It took my seven-year-old daughter, Mathilde, less than 24 hours to deliver her verdict on the holiday.
Tummy full of freshly baked cake, she settled into the hot tub overlooking Mont Blanc after a day’s skiing on fresh snow under blue skies and announced: ‘I love my life.’
My husband, Ed, and I beamed at each other across the bubbles. Lifelong skiers, we share the goal of infusing our children with a shared passion for what is not, in our eyes, merely a sport but a way of life.
We now take almost equal pleasure in sniffing out fresh tracks off-piste as we do from following our four-year-old daughter Amalia’s snowplough tracks down the nursery slopes.
But how do parents like us combine the liberation of skiing together with the joy of nurturing the same passion in their young kids?
Despite my penchant for luxury, the option of throwing money at swanky chalets bristling with private nannies and ski instructors is beyond our joint income (writer and builder).
Instead, we turned to VIP SKI: a more competitively priced, wraparound childcare service that gives parents the chance to ski at their leisure – while a ‘Mary Poppins’ of the slopes takes care of fledgling youngsters.
Founded in 1989 by a 24-year-old Andy Sturt with £1,000 of savings, VIP SKI was originally an Alpine property business (the name stands for Val d’Isere Properties) before evolving into one of the UK’s leading catered chalet providers.
Writer Gabriella and her four-year-old daughter, Amalia, on the slopes in the French resort of La Plagne
Gabriella enjoying the husky sledding ride on the Dou du Praz plateau with her family
VIP SKI’s newest property, Graciosa in La Plagne, is a luxurious ski-in/ski-out accommodation
Recognising that guests aren’t willing to accept a lack of snow when shelling out £15,000-plus for a family ski holiday, Sturt has placed his eggs in the high-altitude basket, building a small portfolio of smart properties in four of France’s largest and highest ski resorts – Val d’Isere, La Plagne, Arc 1950 and Avoriaz.
VIP SKI’s newest property, Graciosa in La Plagne, caught our eye for several reasons. Comprising 16 ‘chalet suites’ (spacious apartments decorated in chalet style, with hosted catering), the extensively renovated property sits on the blue Mont St Sauveur piste at the top of Plagne Centre, widely considered the best lift-connected hub of La Plagne’s eleven villages.
Ski-in/ski-out access to La Plagne’s 225km of pistes (expanding to 425km with access to neighbouring Les Arcs via a Paradiski lift ticket) – is a skier’s dream, particularly when you consider that 70 per cent of those snow-sure trails are set above 2,000m.
With all the trimmings of a luxury stay, the accommodation has opened for the 2025/26 season
Gabriella and her family dog sledding, a ‘standout’ experience, she says
Magnificent mountainous views atop a ski slope at La Plagne, France
Further convenience boxes were ticked by an impressively stocked Oxygene ski rental shop in the basement (which stayed open until 7pm on arrival day, ensuring hassle-free organisation of all our kit) and an on-call shuttle service.
Finally, my love of creature comforts was covered by the private hot tub, rustic-chic decor, plush bedrooms and indulgent hosting.
And then there’s the VIP SKI childcare service. Together with its sister property, Bear Lodge in Arc 1950 (currently shortlisted for Best Kids Club in the Junior Magazine 2026 Travel Awards), Graciosa offers parents the ultimate freedom: to ski safe in the knowledge that their offspring are having just as good a time as they are.
In addition to private nannies, both properties offer five and a half days of childcare per week in age-appropriate kids clubs (from 4 months), supervised by a crew of smiley, fully qualified nannies.
Gabriella’s family relishes getting up close and personal with the huskies
I’d like to say that our girls cried desperately for us when we brought them down to Bear Cubs on our first morning, but they skipped in without a backwards glance.
Fuelled by fresh croissants and heart-shaped pancakes cooked by our chalet host Ellie, they simply let their new best friends start dressing them for their morning ski lessons, leaving Ed and me to hit the slopes by 9.15am.
This was as surprising as it was joyous, given that over five inches of fresh snow had fallen the previous day and we’d booked a guide to discover La Plagne’s diverse terrain.
This was like the golden days of skiing pre-kids; we barely knew what to do with ourselves.
As we etched tracks in pristine snow with Julien, one of the three de Monvallier brothers who founded Oxygene ski school, we received reassuring photos of Mathilde and Amalia skiing, sipping hot chocolate and pelting nannies with snowballs.
We quickly adopted the habit of picking up our ski-ready girls from Graciosa at 2pm to enjoy some family skiing. We’d take Amalia and Mathilde out separately, before meeting back at the chalet, welcomed by fresh cake, baguette and tea (or beer or wine from the generously stocked fridge).
Ellie would then arrive to rapturous welcomes from the girls. In addition to serving daily breakfast, baking cakes and cooking restaurant-quality three-course dinners for Ed and me in our chalet kitchen, Ellie prepared separate dinners and packed lunches for the girls each day.
The last even included sweet handwritten notes for each one, saying she was missing them or looking forward to baking brownies together after skiing.
These thoughtful touches were echoed by the staff at Graciosa: Benjamin bringing mugs of hot chocolate in the van when he picked us up after sledging; Beth putting on a load of laundry for us when we ran out of clean ski socks; Finn collecting pizzas for us on the staff night off…
When I asked Amalia what her favourite part of our trip was, she said: ‘Everything!’
Her answer was less surprising than mine for, despite epic snow conditions and rare quality time spent with Ed, one of my standout experiences was a husky sledding ride on the Dou du Praz plateau.
Bathed in sunshine, Amalia and I snuggled together as a pack of tail-wagging huskies whisked us along narrow snow trails to a backdrop of Mont Blanc.
A particularly enthusiastic descent deposited us unceremoniously in a snow drift and the echo of our unstoppable giggles will bring a smile to my face for years to come.
TRAVEL FACTS
Seven nights at Graciosa with VIP SKI from £1,356 per adult (£1,281 per child aged 2-12 years), including catering, in-resort shuttles, concierge service and transfers (vip-chalets.com).
Return easyJet flights from London to Geneva from £180pp (easyjet.com). A six-day La Plagne lift pass costs €359 (£311) per adult; €288 (£250) per child aged 5-12 years (la-plagne.com).
Oxygene offers six days of 2.5-hour group children’s lessons from €260 (£225) (oxygene.ski). Hors Trace Adventure dog sledding experiences from €170 (£148) (horstraceaventure.fr)
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