CGH Résidences & Spas Kalinda

The layout is excellent, 3 bathrooms! The heating is electric, dries the air. There was a problem with parking the car: the height of the parking lot does not allow check-in. You can't stand anywhere on the street! But this is not a hotel idea.

A very nicely appointed hotel with good size rooms (for a ski resort). The hotel is well located in Tignes 1800 close to the slopes. An easy ski down to the gondola that links to the rest of Tignes ski area. The ski bus that runs every 15 minutes stops right outside the hotel. Two ski hire shops are next to it. The spa shop is also next to it if you need to get food. The staff at Le Kalinda were always friendly and helpful, you never felt like a burden. There were also plenty of staff so you never had to wait. The pool and spa were very nice and a good size. The only thing that was a tiny fault was wifi didn't really work but I didn't bother raising it. The phone signal is very strong so it wasn't an issue for us. I would recommend the hotel and would certainly go back if I was in Tignes again.

The hotel is just what we wanted: close to the slopes, self catering, with swimming pool. It ticked all those boxes. The apartment itself was the 4-6 person one. There were 4 of us and I wouldn’t have wanted any more people in there! There were 6 chairs around the dining table but this left no space at all for cooking- so we moved two of the chairs elsewhere. You need to use the table as work surface as there is about 20cm of workspace on the actual kitchen worktop! Other than that it was perfectly comfortable. There was a (very narrow) bath, a shower, a large outdoor terrace area just for us, comfortable beds, and good control of the temperature. We did have a couple of issues with the oven and a couple of items missing, but they were sorted promptly with no hassle. The oven even got replaced with a new one whilst we were skiing on the first day. The lift takes you down to your large ski locker cupboard in the basement, which also has boot heaters. From there can walk through the underground carpark and take another lift up to within about 20m of the slopes. There’s a beginner area immediately outside with magic carpets and from the bottom of that you have gondolas up and down the mountain. You can also jump onto the free bus which literally leaves from outside the reception of the hotel, and takes you to Val D’Isere, Tignes 2100, Les Brevieres etc. so if you just want to go to those villages quickly without taking several gondolas, you can. We didn’t bother! The ski hire shop is basically in the hotel. The lift pass shop is right there too, about a minute’s walk away. There’s also a Spar which sells most essentials, right next to the hotel, in the same building. The pools, saunas and steam rooms are top notch. The jacuzzis are nice but could be warmer. In terms of facilities, the only downside is that there isn’t a bar, as such. There is a large lounge at reception which you can sit in and drink your own drinks, but no bar (though they do sell bottles of wine). I wouldn’t say it was somewhere to stay if you want the most sociable holiday as it wasn’t hugely easy to meet other people. Negatives: They say they give you dishwasher tablets, which they do, but we only got 6 for a 7 day stay. We asked for more and we’re told we were lucky to have got more than 1! They only give you two loo rolls. They give you two absolutely tiny bottles of washing up liquid, one sponge and one cloth. And no coffee filters for the machine. If you want to buy these things from the shop they’re expensive, so try to take your own. The biggest negative is the WiFi. It’s absolutely unusable: slow and it cuts out all the time anyway. Make sure you have plenty of data on your phones. Luckily the mobile reception is good. However, were it not for the rubbish WiFi, I’d have given five stars. But… it was very good overall. Extremely friendly staff, super location for the slopes, the bus stop, the ski hire and the shop. Plenty of snow in late March, too.

On the postive side: The chalets are simple but comfortable. Access to the slopes is good. The chalets are next to the beginners slope which is a short skip to the gondola which connects quickly to the main ski area. There is a good spar shop and a couple of good ski hire shops. There is a pool/gym/sauna on site (very busy in early evenings). Reception staff are helpful. Buses are free and frequent to Le Lac and Les Brevieres On the negative side there is little to do especially in the evenings. There are three places to eat in 1800: An overpriced more formal restaurant pretending to be traditional but isn't. A busy pizza bar which is fine and a slightly depressing sports bar which feels badly run. It is a bit soulless. It is v quiet and depending on what you want to do you will need to get to Le Lac or Les Brevieres in the evening on at least 3/4 evenings of your week. To summarise if you want a quiet week and do lots of self catering then this is a good option. If you want more then stay in 2100. If you want a quiet traditional Savoyard experience then go to 1500.

Very comfortable and well equipped apartment. The Spa never seemed to be open until mid afternoon which was a great shame as I was stuck in the apartment with an injury. Also there’s little choice of eating out, within walking distance. Not great if you’re stuck in the apartment! But ideal place to get out onto the slopes. No medical centre at 1800 you have to taxi to Tignes, Le Lac but the taxis were excellent.