Club Med Grand Massif Samoëns Morillon

Where to begin? We previously stayed here in 2019 and had a wonderful holiday so had high hopes for our return visit. Sadly we could not have been more disappointed. The hotel has gone downhill in every respect and our experience this time was terrible. For context, we were a family of 4 with two teenagers (17 and 14). Restaurant/Food: The buffet restaurant was totally shambolic. Finding a table was almost impossible. Large numbers of tables had reserved signs for chalet guests (who often didn’t show) or tables were left dirty and uncleared. We frequently had to ask for cutlery, glasses and sort out our own drinks. Experiencing this chaos 3 times a day meant we dreaded meal-times. Often we were sat right next to staff also having their meal which felt really weird given we had not received any restaurant service whatsoever. The food was bland and repetitive and often inedible or cold (eg. burnt steak haches, lumpy mashed potatoes, watery bolognese, undercooked eggs, dried out pork, gristly steak). A promised birthday cake for my husband (that I’d emailed and arranged with the hotel) never materialised. For New Year's Eve, we were told if we pre-ordered wine/champagne (charged at full menu price) then we would have a reserved table. On arrival, none of the staff could find our table and they suggested other guests had removed the sign and had sat down (which I'm sure wasn't the case). It was clear from the large numbers of other irate guests waiting for tables that the reservation system had totally failed. It just felt like a greedy money making experience. Gourmet Restaurant: We were told on our first day it was fully booked for the entire week. How? Eventually we were offered a table for our penultimate night. Our experience was absolutely shocking. Way worse than the buffet restaurant, something we didn’t think was possible! The majority of the dishes on the small menu were unavailable. Two of us had to skip starters. We had to request basic cutlery. The fondue for 4 would barely have fed 2 people (see photos). Only my children were offered a dessert and then eventually were told their dessert was ‘unavailable’. The restaurant looked tacky with cheap tables, no tablecloths, paper napkins and battered clipboard menus. The very opposite of gourmet. Bar/Entertainment: This had been a highlight of our previous stay. But the shows were utterly bizarre and inappropriate. On NYE, we inexplicably had a ‘Viking’ show complete with a burning village backdrop. Another evening, we had giant lit up robots with wings (you had to be there) and on our final night, a show where the Club Med staff lip-synced (very badly) to songs. After the shows finished at 9.45/10pm, we had the same medley of Club Med songs EVERY single night followed by dance techno which was so deafening that the huge bar totally emptied and families just took themselves off to the lobby area with their drinks/card games. Most of the people left dancing in the bar (and having a grea

Starting with the positives, the staff on the whole are helpful and positive. There is a reasonable buffet selection for breakfast and dinner, and the food exceeded expectations. The rooms are clean if basic. The guests are civil. The challenge here is the size of the place (420 bedrooms). In school holidays this is a zoo - whether at kiddie drop off at crèche / ski lessons, afternoon tea, or the stampede at feeding times. You’ll queue for ski hire / kids registration, the buffet is a melee, and you’ll even queue for the multiple sets of lifts just to get to breakfast and dinner. The staff make an admirable effort at afternoon tea but the combination of blaring music, yet more queues (for crepes) and general chaos is everything we weren’t looking for at the end of a day’s skiing. We ended up trying some of the bars on the slopes opposite the hotel, happy to pay to avoid all of the above. There is an a la carte restaurant on the top floor but the food here, Savoyade cuisine, was limited and mediocre at best. The service was excellent though and it was a relief to escape the buffet! Ultimately a resort of this size should have several options for dinner but Club Med seems focused on a utilitarian buffet model. No evening babysitting was available during half term which if we’d known we might not have chosen the resort. The ski school setup is good in some respects. Kids are dropped off and instructors help with booting them up and getting them on the slopes. But the groups were too large (10-15+ kids), and none of our group saw improvement in their young kids’ skiing until the final day of the holiday when we organised private lessons with another company, ZigZag, who were excellent. Ultimately this all probably sits with ESF rather than Club Med. My young daughter also now knows a thing or to do about smoking since her instructor was kind enough to do it on every chair lift! Overall broadly as expected, some happy family memories of our young children skiing but not a relaxing trip.

This was my 20th Club Med ski holiday and was up there amongst the best. Firstly the club is well placed at 1600m above Samoens. There are two principle chair lifts to access the larger ski area. These were unfortunately closed on our first day due to wind at altitude so besr this in mind - the ski area becomes very restricted under these conditions. Rooms are lovely, big with masses of storage. Bathrooms clean with excellent showers over the bath. Separate toilet completes the room layout. The building is large and is on multiple levels. Confusing at first with different lifts serving different floors but once you get the hang of the layout it’s easy to navigate. Lifts do get busy though with some waiting. It is possible to use the stairs but can be quite a climb from the lower floors to the restaurant on Level L. Skyline Bar is more laid back and serves late lunches - very handy if you want to extend your morning ski. Staff were fab - very friendly and helpful. Food was probably some of the best we have ever had at Club Med - always something tasty to eat with masses of choice all beautifully presented. Main restaurant is large but it is possible to find quieter areas if you look slightly further away from the main food counters. All in all a great stay and we will return. Thank you Club Med Grand Massif Samoens.