanny to each family based on their experience and personality. Shortly before you travel, you will get a short profile of your nanny so that you know a little bit about their background and the children know who they will be playing with in resort.

You can be assured we select the best candidates and employ the people we know will ensure your children have the best ski holiday possible. What's more, all our nannies;

• Are qualified, not just “experienced”
• Have been personally interviewed and references taken
• Are CRB cleared
• Complete a 10 day training course in resort
• Complete 2 day Paediatric First Aid course, tailored to the Alpine environment
• Have Food Hygiene training
• Have Fire safety training

Obviously we think our childcare is the best, and we are fiercely proud of what we do, but we thought that one or two more objective comments from our previous guests might be helpful to you …

Petit Choucas, Val d'Isere
Tyla our nanny was also amazing and for the first time in many weeks my 19 month old son was happy to wave me goodbye and go and have fun with her which was great as I managed to get in some much needed relaxation time. CM Feb 14

Petit Choucas, Val d'Isere
Billie was a great nanny to our two children, we felt very comfortable going off skiing leaving them in her charge when they weren't at ski school. She kept them interested with numerous activities including a visit to the farm, soft play, bum boarding, play dates, ice-skating and many creative activities including painting, sticking and glueing! Oxygen ski school was amazing for both children, they both improved massively during the course of the week. JT Feb 14 

Chalet Du Bois, Morzine
How to describe Lucy in a few words? Well, as a family with young children she simply made our holiday. Mature beyond her years, instantly on the same wavelength as our children (Aged 6 & 9.) Relentless in her enthusiasm, a bundle of joy when she arrived each morning to get our kids ready for skiing, always smiling when she arrived on the hill at lunchtime and lugged off skis, poles, boots, rucksacs and two skipping happy littl’uns to the cable car. Endless imagination and enthusiasm for afternoon entertainment, skating, tobogganing, dancing, snowmen, drawing …. I suppose my only regret was that I could never persuade the kids to stay with me on the hill in the afternoon as they always wanted to go back to resort with Lucy. She is an absolute gem, totally reliable and humbling in her dedication. We were gobsmacked when we learnt she was only 18. One of the very best nannies we have had the pleasure of encountering. AS, Dec 13

La Chapelle, Alpe d'Huez
We have travelled with VIP twice now and both holidays have been superb. In particular, the quality and flexibility of the childcare has been wonderful and has allowed us to relax and enjoy our breaks away. Offord, Feb 13

La Ferme, Alpe d'Huez
Our overall holiday was superb, we felt that we had received excellent value for money, and that everything offered had been received. The booking was seamless and stress free, the chalet staff were fabulous and the food was delicious. Alina & Justine were the perfect hosts, always on hand to attend to our requests, always cheerful and smiling, always relaxed and happy with the children and always making us feel as if we were staying in our own home. Sarah was a lovely nanny to our children, she looked after Monty with great care whilst we were out skiing and was able to cope with Mariette when she had an 'age--related tantrum'! A great comfort to us to know that our children were being professionally looked after whilst being given the perfect positive attention that they required. Overall, a fabulous holiday and we cannot wait to travel again with you and stay in Val d'Isere in December. Your staff are truly fabulous and a real asset to the company. Well done VIP!! Cheung, Apr 13

Aspen Lodge, Val d'Isere
The week we had at Aspen Lodge in Val d'Isere was fabulous. The staff couldn't do enough to make our time any better. The Chalet Hosts Lucy and Sebastian were exceptional as were the nannies Linzay and Sophie. We will definitely be using VIP again and have told friends to book for next year. Middlemas, Dec 12

Altitude Lodge, Les Gets
Overall we really did have an amazing holiday, and probably one the best ski holidays ever! The chalet, staff, accommodation, location, ski guide, ski area and weather were brilliant - Please thank all the staff for making our holiday!! A special thank you to Danielle, an absolute asset to your company and one that emulate the "perfect nanny"....if only we could take her home!!!! Sowden, Jan 13

Hotel Montjola, St Anton
I wanted to let you know how lucky we felt to have super nanny, Gemma, with us at Hotel Montjola. Gemma was simply brilliant from start to finish. We would not have had the holiday that we did without her capability, excellent sense of humour and care. Specifically, as we dithered on day one, Gemma was straight in getting our girls dressed and allowing us to actually make it to the slopes. I know that Hotel Montjola was new for Gemma too, but she was so experienced that she managed to entertain our girls (and relay all our requests for more vegetables and less pasta for the meals etc, etc) even in a hotel environment. I really appreciated that Gemma did not let me hover for hours and encouraged us to get out and ski! Renoux, Mar 13