We are happy to welcome children of all ages at chalet Bartavelle.

For the little ones, we have stair gates, travel cot, changing mat, high chair and microwave.  Please see below for details of childcare.

The chalet is well situated for families with children who are old enough to go outside an play when they come back in the afternoon, as we are off the main road and have a
garden outside, as well as fields just above us, so there is plenty of space to go off and have fun in the snow.  For indoors entertainment, we have plenty of board games to play with or there is the mezzanine, which is a very popular spot to play in and gives the adults a chance for a bit of quiet time.

Below we have listed some options for childcare and ski school.  If you need any help in choosing the best options for your children, to get prices or to book for you, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

CHILDCARE

For babies and children, who are too young to ski, there are a number of options of childcare in Meribel.

1.There is an English run playgroup in Les Allues, called Kids Etc, which is very popular. There is a light and airy toddler room with plenty of space for lots of fun and games, a separate baby room for babies not able to keep up with the toddlers and a cot room which can be closed off for the little ones to have some sleep and quiet time. Children’s imaginations can run riot in the arts & crafts room and outdoor play is actively encouraged by the team of nursery nurses.  They also offer a pick up and drop off service.  For more information, please look at the website www.kidsetc.co.uk

2.The French Ski School ESF runs 2 creches, one called les Saturnin for 18mth to 3yr olds and one called les Petit Loups for 3 to 5 year olds.  Both these crèches are mainly French speaking, although most of the staff can also speak English.  Petit Loups is both a crèche and a ski school, where the children will be looked after both indoors and will also be taken outside to play in the snow on skis, please see the ski school section below for 3 to 6 year olds.  For details about the ESF creches, please look at their website www.esf-meribel.com

3.Kids Etc also offer a private nanny service, where a nanny will come to the chalet to look after your little ones.  For more information about this service, please look at the Kids Etc website, as above, or contact us for alternative nanny services.

4.The tourist office has a list of babysitters, who will come to the chalet and look after your children although please beware that anyone can put themselves on the list, it is not checked!  To get the list, please call the tourist office on 0033 479 086 001, they speak English.

SKI SCHOOL

3 to 5 year olds

1.If you would like your children to get an experience of skiing at as early an age as possible, ESF runs a playgroup called Petit Loups, for 3 to 5 year olds, where children can start to learn to ski, while having fun.  The Petit Loups playgroup has a snow park, with inflatable obstacles, that the children ski under or around to get a feel for what it is like to be on a pair of skis and to start learning how to snowplow and snowplow turn. The Petit Loups offers morning, lunch and afternoon sessions, which can either be booked separately or together for a whole day.  The children will typically go outside to ski for 1½  to 2 hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon, if they are there for the whole day. For more information, please look at the website www.esf-meribel.com

2.For the 4-6 year olds, most ski schools run 5 day courses of 2 hours each morning.  We would recommend Magic in Motion www.magicinmotion.co.uk or ski academy www.ski-academy.com

6 to 17 year olds

We would recommend the courses called Fun Factory run by Magic in Motion, which aims to teach skiing while making it fun.  The groups are split into age groups from 6 to 9 year olds 10 to 13 year olds and 14 to 17 year olds and then by skiing level.  Courses run for 5 days with 3 morning sessions of 4 hours and 2 full days.  For more information about the courses, please look at the website www.magicinmotion.co.uk