Chalet Tignes

Just on the plane back from Geneva to Gatwick, reflecting what was another excellent skiing break to Tignes.  Our trip was initially planned as a strategic business review weekend but we ended up skiing more than we thought. The conditions where fantastic! We even got some late season powder on Tignes’ Grand Motte glacier. Well, all great on the skiing front, with hardly a cloud in the sky above Tignes for most of the weekend.

Skiing late season in Tignes never disappoints, but the food on the slopes does. And talking about clouds in the sky, I was appalled by price, choice and quality of food in the mountain restaurants in both Tignes and Val D’Isere.  Skiing is not a cheap sport and Tinges is no exception with a day lift passing nearing £50. However there is no excuse for bad, overpriced food when you are most in need to recharge your energy.

Coffee, piece of cake and small bottle of water 13 euro, which is almost £13 these days. Or a poorly tasting spaghetti Bolognese for almost the same price. Give me a break… but not at these prices. We are in the middle of a recession and surely the target audience for those self-service mountain restaurants has no longer the cash to spend an extra £200 a week for poor quality lunches on the slopes.

I am certain, that the intake of these so-called restaurants has gone down. Does that mean the prices will have to go up next season or do those Tignes ‘restaurant’ owners start to offer decent value meals the likes to get in most ski resorts in Germany, Austria and Italy?

Apres-ski cost has gone up a level too. Two pints at the infamous terrace at Folly Douce put me down 13 quid just to listen to the DJ and an inflated unnecessary support band. I used to love this place but it is getting more a rip-off and less of an atmosphere. Get me back to a London pub any time…. for the après-ski anyway…