Just come back from El Tarter, stayed at Hotel El Xalet run by Crystal Holidays. It was absolutely terrible. Room tiny - couldn%26#39;t open the door to the balcony without moving the bed. Matresses and bed well past sell by date. Without going into the whole catalogue of things wrong, we and others had money stolen, the food was either just about ok or absolutely terrible. Don%26#39;t stay there. Have been to Soldeu/El Tarter 3 times and am going back again in 3 week, NOT to the El Xalet needless to say.
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read the above days before flying out to the Hotel El Xalet with Crystal Holidays, at the end of Feb, and so was expecting the worst.
When we arrived, we found the hotel clean and comfortable, it wasn%26#39;t 5star, but then we knew that when we booked! The staff were really great, helpful, and very child friendly. The food was cooked to a high standard, with separate sittings for the children if required, and importantly, the kitchen was clearly visable, and therefore open to scrutiny.
A fantastic holiday overall
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I stayed at hotel Xalet In soldeu for a week and can quite honestly say that I had half a good meal... bless them for trying but really... It was pants. My microwaveable x-mas pud was even still slightly frozen in the middle! I mean COME ON! All the staff, bar the chef, were absolutely fantastic though and it is a very child friendly hotel, except maybe the staircase... but the beer is good, the snow-boarding is great and theres a supermarket down the road that sells 200 ciggies for ������8ish and 3 litres of Jack Daniels for ������28ish so who gives a **** about the food.
The rooms could be alot better aswell. In our room there were power sockets hanging from the wall and the layout was really poor. But all in all I would probably go back there if not just to go out for a drink with the staff. A young chap named Carlos was really professional and after there were a few complaints about the food they really did try thier best to make up for the poor food but low and behold the chef let them down again... SACK HIM (he probably is sacked by now) Good holiday though.
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I stayed at hotel Xalet In soldeu for a week and can quite honestly say that I had half a good meal... bless them for trying but really... It was pants. My microwaveable x-mas pud was even still slightly frozen in the middle! I mean COME ON! All the staff, bar the chef, were absolutely fantastic though and it is a very child friendly hotel, except maybe the staircase... but the beer is good, the snow-boarding is great and theres a supermarket down the road that sells 200 ciggies for ������8ish and 3 litres of Jack Daniels for ������28ish so who gives a **** about the food.
The rooms could be alot better aswell. In our room there were power sockets hanging from the wall and the layout was really poor. But all in all I would probably go back there if not just to go out for a drink with the staff. A young chap named Carlos was really professional and after there were a few complaints about the food they really did try thier best to make up for the poor food but low and behold the chef let them down again... SACK HIM (he probably is sacked by now) Good holiday though.
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I stayed at the Hotel El Xalet in March 2005 with my boyfriend. We had a great time, found our room to be of a good size and clean. The food was great and plenty of it and the staff were really friendly. I%26#39;m personally surprised to see a bad report on this Chalet! Okay it is up a bit of a hill, I%26#39;m not the fittest of people and I managed to get up it every day. There is a good pub on the way back from the slops, which most of the skier/snow boarder from El Xalet would go after a day on the slops and share stories. It is a sociable place to stay.
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Just come back from this hotel was very worried because of the bad reviews. I can only say these people who have put bad stuff on are being very picky. We had the best time the rooms were great the staff were really friendly. The food was good what you expect if you only booked a 2star hotel. We were a big group and with lots of kids. The kids loved it and it was very safe, they had a courtyard outside which turned into a place they could play in the snow. We had the most amazing snowfall there on the friday night which we wondered if we would get of the mountain on the sunday trip home. Get Robin the crystal rep to take you over to pas de la casa we did it in 1 hour really good skiing...
would go back again
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Got to agree with Juliablackrun. It%26#39;s a value hotel! If you pay under £300 for a holiday including flights you%26#39;re not going to get a plush place to stay. But our room was good, beds were basic but comfy, TV, bathroom. Only picky things were small things that you%26#39;d feel churlish about complaining about (only 1 plug for bath and sink, bathroom lock not working - little things). Always warm, radiators to dry stuff.
Food was a bit odd - but it was all edible and generally well served up. The menu was up during the day so if you don%26#39;t fancy it you can pop out for a pizza or something. Bit confuse about the choice of food though. Some if it didn%26#39;t lend it%26#39;s self to mass catering.
The staff were young and friendly and the chef would always try to accomodate those who didn%26#39;t fancy that evenings offerings or kids meals etc. Fantastic fresh bread and butter!!!!
El Tarter isn%26#39;t the biggest place on the planet, but there are 3 or 4 bars, 2 supermarkets. The big plus was the Mesquite Bar - not a %26quot;brit pub%26quot;, it%26#39;s full of locals (staff and punters), great tapas and the restaurant side is good too, if a bit smokey!! The Stone Bar is the place to go for brit bonding, football etc.
Have to say that the Crystal Rep wasn%26#39;t the best. For instance it would have been nice to have been told that the 14th of March is a national holiday!! We were about to head all the way over to Andorra La Vella when we luckily found out that most of the shops would be closed. There%26#39;s also a cashpoint about 5 mins down the road in the Petrol Station that he wasn%26#39;t aware of. And to have a rep who can%26#39;t speak any/much of the local lingo isn%26#39;t the most professional. But he was very willing to take people out and about on the slopes. The transfer from Toulouse wasn%26#39;t too bad but they wait for several flights to come in from all over the UK and if one is late the rest have to wait - a whole bus sat for an hour waiting for 2 people on a late flight which was very frustrating. The return is always bad from these things, with 6 coaches of people all trying to check in at the airport at the same time (it goes with the type of holiday I%26#39;m afraid). Having said all that - we got there, we had a good time and we got back. I would have been gutted if we paid the full book price of £400ish - but for a lastminute deal for £270 it was spot on - deffo go again.
TIPS:
1) Use the free bus to get to La Vella - well worth it for cheap cameras etc. Great bar/restaurant called Mama Maria on the main drag - search it out.
2) Take the first bus to arrive if you%26#39;re going up to Soldeu - it%26#39;s only 1 euro! Not worth waiting for the free bus as they only come once an hour.
3) Fags %26amp; booze are as cheap in the local supermarket as La Vella so don%26#39;t go all that way for them.
4) Very %26quot;Boarding Friendly%26quot; resort. We avoided the dreaded button lifts for the whole time. No ski snobbery.
5) Pass is a bit pricey - £140. So make sure you try and explore the mountain - the rep was good at that - offering a guided tour of the mountains for free.
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We stayed here the first week in March, and as the oraniser of a fairly large group, i was fairly concerned when I read the reviews on here!
It was a pleasant surprise to find out that they couldn%26#39;t have been further from the truth! for a 2 star (yes, it%26#39;s a 2 star.. not a 5 Star) we got exactly what we would have expected. The rooms were comfy and always warm (a little too warm sometimes!) with all the cons you need (ie a bed, a light, and a loo!). Was always plenty of hot water for a soak in the bath after a day on the slopes, even if the door wouldn%26#39;t shut properly!
The food was always varied, and the chef always made an effort. I can sit here and say that every breakfast and evening meal we were served was demolished by my group without complaint. Always helps that there%26#39;s a couple of free glasses of wine to help!
The staff were young, friendly and always helpful. And the owner was always there to give us tips on bars and usually arranged a cheap taxi for us too.
My only niggle would be that all the floors are wooden and some people insisted on wearing their ski boots to go down the stairs and woke everyome up! and the rep was a bit useless with information, and just seemed to be making most of the stuff up.
All in all.. you will enjoy the el xalet unless you%26#39;re a snob who expects 5 star luxury for a 2star price. A big thankyou to everyone at the hotel for helping us have a fab hol!
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I think a lot may have changed since this review was written.
I went with a group by 5 people in February 2006 and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves - yes the food was good some days and not so good on other days, but never terrible and we always enjoyed dinner!
The resort is fabulous - we had 1 beginner skier, 2 beginner boarders and 2 experienced skiers and everyone had a fantastic time with enough runs (and plenty of sun) to please everyone.
The Ski and board school that everyone attended (experienced skiers too) was by far the best we%26#39;ve ever been too (I%26#39;ve been to ski school twice before in Frnace and the others too). Fantastic guides and plenty of variety - Board School was pretty hard core for beginners - very challenging with some long distance stuff - over into the other resorts to keep us interested.
The skiers ended up in natural half-pipes themselves, so some really fun stuff.
Our rep wasn%26#39;t brilliant either I have to say. We actually won the chalet pub quiz one night but never got a prize because the rep seemed unable to come up with the goods.
The supermarket up the road sells FANTASTIC sausage, lethal Andorran spirits and is well worth a visit - if only for the free tastings!
Anyway, we%26#39;re planning to book now for next year - the chalet was great and didn%26#39;t disappoint at all and was in a great location. Far better than the French hols I%26#39;ve had previously.
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