Club Med Cervinia, Cervinia, Italy

We’ve stayed here a few times and are returning again this year! It’s a little rough around the edges and has probably seen better days, but they’ve been refurbishing bits of it recently. Cristallo is the main bit where the dining room is and the rooms are quite old unless you're staying in one of the suites. There are two other wings, Cristallino 1 and 2. We’ve stayed in Cristallino 1 (family of 3) and the room was quite small with a really tiny bathroom and a small corner shower. More recently we stayed in Cristallino 2 which is further away and quieter. We were told it has bigger rooms and the room was much bigger. The bathroom was massive but a bit bog standard and probably needed a bit of work done – you win some you lose some! The holiday was all inclusive and the food is always brilliant – if you're having lessons the instructor decides where you lunch and in the evening they always do the usual pasta, pizza station and chips but also have themed nights so one night you’d have oysters, the next night lobster, Asian, Mexican etc. Generally speaking, everyone we talked to and ate with enjoyed it. The club med staff were variable, sometimes too busy to help but we got what we needed eventually (I had a problem with a water dripping noise in the bedroom - it took a while before we got a response but once they got there it was fine). The GO’s were the entertainment staff and were all good, there are always staff wandering around if you need anything. The only thing I would say is that it’s not ski in ski out. This didn’t make any difference for us, we’d stayed in places with ski in ski out before but we had no problems with the set up here. It was all sorted with a van or two to take you down. The lessons were staggered so you go in the van with your group. If you’re relatively good you can ski back (there is a way back that takes you 20m or so away) but bear in mind you have to get the van if you want to get back to the slopes. I’d absolutely recommend it to families, Club Med holidays are the best if you have children, especially if the adults want to ski too. You take the children to the kids club in their ski clothes and they look after them, put on their boots, put them into groups, take them off to lessons (no having to carry skis), feed them on the mountain and then bring them back at the end of the day for hot chocolate. If the Mum and Dad classes come back later they hold onto them, which works really well. UPDATE AFTER 2016 HOLIDAY It was absolutely lovely, though we were put in Cristallo 2 again even though we’d asked for Cristallo 1. We had quite a big room and balcony and everything was fine as usual, I think maybe they tried to put us together with other people we know who were staying there as they had a deluxe suite next door to us. It wasn’t the end of the world! The food was fine and we had great weather.

My daughter thinks Club Med Cervinia is fabulous and doesn’t want to go anywhere else! We’ve stayed here a few times and have booked it already for next season, we wouldn’t go back if it wasn’t so perfect for both adults and children. The new manager has brought an even higher standard than before – he’s very hands on and engaged, keeping the staff on their feet and getting them to carry people’s suitcases for them. The food is beyond anything I’ve ever had in a ski resort, with a buffet selection that changes every day and such huge variety and high quality. I spend my time with some very discerning other guests who regard the food as outstanding. Cervinia’s great as it’s an easy transfer from Milan and Turin which are a much better standard than the airports you find in France. I can’t tell you much about what’s in the resort as very people who stay in Club Med rarely leave the hotel – the food, entertainment and free drinks are all you need. The bedrooms are good enough, they’re not a big enough part of a ski holiday to need anything incredible nor a big part of what you’re buying into. The kids club is brilliant and the ski lessons are super, the instructors work almost exclusively with Club Med throughout the season – Giorgio is outstanding. Update after 2016 holiday: Another great week at Club Med Cervinia. The food was excellent as usual and the general attention to detail by the staff was flawless. We had great weather in Cervinia too, so it was a great holiday all round!

It was brilliant! We liked all the entertainment at night time. The food was good, with different dishes every night – with some all-inclusive hotels you get the same dishes all week but this was good. As for the actual hotel, I didn’t think it was fantastic but it was fine. The bedrooms had plenty of storage space. The pool was a little disappointing and needs a bit of a revamp. The location isn’t too bad; you had to get a bus in the morning which was no problem. You could ski back to the hotel at the end of the day and it’s a good run down. Overall it was a really good option for a family ski holiday as it made everything easy.

Fantastic! Couldn’t fault it! We are considering going back next season. The staff couldn’t do enough for you and the food was fantastic – we had all sorts of options: A la carte, special dishes prepared there and then, pizzas, roast dinners, whatever you wanted! The entertainment was great, especially the kids stuff that they put on for Christmas day. Bedrooms were fairly basic but fine. Getting to the piste was easy as there was a little minibus. The way they did ski school worked really well, with lessons catering for every ability.