We had a really wonderful week in Val D’Isere in Chalet Belvarde 7 and one night in a smaller club chalet opposite. We appreciate honest feedback in our line of work and hope that you will appreciate our comments below. Your website states that VIP Ski is known for ‘luxury and exceptional locations, our service for its unrivalled attention to detail. Every one of our luxury ski chalets is run by welcoming hosts, famous for their charming, attentive, yet unobtrusive service.’ So we will comment in alignment with your brand and our experience. The Chalet: Belvarde 7: The chalet really was incredible. Just the space was wonderful and unusual in typical small french chalets. We loved the sauna, steam room and pool and used regularly. In fact, it exceeded our expectations on all - furnishing, style, layout, generous room, aspect and location. The Service & Staff: Pre-sales was really efficient, friendly and good. We were really appreciative of the way the staff were able to get us out on the slopes within an hour of arriving - organising skis and ski pass! After 3 years of no skiing, our boys loved it! The 2 guys in the first chalet had amazing attitude, approach and very professional, nothing was too much to ask. In Belvarde 7, we couldn’t fault Will - always willing to help and very polite. In Belvard 7 there was a continuous churn of staff, sometimes being served by people we didn’t know and hadn’t introduced themselves. This continuous flow of new chalet staff meant it felt difficult to create a rapport and often felt like we were imposing on them. In Belvarde 7 we felt there was a lack of finesse by the chalet team and the way they used No 7 as a ‘meeting place’. We had a constant stream of different staff through the door or chatting through the open kitchen window (letting in lots of cold air!). We could over hear all conversations with often large groups (more than 5+) of VIP staff in the open plan kitchen… including ‘I’ve had a f*cking awful day’ which I felt wholly inappropriate. One day I was ill in bed due to a horrible cold, which the staff knew and while everyone else had gone skiing, the large team of VIP staff were all in the kitchen with very loud music. They were happy to turn the music down, but I felt lacked consideration. We appreciate they are young and out doing a ski season, but it didn’t feel as though it was in alignment with the VIP brand. And perhaps this is a hangover from COVID with a lack of training and experience. The attention to detail was not present; little things that add up. We were not offered the tea in bed which we had been very excited for and had to ask for. They asked if we wanted our rooms serviced, rather than just doing it - which made us feel like we were inconveniencing them. Arriving for breakfast when it wasn’t fully laid - no tea / coffee; again asking for cooked breakfast which was on offer, felt like an inconvenience…. Rather than being offered it. One of the strangest things, and typical in every chalet we have stayed in for the last 30 years - no welcome chat! No information given or offered on how things would run, what was on offer, all the things we would need to know. We had to ask - what night is the night off, where is the lift, when can we get the bus, how do we get on the slopes etc? The basics. VIP may be unobtrusive, but it was in our opinion too relaxed and not attentive. Perhaps we have high standards, based on previous experiences; in any case we did want to leave at tip but in this cashless society, we didn’t have any cash and asked for a method to transfer some money for the large team who looked after us. This has yet to be forthcoming. The Food. The wine was really enjoyable and wonderful to have sparkling wine every evening with canapés. On the whole the food was good but not exceptional (which was our experience with VIP the previous time we came). We were really happy with the way they were able to cater for our coeliac son, although this was perhaps at the detriment of everyone else? The food in the first chalet was a wonderful meal we all really enjoyed. In Belvarde7, we felt the food standard let the quality of the chalet down. At least 2 meals were really basic - stews with very little meat and a memorable starter salad because it was the first thing they gave us and so bad - ice berg lettuce, raw fennel and a slice of smoked salmon! This could have been poor time management as they had said the fridge was bare and they were going shopping the next day. This wasn’t a good first impression and not in alignment with ‘attention to detail’. The cake on the penultimate day was a real let down; after a magical day skiing in the best powder ever, we came home to a basic sponge with smeared crumby jam on the top! Clearly someone else wanted to get on the fresh powder too. A real inconsistency as the day before was an amazing coffee cake with beautifully piped icing! The inconsistency was disappointing and perhaps a result of the multiple chefs and sous chefs over the course of the week. The Transportation The private transfer to resort was fabulous - very VIP. However, we couldn’t find him and took multiple phone calls and a long wait. Eventually we were directed to the side of the motorway…. Perhaps not the safest place with children. The Pick up service in resort was on the whole good and responsive, but it was disappointing on 2 occasions when we were told we had 30-40 minute wait. The coach transfer back to the airport was in a very tired, stained, broken coach. It did not feel very VIP, although it did the job. If you would like to discuss any of the above we would be only to happy to. Regards James & Ali