Catered or self-catered? Choosing the right accommodation can make a huge difference to how your ski holiday feels. Do you want to wake up to breakfast already prepared, head straight to the slopes and return to afternoon tea and dinner cooked for you? Or would you rather have the freedom to eat when and where you like, discover local restaurants and organise each day entirely around yourselves?
Having operated both catered and self-catered ski accommodation over the past 20+ years, I know there are advantages to both. The right choice depends on your group, your budget and perhaps most importantly, the type of holiday you want to enjoy.
At LDC Ski, I showcase both catered and self-catered chalets and apartments and I’ll always recommend what I think is right for you rather than steering you towards one particular type of holiday. And it’s often not just about the property itself, but the company behind it. Who owns or manages the chalet? What level of service can you expect? Will they deliver what they promise? So, what’s the difference between catered and self-catered, what are the pros and cons and how do the costs really compare?
What is a Catered Ski Chalet?
A catered chalet combines the privacy and comfort of a chalet with a level of service more commonly associated with a hotel. Exactly what’s included varies considerably between chalet companies and properties, but a typical catered chalet holiday may include:
- Accommodation
- Continental breakfast every morning
- Cooked breakfast on some or all mornings
- Afternoon tea with homemade cakes or pastries
- Pre-dinner drinks and canapés, either every catered evening or on selected evenings
- A three, four or five-course evening meal on five or six nights
- Wine served with dinner
- Tea, coffee and soft drinks
- Daily housekeeping, housekeeping on selected days or a midweek clean
- A chalet chef and/or host team
Some chalet companies go considerably further, particularly at the luxury end of the market. You may also find concierge services, an in-resort driver, lift passes waiting for you on arrival, ski and snowboard equipment fitted in the chalet, childcare arrangements, spa treatments and dedicated chalet managers. Some catered chalet operators also include airport transfers in the holiday price, although this is less common than it once was, so it’s important to check exactly what is and isn’t included when comparing prices.
Why Choose Catered? Because You Can Truly Switch Off.
For me, the greatest advantage of a catered chalet is simple: someone else is looking after you.
After skiing all day, you don’t have to think about what everyone is going to eat, visit the supermarket, prepare dinner or clear up afterwards. You come home, take off your ski boots and relax. Without shopping, meal planning and cooking, there’s simply more time to enjoy your holiday. Catered chalets can also be wonderfully sociable. Everyone comes back from skiing, gathers around afternoon tea, swaps stories from the day and meets again later for dinner. If you’re booking a shared chalet rather than taking one exclusively, there’s also the social side of meeting other skiers and I’ve known plenty of guests make lasting friendships this way.
Particularly Good for Families
Parents often appreciate catered chalets because they get a holiday too. After a day organising children for ski school, finding missing gloves and negotiating ski boots, knowing that dinner is taken care of can be a considerable relief. Dietary requirements and children’s meals can usually be accommodated if discussed in advance, although exactly what’s offered varies between companies. For larger and multi-generational families, catering can be even more valuable. Nobody has to volunteer—or be volunteered—to cook for ten, twelve or even twenty people every evening.
Perfect for Celebrations
Birthdays, anniversaries, family reunions and other special occasions also work particularly well in catered chalets. A beautifully prepared dinner, good wine and everyone around the same table can become one of the highlights of the holiday.
Are There Any Disadvantages to a Catered Chalet?
Of course. Catered isn’t right for everybody. The biggest compromise is flexibility. Dinner will normally be served at a set time and although good chalet chefs will accommodate dietary requirements, you can’t simply decide at 7pm that you fancy pizza instead. If your group likes to stay out late for après-ski, eat at different times or make spontaneous plans, a fixed catering schedule may feel restrictive. Most catered chalet teams also have one or two evenings off during the week, so you’ll usually need to eat out on those nights. I actually think that’s a positive, you get all the convenience of chalet catering while still having an opportunity to enjoy the resort’s restaurants. And, of course, catered chalets generally have a higher headline price than comparable self-catered accommodation because you’re paying for food, staff and service as well as the property.
What is a Self-Catered Chalet?
A self-catered chalet or apartment is essentially your own home in the mountains for the week. You’ll normally have a fully equipped kitchen, dining and living space and exclusive use of the property, but no meal service. Housekeeping varies: some properties include a midweek clean and/or end-of-stay cleaning, while others expect more from guests before departure. And despite the name, self-catering doesn’t mean you have to cook every meal yourself. You might make breakfast in the chalet, have lunch on the mountain, order pizza one evening, cook together another night and book a fantastic restaurant for the next. That’s one of its biggest attractions.
Why Choose Self-Catering? Complete Freedom.
Fancy breakfast at 10am? That’s fine. Want to be on the first lift and grab something from the bakery on the way? You can. Had a fantastic long lunch on the mountain and only want cheese, charcuterie and a bottle of wine that evening? No problem. And if après-ski turns into après-dinner, nobody is waiting back at the chalet to serve you. Self-catering gives you complete control over your schedule.
Discover the Resort’s Restaurants
For food lovers, this can be a major advantage. Many French ski resorts have exceptional restaurants, from simple pizzerias and traditional Savoyard restaurants to fine dining and Michelin-starred establishments. Self-catering allows you to make eating out part of the holiday and try somewhere different every evening if you want to. I know many of the resorts extremely well and I’m always happy to recommend restaurants I think are worth visiting.
Control Your Spending
Self-catering also gives you much greater control over your food budget. You can make simple breakfasts and evening meals, buy lunch from a bakery rather than eating in a mountain restaurant every day, or do exactly the opposite and make dining out one of the highlights of the holiday. You decide where your money goes.
The Practical Side of Self-Catering
There are, however, a few things worth considering before deciding self-catering is the cheaper or easier option.
Food Shopping
Where is the nearest supermarket? Resort supermarkets are convenient but can be considerably more expensive than the large supermarkets down in the valley. If you’re driving, stocking up before heading up the mountain can make sense. If you’re flying and taking an airport transfer, think about how you’ll get a week’s worth of shopping to the chalet. Some resorts and chalet companies offer grocery delivery or pre-arrival shopping services, which can make life much easier.
Who is Actually Going to Cook?
This sounds obvious, but it’s worth discussing before you book. Cooking together can be great fun. Cooking dinner for twelve people after skiing all day when everyone else is drinking wine in the hot tub may be slightly less appealing! The same applies to clearing the table, loading the dishwasher and keeping the kitchen tidy.
Restaurant Reservations
If your plan is “we’ll probably eat out most nights”, factor that into both your budget and your planning. Popular restaurants can book up well in advance during busy weeks, so spontaneity isn’t always possible. And several restaurant meals for a family or large group can quickly change the overall cost comparison between catered and self-catered.
Cleaning and Damage Deposits
Check the terms of your particular property. Self-catered accommodation commonly requires a damage deposit and for a luxury chalet this can be substantial. It’s often handled as a pre-authorisation on a bank card rather than money physically leaving your account and assuming there’s no damage, it’s released after departure.
Also check what’s expected before you leave. Even where an end-of-stay clean is included, you may still be required to empty bins, wash dishes, clear the kitchen or leave the property in a particular condition. Failing to follow the departure requirements can result in additional cleaning charges.
The Best of Both Worlds: Self-Catered with a Private Chef or Catering Company
There’s now another option and for some groups it really is the perfect compromise. The number of traditional catered chalets has reduced over the years, while the choice and quality of independent chalet catering services has grown. This means you can book the self-catered property you really want and then add as much or as little catering as suits you. That could mean:
- Breakfast delivered every morning
- Cakes or afternoon tea waiting after skiing
- Ready-prepared meals delivered for you to heat and serve
- A private chef for one or two special evenings
- A chef for dinner throughout the week
- Full-service catering for most or all of your stay
You could have breakfast at your own pace, eat lunch wherever you happen to be skiing and then have a private chef prepare dinner in your chalet. Or keep things simple most evenings but book a chef for a birthday or special occasion. It gives you the freedom of self-catering without necessarily having to do much catering yourself and depending on the property and service you choose, it can sometimes work out very well financially too. I work with and can recommend catering companies and private chefs in a number of resorts, so this is something I can help arrange.
So, Which Costs More?
There’s no simple answer. An equivalent self-catered chalet will usually have a lower headline price than a catered one because you’re not paying for staff, food, wine and hospitality. But don’t compare the accommodation prices alone. With self-catering, you may need to add:
- Groceries
- Drinks
- Restaurant meals
- Takeaways
- Food deliveries
- Private catering, if required
- Airport transfers
- And, although you can’t put a price on it quite so easily, the time spent shopping, cooking and clearing up
If you’re happy cooking simple meals, shop before reaching the resort and don’t eat out too often, self-catering can offer excellent value. If you’re planning to eat in good restaurants most evenings and buy lunch on the mountain every day, the gap between self-catered and catered can become much smaller than the initial chalet prices suggest. The important comparison is the overall holiday cost, not simply the price shown against the accommodation.
Don’t Forget Airport Transfers
This is another important difference that’s easily overlooked. Some catered chalet operators include private or shared airport transfers in their package, although fewer companies do so today. If transfers are included, that adds real value and makes the journey considerably simpler. With self-catered accommodation, you’ll generally organise and pay for your travel to resort separately. Your options might include a private airport transfer, shared transfer, hiring a car or driving from the UK.
Driving can work particularly well with self-catering because you can bring more luggage, take your own ski equipment and stop at a large supermarket before heading up the mountain. If you’re flying, remember to include transfers when comparing the total cost of the two holidays. For a family or larger group, they can add a significant amount to the overall price.
Which Works Best for Your Group?
Families: Catered chalets remove much of the work involved in feeding everyone and can give parents a genuine break. Self-catering however offers complete flexibility around young children’s routines, bedtimes and food preferences.
Groups of friends: If everyone has different plans and some want to ski until last lifts while others intend to make the most of après-ski, self-catering can work brilliantly. If the group wants to spend evenings together and nobody wants responsibility for cooking, catered can be ideal.
Couples: Self-catering offers the freedom to explore the resort’s restaurants and enjoy spontaneous evenings out. A catered shared chalet can offer something completely different: good food, hospitality and a wonderfully convivial atmosphere with other guests who become new friends.
Multi-generational families and large groups: This is where catering can really come into its own. Feeding a large group every day is a considerable undertaking and removing that responsibility can make the holiday much more enjoyable for everybody.
Questions to Ask Before You Decide
Before choosing, I’d consider:
- Do we want complete flexibility or would we rather have everything organised?
- Do we genuinely want to cook while we’re on holiday?
- Who will do the food shopping?
- How accessible are the supermarkets?
- How often are we likely to eat out and what will that cost?
- Do we want to explore lots of different restaurants?
- Are there young children whose meal and bedtime routines we need to consider?
- Are we celebrating something special?
- Are airport transfers included?
- Would a self-catered chalet with a private chef or meal delivery give us the best of both worlds?
- And perhaps most importantly: what do we want our evenings on holiday to feel like?
My Personal Choice?
I promised you an unbiased comparison and professionally, I stand by it. Both can make fantastic ski holidays and I would never recommend catered over self-catered simply because it’s what I prefer.
Personally, though? I’d choose catered every time.
During a break from working in the mountains, I went on what remains my only ski holiday in more than 20 years. I’d spent years operating catered chalets and had always wanted to experience from the other side the kind of holiday I’d worked so hard to create for my own guests. I’d lined up a catered chalet. My friends booked a self-catered apartment instead. I was so disappointed!
As it happens, the holiday became incredibly memorable for an entirely different reason: we had huge snowfalls for four days and the skiing was phenomenal. But I also distinctly remember wandering around the resort on several evenings trying to find a restaurant that suited everyone’s budget. So yes, given the choice, put me in the catered chalet! But that’s my ideal ski holiday. Yours might be completely different.
Let Me Help You Find the Right Chalet
At LDC Ski, there isn’t a “best” option, only the option that’s best for you. I’ll take the time to understand who’s travelling, your budget, how you like to spend your days and evenings and what matters most to your group before helping you find the right accommodation. That could be a simple self-catered apartment that leaves more of your budget for skiing and eating out, a beautiful self-catered chalet with a chef coming in for a couple of evenings, or a fully catered luxury chalet where almost everything is taken care of from the moment you arrive. I can also help with the other elements of your holiday, including airport transfers, catering, lift passes, equipment hire, ski school, childcare and other extras.
Because the right chalet isn’t simply about where you sleep. It’s about finding the kind of ski holiday you want to have. Get in touch and let me help you create a holiday that you will absolutely love.
