Becca, our Business Administration Apprentice went on her first ski trip to La Rosiere with the rest of the Peak Retreats team. Read on to find out how she got on.
After reading our clients reviews, I had great hopes for La Rosiere. Once we got there, I could instantly understand why our clients love this place so much. I was excited to go to La Rosiere for a new atmosphere. I love trying new things so was keen to see how I got on with skiing.
Travelling to La Rosiere
At Peak Retreats, we usually recommend travelling to the Alps by car or train, and La Rosiere is easy to get to this way. It’s around a 9.5 hour drive from Calais and about a 35 minutes from Bourg St Maurice train station.
For this trip though, we were on a tighter schedule so flying worked better for us. We flew from Gatwick to Geneva and picked up hire cars at the airport, then drove up to La Rosiere.
Our La Rosiere accommodation
We stayed in Les Balcons for our educational trip. The residence had a wellness area including a hot tub, sauna, pool and steam room.
We had the whole floor to ourselves. As we were a big group, we were split up into two apartments. We had a 7 bedroom apartment and a 5 bedroom apartment. These rooms had lots of space for storage. Each room also had its own private bathroom, this made getting ready in the mornings a lot easier for everyone.
The view was my favourite part, being able to see out to the other mountains nearby once the initial cloud cleared. The residence was right by the ski shop and a 5 minute walk to the ski slopes. It was in the perfect location!
Les Balcons de La Rosiere exterior
There are 3 buildings for Les Balcons in total. Each building has different bedroom sizes. Les Balcons is more on the traditional side out of some of the accommodations in La Rosiere. I loved this feeling of it being traditional because it felt like a proper stay in the French Alps.
The locker rooms are in two different rooms. There was a locker room for your ski boots and a separate locker room for your skis. This made getting in and out of my boots so much easier as a first time skier.
Typical apartment in Les Balcons de La Rosiere
La Rosiere offered a free shuttle bus for everyone. It runs from La Rosiere centre which is a 900m walk from Les Balcons. You can also take a walk through the forest (which is marked) to enjoy the scenery.
Our view from Les Balcons
Food in La Rosiere
For our first two nights, we used Mountain Fresh. The meals come frozen but are chef prepared. This is delivered straight to your chalet, apartment or hotel door. Mountain Fresh allowed our team to enjoy a hot meal on our first night arriving without any stress. They offer a variety of options covering different dietary requirements. Mountain Fresh covers all the French Alps.
On our second day, we had lunch at Le Paradis restaurant. This was a restaurant located on the slopes. I walked from the bottom of the slope with a few others, while the rest of the team skied to the restaurant. Paradis offers traditional recipes, prepared fresh, local and seasonal products.
I had the smash burger and it was delicious. The views from the restaurant were also incredible to look out onto when enjoying a meal with my coworkers.
On Wednesday, we had our lunch at Le Solario. This was one of two restaurants at one of our residences, Alparena. This restaurant has a large sunny terrace. The views looking out onto the mountains and the slopes were incredible. Again, you could ski to the restaurant or easily walk to it. This restaurant was located five minutes from our residence which made it a nice walk to after a morning of skiing!
I had pizza and shared a maxi-cookie with one of my coworkers. The food again tasted fresh and was lovely to enjoy.
Delicious dessert at Le Solario
Skiing in La Rosiere
As a first time skier, I was nervous to ski. We collected our ski gear from the Sport 2000 Alpen ski shop on the day of our arrival. They adjusted the skis to fit correctly and make sure our helmets and ski shoes were secure. We then carried these to the residence.
On our second day of La Rosiere, we met up with the ski instructor, Enzo. In my private lesson there was four of us as beginners. Two of us had never skied before. He showed us the basics of what we needed to learn to keep ourselves and others safe when skiing. We used the practice lift and slope to make sure we could get ourselves on and off the lift safely. This felt like a great way to start and build up my confidence.
Having fun in our ski lesson
After our practice ski, we went onto a green slope. We had to take the ski lift called Dahu. We skied down from this slope a few times before we went for our lunch. After our lunch, we continued to ski with a different ski instructor, Claire. She gave us some more tips and tricks to keep our balance on the slopes.
On our third day of La Rosiere, we skied in the morning with Enzo. This time, he took us onto a blue slope to practice on. This one was my favourites as it felt a lot easier and more peaceful than the bigger slope. This blue slope had incredible scenery. Our ski instructor Enzo was also happy to answer any questions we had.
Activities in La Rosiere
In La Rosiere, there was a variety of activities to do. Every Wednesday from 8:30pm – 10pm there is a hockey match. In the second half of the match, you can participate in the puck game for a chance to win prizes from the match’s partner.
On our trip, this was one of the activities we did as a big group together and we all really enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere and seeing the home team take the win. There is also food and refreshments on site. It is advised to get to the hockey match early to make sure you get yourself a seat!
Ice hockey in La Rosière
La Rosiere also offers bowling, the cinema and ice skating as an extra activity. Some of the team took part in a snowshoeing biathlon activity. They snowshoed to the biathlon site and then did relay style races involving laser shooting, jogging (in snowshoes!) and running forfeits. It sounded like a lot of fun and those of us that didn’t go had serious FOMO!
There are activities for everyone and the Peak Retreats team can even book some of them in advance.
The Peak Retreats team trying snowshoeing biathlon
Visiting our accommodation
At Peak Retreats, we sell different types of accommodation including Chalets, apartments and hotels. While we were on our trip as a team, we visited a few of the accommodation we sell. We visited the apartments and hotel rooms, wellness areas and other facilities. This helped to give us an inside knowledge of what we sell to our clients. We can personalise each of our clients’ holidays even more with this knowledge.
We checked out a few different accommodation every day we were there. On Monday, we visited Les Balcons and Alparena. In Hotel Alparena, all the rooms were equipped with a coffee machine and mini bar. Every room has a shower and a bath, with the option of twin beds or double beds. Alparena also offers a half board option which is really convenient.
On Tuesday, we visited Les Cimes Blanches, Le Refuge and Alpen Lodge. Alpen Lodge was definitely my favourite one we visited that day! Alpen lodge sells hotel rooms and apartments. The hotel has family rooms, junior suites, accessible rooms and king size rooms.
Each room comes equipped with a minibar, tea and coffee machines. However, the apartments aren’t equipped with a minibar, tea and coffee machines. The restaurant in Alpen Lodge is available for breakfast. It has a pool, spa and gym all on the same floor.
On Thursday, we visited Le Hameau Barthelemy, Sky, Le Roc Noir, L’Oree du Bois, Diamant des Cimes and Hotel I.L.Y. My favourite accommodation from Thursday was Le Hameau Barthelemy. This accommodation stuck out most to me because each room was unique in it’s own way.
I liked the fact that everyone had a different apartment to the person staying next door to them. This accommodation comes with a tea and coffee marker.
Final thoughts
Although my trip to La Rosiere was only short, I will be definitely be coming back to the French Alps for another skiing trip. The entire trip, everyone was friendly and welcoming to the French Alps. This just made the trip feel a little bit more special.
I would definitely love to learn to ski more so I can explore more parts of each resort!
Book your La Rosiere ski holiday
Are you ready to book your La Rosiere ski holiday or would you like to pick our brains? Peak Retreats are French Alps experts and we have a small friendly team on hand to help with any questions you may have. Give us a call on 023 9283 9310 or email reservations@peakretreats.co.uk.
Why book with Peak Retreats?
We’re a small, UK-based team of French Alps experts who are here to make your holiday hassle-free. We’re proud winners of the Telegraph Travel Award for Best Ski Operator 2025 and we’re members of ABTA, for your peace of mind.
We are committed to going the extra mile, from booking travel and activities to offering you tailored advice on the best resorts and accommodation. We're always just a phone call away.
But our support doesn’t end when you book! We provide 24/7 assistance while you’re away, personalised info packs and regular travel updates to keep you informed.
With over 20 years experience and in-depth knowledge of the French Alps, we’re dedicated to ensuring your trip runs smoothly.
To get tailored advice for your next French Alps holiday, give us a call on 023 9283 9310 or email reservations@peakretreats.co.uk.
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