| Reviews: 1 |
| Worcestershire |
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  5 of 5, "Well worth a look for any beginners" 07/02/2006 @ 17:18 |
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| 2 of 3 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Revision #2 (Last edited: 07/02/2006 @ 17:23) |
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| Price Paid |
| £340 Half board p/p for a group of 4 sharing 2 twin rooms |
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| Booked Through |
| First Choice |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
This holiday was booked 3-4 weeks in advance and at the price paid I think we got a real bargain.
HOTEL
We stayed at the Hotel Princessa Parc which is one of the higher 4* ranking hotels in Andorra. The Hotel has lots of extra facilities such as a bowling alley but does charge extra for the use of them including the Wellness centre which is like a health centre offering all sorts of treatments and massages for the bruised boarder or skier.
The rooms were fine, great power showers and a separate bath. Only thing missing was a kettle. I could have killed for a cup of tea when back off the slopes but no facilities are provided in the room for refreshments other than a minibar. We had a nightmare trying to settle the bill for use of the minibar as the cleaner had totalled up what we had drunk and then added that to the bill we ourselves bought down on the morning we had to check out. It took ages to sort out.
The buffet set-up in the hotel meant that sometimes the meals always felt similar but I found that the fact none of the food was labelled made it difficult to know quite what you were eating. The food was nothing to write home about but nevertheless I never felt it was gonna make me ill in anyway which was good.
RESORT
Overall the resort is well laid out with the bars all aligning the main street and surrounding the main gondola up onto the mountain. The lift pass system used in Arinsal is on a chip card system so the lift pass always stays in your left hand pocket so on the way through the turnstiles you rubbed your leg around a sensor until it let you through. The lifts work very well and are quite efficient in the resort.
The lift pass known as the Vallnord lift pass enables the use of the Pal resort linked to Arinsal by a Cable Car and to the less well known resort called Arcalis. Unfortunately we did not have time to go and explore Arcalis as to reach it requires a 20 minute bus ride but by all accounts there are some very nice runs to be had on the highest resort in Andorra.
APRES-SKI
After coming down on the gondola from a days boarding, you are descended on by reps for all the pubs and bars and offered all sorts of freebies. Quo Vadis was our usual first port of call after coming down as they were giving away free 1/2 pints of lager whilst the other bars were all trying to tempt you in other ways with a free toastie when u buy a drink etc.. All the bars were good and worth a visit.
At the Princessa Parc I would thoroughly reccommend seeing the live band on in Bogarts Bar called Noise 'R' Us. They sound cheesy and look like a hillbilly western band but boy can those boys play, their lead guitarist was awesome. If anyone fancies themselves as a vocalist or can play any instruments then the band are willing to allow guest appearances!! Two of our group got pointed out and asked to get up and sing..it was class. The band were on from Monday to Thursday from 9.30 till about 1am.
For anyone fancying something different or more relaxing then the other 2 main bars in the hotel had a piano player doing requests and a small vocal band in the Diana Parc Louvre bar
I thouroughly enjoyed the Monday night bar crawl through the resort which was organised by the reps and would reccommend nobody misses that night. |
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| Strengths |
- Booking late meant we got a bargain price for flights accomodation and transfers.
- Good Apres-ski and entertainment to be had if you go looking for it.
- Friendly people, relaxed atmosphere - good times
- Efficient ski lifts keep queing to a minimum
- large wide runs in Arinsal, ideal for carving out your turns
- Spectacular views from Pal and nice treelined runs.
- A board park with good jumps but no half pipe.
- plenty of schools and instructors for beginners
- Measures of Spirits are not measured. Order a vodka and coke and you get more like a quadrouple vodka and coke, you have been warned.. bring on the good times!!!! |
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- The Surf Bar (near the gondola) after about 11pm
- Bogarts Bar in the Princessa Parc Hotel after 9.30pm Monday to Thursday.
- Quo Vadis immediately after coming off the mountain (grab a free drink token from the boys at the bottom of the ramp near the gondola). |
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| Weaknesses |
- Food in the hotel.
- Runs in Arinsal are limited and not that testing. Plenty of opportunity for beginners to hone their skills and improve. I know I certainly did!!! |
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