Cheap Price for Seasonal and Longstay
Seasonaire Skiing and Snowboarding

Seasonal Lodgings

If you want cheap ski hotel lodgings in the French Alps and to wake up to this snowy view everyday, but are not keen on washing up or table waiting in order to fund it, you may want to do a season or extended holiday in the Chardons hotel as a seasonaire / longstay. Seasonaires and Longstays pay a cheap hotel rate by agreeing to stay for more than one month and by living in spare staff hotel accommodation. Seasonaires and Longstays are very much part of the team in our Tignes hotel and many of them work part time in other jobs finding it both cheaper and more convenient than renting lodgings and having to cook and wash up for themselves each day.

Why be a seasonaire or longstay?

To explain this, it is worth comparing various options for lodgings if you want to do a season skiing and snowboarding in the French Alps.

• Apartments. Apartments in good ski and snowboard resorts can be rented for about £1000 per bed per season if you fill them to capacity (usually either four or six people), or more if you want extra space by only putting, for example, three people in an apartment for four. It is usually not possible to rent for less than a whole ski and snowboard season as owners will want to make more money renting by the week if they don't rent for the season. This equates to around £65 per person per week as long as you stay from December till April. On top of this you must add food and bills which will be about £40 per week if you don't want to live on beans and Weetabix for five months. You have to cook and clean and will be confined to a small space with your flatmates all year. Escaping this in the evenings will mean going to a bar and spending money or visiting other friends in the skiing and snowboarding resort. If you only want to stay a month, things get difficult unless you can find others with an apartment who have room to let you doss on the sofa/floor. On the plus side you have your own space, can put your TV and video games in, can make lots of mess and are usually in the centre of the skiing and snowboarding resort to socialise.
  
• Out of ski resort. Lodgings can be found cheaply out of the main skiing resorts. The only advantages are really cheapness and finding more roomy places for the same money. On the downside it will mean a car ride or hitch to the skiing resort each day to ski and snowboard and the usual inconvenience of not being near supermarkets, shops and banks. The nightlife in some of these villages often means having a quiet pint with the local goat herder, or even just the local goat. All the stuff written about apartments otherwise applies. Can be viable if you have a car though many of the old, cheap places have now been converted to luxury chalets with private chauffeurs to ferry clients into the ski resort each day.
  
• Youth Hostel. In some holiday resorts (not usually in France but sometimes in Austria) there will be Youth Hostels and other similar cheap lodgings. These places can be quite reasonably priced to stay in (about £15 to £20 per day bed and breakfast) but often have limits on the length of time you can stay during the winter skiing season. Normally two to three weeks is about the limit. Evening meals can be taken for about £10 in many of them but not all. There is no cooking or cleaning to do but it is not normally possible to use the cooking facilities yourself to save money as new EU regulations generally exclude members of the public from commercial kitchens. The atmosphere is usually quite lively and you get to meet a lot of people but theft and the lack of storage space can be a problem.
  
• Seasonal Lodgings. Seasonaire or Longstay involves staying in spare staff accommodation or under-used rooms in the Tignes hotel. Food is supplied on the same basis as for guests so there is no washing up or cooking to do each day and you can easily budget your money as you know exactly how much you will be spending each week on  hotel lodgings and food. The washing machine and other facilities can be used so you won't be spending money at the launderette or ski shop and we are a two minute walk from the ski lifts so no hitching or driving is needed for skiing and snowboarding. There is plenty of space in the Tignes hotel to escape your room-mates if you need to and there are lots of other like minded people to socialise with. We give you a reduction on drinks in our bars, which can be a mixed blessing! You can also install your playstation and telly in your room and there will be plenty of other staff, clients and longstays to go snowboarding and skiing with. On the downside, you have to enjoy a communal lifestyle (much like being in student accommodation) and there is often so much going on it can be hard to refuse yet another night in the bar.

What do we offer?

• Accommodation in bunk bed rooms. Usually spare hotel staff rooms.
  
• Breakfast and evening meals supplied either taken with staff or with clients if there is room
  
• Reduced priced drinks for season workers in our bars
  
• Advice and help on reducing the cost of ski passes and equipment
  
• Use of all our Tignes hotel facilities (washing machine, ski - tech room etc.)
  
• Cost is from £90 to £110 per week depending on hotel accommodation inclusive of the above

Please email us on Ski hotel Tignes longstay to discuss further details if you are interested in a long stay skiing and snowboarding holiday at our Tignes hotel. Contact us early if you are a group of friends and want to all stay in the same room or if you have any other requests, questions or just want some advice.