Winter 05/06 Trip Report - Bob Arnold and Paula Townsend

We have just returned from Arc 1950, having spent the New Year week in our apartment in Hameau du Glacier. We arrived to the first major snow of the season so were fortunate in having good conditions for most of the week (once all the lifts were open) and managed a few runs that are not necessarily open at this time of the year.

The Village
>The atmosphere in the village was superb. With five apartment blocks now open, there was a real buzz around the place and it is starting to have a real atmosphere. Our week’s activities were themed around the ‘Great North’ of Canada, so we had husky sledge rides, teepees, a Canadian trapperstory teller as well as the more conventional hot chocolate and ski-joering! People who have been there say that there is now a considerable similarity with Tremblant.

The ‘centre’ of the village has moved. Up until last summer, activities tended to be centred around the link bridge between HdG and PdC. The centre is now much more between Auberge and Jardins drawing people further down into the newly opened areas.

There is now a range of new retail outlets including a Tex-Mex restaurant (Los Chicanos), an Asian Restaurant (East), a Creperie, and a fast food outlet. Shops that have opened include a children’s clothes outlet, sweet shop, jewellery boutique and wine/spirits store. The latter is owned by a (British) owner and is staffed by a couple of Brits. The products here are very competitively priced so don’t think you have to stock up in Bourg to get good quality drink at affordable prices!

The more established shop-keepers seem delighted by the progress that has been made. La Casa (the pizza restaurant) is at the point that it expected to be at in 2008 and is looking to expand if at all possible. This is probably necessary as the place is full at lunch times and you needed to book at least 2 days in advance for an evening table. The week’s takings were doubtless boosted by a very large contingent of Russian visitors brandishing wads of 500 Euro notes.

The owners cocktails were well attended (to the extent that the wine ran out!). Jessica, Jean-Marc, Norbert and some of the ITW sales team were there as well. The general consensus is that Jessica is in a no-win role and does a good PR job. However, the owners that we spoke to reported that issues only seem to be resolved once you go over her head to Robert Jerome or to ITW in Canada.

HMC Service Levels
>We have been quite critical of HMC in the past and this time we were pleasantly surprised. OK, we arrived a little after the peak rush, getting to Resort at about 8.00pm. Our bags were taken out of the taxi by a concierge who took them (and us) to the PdC reception. The HMC owners liaison manager (Norbert) checked us in, sorted out our lift passes (we’d sent the forms to him earlier in December) and the concierge then took our bags to our room. A couple of minor niggles (missing light bulb and difficult-to-open ski locker) were sorted out rapidly and without fuss. On the last morning our taxi failed to turn up and the receptionist was reasonably helpful in attempting to resolve the problem whilst still trying to deal with other guests. We found the pool at PdC quite cool and this was taken up by Norbert who assured us that the temperature would be tested to ensure that it was at 28 degrees. Unfortunately, we did not have a further opportunity to reality test this – but the service was there.<p>

There were a lot more ‘comings and goings’ during the week than usual. Because of the way in which Xmas and school holidays fell this year, the operators had apparently allowed for a considerable degree of flexibility with guests able to arrive any time between the Friday and Monday and stay for between 6 and 9 nights. 

The poubelles (dustbin rooms) have been horrible, squalid places during our previous visits. They now have large, lidded wheelie bins that appeared to cope with the volumes of garbage generated at most times (change-over day being the exception),

HMC Niggles
>There were only two little niggles during the week. The first was that the sound on Sky News was non-existent. Apparently this was the case across all 4 HMC properties and we were advised that a technician had been called. This had not been resolved by our departure and we seem to recall a similar problem in the summer. The second was that we found the washing machines full of tea towels and chefs whites from one of the restaurants. One would have expected them to have a professional laundry service in place rather than using the machines in HdG. <p>

Issues and Concerns
><strong>There is an increasing pressure on the restaurants in the village as a result of the increased number of apartments and occupancy levels. Those that offer good food and value for money, such as La Casa are booked solid. Of the new restaurants, East was charging 45 Euros per head for a three course lunch and the children’s menu was extremely limited. They were also unable to accept credit cards during our week. They appeared to be empty for much of the time. Los Chicanos was busy and reasonably priced, but friends that ate there reported very slow service.

As a family, we found it relatively difficult to be eat out on impulse. Chez Anne only provides a children’s menu to those under 6. Chalet Luigi does not offer a children’s menu as such and La Casa/Los Chicanos needed booking days in advance! It was also difficult to get to eat before 7.00pm.

Some friends staying in the village reported that Ogier had run out of ski equipment (for their child) by the time that they went there on Saturday morning and they had to go to Arc 2000 for ski/boot rental. It was also a bit of a bun fight returning our equipment, even though we were fast-tracked by M Ogier himself!

Many of the retail outlets are selling high quality/branded merchandise with price tags to match. This is in keeping with the concept of a 4-star resort but it also means that the operators have to be capable of attracting a level of guest that will spend in these types of outlets.

Summary
>All in all, the week was great and the village is really coming together and starting to look and feel like a village rather than a collection of apartment blocks. Can’t wait to get back there in April!<p>

Bob Arnold and Paula Townsend
>HdG 419<p>

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