Chalet Benjamin

A catered ski chalet is a home-style ski holiday accommodation. Packages usually include flights, airport transfers, breakfast, afternoon tea and 3 or 4-course evening meals. Dinner also includes unlimited wine served until freshly-made coffee so this type of holiday can really help you budget and offers amazing value for money. More than that, the staff hosting guests in the chalets each day are fellow ski enthusiasts who can help offer local tips on places to go and things to do. Just have a chat with them for what you need – Chalet hosts with this operator are employed directly by the operator and all chalets are exclusively operated by the operator. Chalet staff get a day off during the week and guests usually venture out for dinner in the resort on this evening.

A ski chalet is a perfect accommodation choice for your ski holiday for many reasons. Booking a chalet means you can forget about the finer details of your ski holiday in the knowledge that we've got the home comforts covered. This operator believe that catered ski chalet holidays can be affordable without sacrificing quality, and after 40+ years they have both a wealth of knowledge and dozens of chalets for you to choose from in snow-sure resorts across France and Austria.

When staying in this operator Europe catered chalets during the 2024/25 season, you'll have breakfast daily (five days of hot options), six days of afternoon tea and six nights of evening meals with wine included.

Exclusive Chalet Properties

All of their catered ski chalets are exclusive to them. This means you can take advantage of their buying power to ensure you get the best value when booking your holiday. Your catered chalet holiday package will also be ABTA bonded and fully ATOL protected for your peace of mind and complete financial protection.

What's Included in a Catered Chalet holiday?

Evening meals in chalets - three or four courses depending on the chalet grade with complimentary wine until coffee - are served on six nights. Guests will enjoy a comprehensive continental breakfast for seven mornings with delicious and varied hot options provided by your chalet hosts on five days. On the chalet hosts’ day off, continental breakfast will be laid out and guests are free to enjoy dinner in the resort.

Please note this information is based on a standard seven-night holidays. For holidays of shorter durations, catering will be provided for one day less than the holiday duration.

Door-to-Door Transfers

If you book a standard package including flights, operator transfer (or private transfer if booked) arranged by the operator, they will drop you off to and collect you from your resort accommodation (or as close as snow and/or local authorities will allow). They don’t use scheduled bus or transfer services that pick up at a set time (meaning you may have a substantial wait especially if your flight is delayed) and drop you at a bus stop somewhere in resort.

Please note that under exceptional circumstances they cannot get the transfer vehicle to the door (for example there has been very heavy snowfall and the access road is closed).

Chalet Dining

Chalet catering varies slightly by grade of property. If you book a chalet with grades 3 - 5, our standard chalet catering is included. Whereas if you opt for a Signature Chalet, the dining service and inclusions are a little more refined.

What to Expect in Each Chalet Grade

Grade 3-5 Chalets

• Welcome vin chaud
• Hearty continental breakfast for seven mornings
• Hot breakfast options provided by hosts on five days
• Six days of homemade afternoon tea and cake
• Six nights fully catered:
  • Delicious three course evening menu on five nights
  • Two-course Alpine speciality on one night
  • A selection of hand-picked silver level wines to choose from (red, white and rosé), served until coffee on six nights

Please note this is based on 7-night holidays. For holidays of shorter durations, catering will be provided for 1 day less than the holiday duration.

Grade 5+ Signature Chalets

• Welcome vin chaud
• Champagne on your first evening
• Hearty continental breakfast for seven mornings with bean to cup freshly made coffee and a choice of fruit juices
• Hot breakfast options provided by hosts on five days
• Six days of homemade afternoon tea and cake
• Simple packed lunch on departure
• Six nights fully catered:
  • Aperitifs and canapés on six nights
  • Delicious four course evening menu including cheeseboard with port followed by after dinner chocolates on five nights
  • Two-course Alpine speciality on one night
  • A selection of hand-picked gold level wines to choose from (red, white and rosé), served until coffee on 6 nights

Please note this is based on 7-night holidays. For holidays of shorter durations, catering will be provided for 1 day less than the holiday duration.

Dietary Requirements

This operator prides itself on being able to offer affordable quality ski chalet holidays with delicious food and superb service. Their set menus are integral to this. Their chalet menus are set as this enables them to maximise their buying power and to ensure a consistently high standard of delicious cuisine.

They have found recently that requests for dishes/food outside of their set menus have increased and become more complicated. Frequently they involve ingredients that are not readily available in ski resorts, (or are expensive if they are), or that need to be prepared in addition to the normal set menus delivered by their chalet hosts. Often they have not been notified in advance of someone requiring vegetarian food for example.

We are of course happy to discuss any requests with you as long as you do this before you book. The operator may check that they can prepare and source different ingredients from those they have in stock or buy normally for their set menus. Please make sure that your request (as per the table below) is on your invoice.

They are delighted to cater for the dietary requirements in the table below. However, they cannot cater for combinations of these, for example someone who eats no fish and who also does not eat diary. If you think this applies to you, please contact us BEFORE you book so that we can discuss your requirements first. It may be the case that a self-catering option is better suited to you as opposed to a catered chalet with set menus.

Food Allergies

They cannot guarantee the complete avoidance of specific foodstuffs and therefore cannot accept any liability in the event of an allergic reaction. When you travel with this operator you accept that the chalet teams, whilst trained are not always qualified professionals and despite their best efforts this operator/Ski Line cannot guarantee zero contact with specified foodstuffs, that cross-contamination cannot be ruled out, that they have no control over items of food brought in by other guests and that they cannot always be aware of precise food contents of ingredients.

Please be aware that they cannot cater for anyone with an airborne nut allergy or anyone who is allergic to even traces of nut – it is impossible for the operator to guarantee that any ingredients from their suppliers are free of any nut traces at all or that they have been handled in a nut-free environment.

Nor are they able to cater for a low FODMAP diet for example.

As you can see there is a charge for some dietary requests. Whilst there is not a charge for every type of dietary requirement, if any request is not pre-booked you will be charged in resort.

Having costs for dietary requests means they are better prepared. This ensures they can continue to offer ski holidays at such incredible prices whilst still producing mouth-watering, locally inspired menus that are sure to impress!

Charges

Any payments in resort must be in Euros.

Chalet Housekeeping

Chalet communal areas will be cleaned and tidied daily, except for staff days off. Bathrooms will be cleaned once mid-week and bins will be emptied.

In Signature Chalets, bedrooms will also be cleaned and tidied daily, except for staff days off.

Wine Collections

Wine Collection represents a carefully selected array of local specialty wines, hand-picked by the operators team of local experts. Their wines come in two grades; Silver and Gold, offering variety for every palate.

For guests staying in a grade 3-5 chalet, they offer the option to upgrade from Silver to Gold wine.

In addition to that, they can provide a little extra fizz to your ski holiday with their pre-ordered sparkling wine, which can be waiting on ice, ready for your arrival!

Silver Wine

• Included with grade 3-5 catered chalet holidays
• Served for the duration of your catered evening meals, until coffee
  • Red: La Belle Emilie Rouge - Southern French red blend. Well balanced, spicy with red fruits and cherry flavours.
  • White: La Belle Emilie Blanc - A fruity and elegant southern French white wine. Great with or without food.
  • Rosé: La Belle Emilie Rosé - Fresh and fruity with notes of blackcurrant, raspberry and strawberry. Simple and refined

Gold Wine

• Included in Signature (grade 5+) chalet holidays
• Served for the duration of your catered evening meals, until coffee
  • Rosé: Arnaud IGP Var Rose (Cote de Provence) - Pale pink colour. Elegant with floral and red fruit notes a beautiful intensity and a nice freshness. A little too easy to drink!
  • Red: Bordeaux de Luze Terra Vitis Rouge - "Terra Vitis” is made by organic and traditional agriculture. Expect this wine to offer classic black fruit with high tannin, medium acidity and just the right amount of minerality.
  • White: Chateau Fondarzac Entre Deux Mers - Light and smooth with medium acidity and minerality. Zesty lemon, apricots and pear round out this little gem that will be perfect for seafood and white fish.
  • Red: Chateau Gendre Graves Rouge - A Bordeaux Graves classic. This is a dry, bold and tannic Cab. Sav blend with strong dark fruit that will be perfect with red meat dishes.
  • White: Oree de la Chenaie Ugni Blanc IGP Gascogne- Light, floral and fruity this Côte de Gasgogne Colombard is well rounded and will he great on its own or with chicken dishes and salads.
  • Red: Domaine des Colombettes Lirac 2017 Rouge - Full-bodied, generous and well-balanced. This is rich with deep aromas of ripe dark fruit, spices and new leather.
  • White: 1612 Grand Viognier Cuvee - Aromatic white wine with lychees notes and classic Viognier hints of white flowers. The taste is well-rounded and subtly sweet.

Wine Upgrades

• Upgrade to Gold Wine (6 bottles minimum) - for guests staying in French Chalets with grades from 3-5
• Choose a case of white, red or rosé wines… or a mixed selection.

Gold wines are handpicked to order by a local team of experts. Requests can be made at the time of order, however all wines are subject to local availability

Sparkling & Dessert Wines

Whether you’re looking to celebrate in style, or just wanting to treat yourself… add a touch of decadence to make your holiday extra special. Pre-order in any grade of chalet.

• Champagne: A. D. Coutelas Origin Brut Champagne - Fresh notes of toast, nuts and pear, soft mousse, good structure with flavours of lemon, pear, green apples and brioche
• Prosecco: Volmen Prosecco DOC - Cracking Prosecco medium dry Prosecco with soft mousse and just the right amount of fruit.
• Port: Cruz Tawny Port - Ruby and clear. Sweet, red raspberry, red cherry, raisin and prune. High acidity, medium acidity, medium bodied and medium plum intensity.