The joys of dealing with local accommodation agency staff...

OK, OK... I know that I should speak better French, but my forte is German,
not French and I can't be expected to know every nuance of every language
now, can I?

Anyhow - do the French spend ages training up their accommodation agency
staff to be as stingy with information as possible? Every year I have
booked a "self-build" holiday in France, I've had to go through the same
kerfuffle and it isn't showing any signs of getting better!

This year I've plumped for Montgenevre and the first task was to establish
if any of the local agencies would do a Sunday - Sunday booking to suit our
flights. Good news, they will. I emailed (in English and google-translated
French) a request for accommodation information, explaining that there was a
group of AT LEAST 16 coming, probably 20, so could I have some quotes for,
say, 2 8-person & a 6-person or 3 8-person apartments, along with floor
plans pictures (oh yeah, I've been stung before!) or detailed descriptions
of bed types and layout, location in village, proximity to slopes, etc...

So the first response I get from "accommodation central" is literally: "we
can offer you two 8-person apartments on those dates for x euros each..."
Great start... I respond by saying, "if you read my original email, you'll
see that 16 is the MINIMUM number of people going and I asked for 3
apartments and I need to know where it is & what it's like!"

The next response (3 days later!): "The two apartments WILL sleep 16 people.
They are in the village near to the slopes". (Give me strength...)

I respond again: "Thankyou. However, I need 3 apartments, not two. I have
stayed in full-occupancy mode before and I will not do it again. I like to
be able to turn round without knocking over three other people in the
apartment. Therefore can you let me know the layout, area, types of beds,
number of beds, distance in metres from the village CENTRE, distance in
metres from the ESF meeting place (easy to locate on a map - cunning eh?!)
and I'd REALLY appreciate a floor-plan..."

A WEEK later (honestly - are they all part-timers?) I get a semi-helpful
reply:
"Appartement 3 pièces + coin montagne /55 m² / 8 personnes / Rez chaussée /
Exposition Est. Balcon.Séjour avec 1 canapé lit 2 personnes + 1 lit d'une
personne. Chambre avec 2 lits d'une personne. Chambre avec 2 lits
jumeaux.Coin montagne séparé avec 1 lit d'une personne .Coin cuisine avec
plaques électriques + mini four. Salle de bains avec baignoire et wc
séparés."

So... can someone in the know (Nic?) explain to me exactly what a "coin
montagne" is? I find it hard to believe I get a "corner of the mountain" in
the apartment... Furthermore, is there a difference between what I formerly
knew to be a sofa-bed (banquette-lit) and what they describe as a "Canape
Lit" - lit. "settee bed"?

They've also told me it's the "Résidence La Loubatière, située dans le
centre du village, à 200m des pistes ." so at least I know where the damn
place is now! Probably all 200 metres are up a 1 i n6 gradient that will
have the kids whinging every step of the way and it'll be 180 metres to the
ski bus stop...

I've taken the translation of "2 lit jumeaux" as "2 twin beds" - was that
wise?

Can anyone tell me what phrase I should be using to ask for a floor plan
please? I've been asking for a "plan d'étage" but I realise that these
literal translations don't always work, so maybe that's where I'm going
wrong!

Also, if anyone can offer any advice about either these specific apartments
(Loubatière) i.e. whether to utterly avoid them or not! then that'd be
handy! Also, I'm unable to get them to tell me whether there will be an
open swimming pool anywhere in the resort that my non-skiing wife can use in
March, so if anyone knows that, that'd be handy too...

Cheers!

yeah they are all part timers (35 hours a week!) , i felt like i did that in
a day yesterday 32 guests arriving within an hour !

Coin montagne ...mmmm could either be bunks in the hall OR bunks in a small
(very ) bunk room off the living room , it all seems to differ between
agancies.

good luck anyhow.....
.....what dates was it for :-)

--
Cheers
Nic & Karen
www.accommodationinthealps.co.uk
0033479082376
"Carl" wrote in message
...
OK, OK... I know that I should speak better French, but my forte is
German,
not French and I can't be expected to know every nuance of every language
now, can I?

Anyhow - do the French spend ages training up their accommodation agency
staff to be as stingy with information as possible? Every year I have
booked a "self-build" holiday in France, I've had to go through the same
kerfuffle and it isn't showing any signs of getting better!

This year I've plumped for Montgenevre and the first task was to establish
if any of the local agencies would do a Sunday - Sunday booking to suit
our
flights. Good news, they will. I emailed (in English and
google-translated
French) a request for accommodation information, explaining that there was
a
group of AT LEAST 16 coming, probably 20, so could I have some quotes for,
say, 2 8-person & a 6-person or 3 8-person apartments, along with floor
plans pictures (oh yeah, I've been stung before!) or detailed descriptions
of bed types and layout, location in village, proximity to slopes, etc...

So the first response I get from "accommodation central" is literally: "we
can offer you two 8-person apartments on those dates for x euros each..."
Great start... I respond by saying, "if you read my original email, you'll
see that 16 is the MINIMUM number of people going and I asked for 3
apartments and I need to know where it is & what it's like!"

The next response (3 days later!): "The two apartments WILL sleep 16
people.
They are in the village near to the slopes". (Give me strength...)

I respond again: "Thankyou. However, I need 3 apartments, not two. I
have
stayed in full-occupancy mode before and I will not do it again. I like
to
be able to turn round without knocking over three other people in the
apartment. Therefore can you let me know the layout, area, types of beds,
number of beds, distance in metres from the village CENTRE, distance in
metres from the ESF meeting place (easy to locate on a map - cunning eh?!)
and I'd REALLY appreciate a floor-plan..."

A WEEK later (honestly - are they all part-timers?) I get a semi-helpful
reply:
"Appartement 3 pièces + coin montagne /55 m² / 8 personnes / Rez chaussée
/
Exposition Est. Balcon.Séjour avec 1 canapé lit 2 personnes + 1 lit d'une
personne. Chambre avec 2 lits d'une personne. Chambre avec 2 lits
jumeaux.Coin montagne séparé avec 1 lit d'une personne .Coin cuisine avec
plaques électriques + mini four. Salle de bains avec baignoire et wc
séparés."

So... can someone in the know (Nic?) explain to me exactly what a "coin
montagne" is? I find it hard to believe I get a "corner of the mountain"
in
the apartment... Furthermore, is there a difference between what I
formerly
knew to be a sofa-bed (banquette-lit) and what they describe as a "Canape
Lit" - lit. "settee bed"?

They've also told me it's the "Résidence La Loubatière, située dans le
centre du village, à 200m des pistes ." so at least I know where the damn
place is now! Probably all 200 metres are up a 1 i n6 gradient that will
have the kids whinging every step of the way and it'll be 180 metres to
the
ski bus stop...

I've taken the translation of "2 lit jumeaux" as "2 twin beds" - was that
wise?

Can anyone tell me what phrase I should be using to ask for a floor plan
please? I've been asking for a "plan d'étage" but I realise that these
literal translations don't always work, so maybe that's where I'm going
wrong!

Also, if anyone can offer any advice about either these specific
apartments
(Loubatière) i.e. whether to utterly avoid them or not! then that'd be
handy! Also, I'm unable to get them to tell me whether there will be an
open swimming pool anywhere in the resort that my non-skiing wife can use
in
March, so if anyone knows that, that'd be handy too...

Cheers!

Have you ever been tempted to deal with a decent all-in ski company? People
like Erna Low have been doing it for (many) years and not only offer decent
and affordable service but discounted ferries, etc.

Worked for us.

You might care to pass your frustrations on to Maison de la France (French
Govt Tourism) in London, who really are trying very hard to ensure that the
travelling/purchasing public gets a good experience in its dealings with
France. See www.franceguide.com

Good luck - Montgenevre like an inspired choice...

RM


"Carl" wrote in message
...
OK, OK... I know that I should speak better French, but my forte is
German, not French and I can't be expected to know every nuance of every
language now, can I?

Anyhow - do the French spend ages training up their accommodation agency
staff to be as stingy with information as possible? Every year I have
booked a "self-build" holiday in France, I've had to go through the same
kerfuffle and it isn't showing any signs of getting better!

This year I've plumped for Montgenevre and the first task was to establish
if any of the local agencies would do a Sunday - Sunday booking to suit
our flights. Good news, they will. I emailed (in English and
google-translated French) a request for accommodation information,
explaining that there was a group of AT LEAST 16 coming, probably 20, so
could I have some quotes for, say, 2 8-person & a 6-person or 3 8-person
apartments, along with floor plans pictures (oh yeah, I've been stung
before!) or detailed descriptions of bed types and layout, location in
village, proximity to slopes, etc...

So the first response I get from "accommodation central" is literally: "we
can offer you two 8-person apartments on those dates for x euros each..."
Great start... I respond by saying, "if you read my original email, you'll
see that 16 is the MINIMUM number of people going and I asked for 3
apartments and I need to know where it is & what it's like!"

The next response (3 days later!): "The two apartments WILL sleep 16
people. They are in the village near to the slopes". (Give me strength...)

I respond again: "Thankyou. However, I need 3 apartments, not two. I
have stayed in full-occupancy mode before and I will not do it again. I
like to be able to turn round without knocking over three other people in
the apartment. Therefore can you let me know the layout, area, types of
beds, number of beds, distance in metres from the village CENTRE, distance
in metres from the ESF meeting place (easy to locate on a map - cunning
eh?!) and I'd REALLY appreciate a floor-plan..."

A WEEK later (honestly - are they all part-timers?) I get a semi-helpful
reply:
"Appartement 3 pièces + coin montagne /55 m² / 8 personnes / Rez chaussée
/ Exposition Est. Balcon.Séjour avec 1 canapé lit 2 personnes + 1 lit
d'une personne. Chambre avec 2 lits d'une personne. Chambre avec 2 lits
jumeaux.Coin montagne séparé avec 1 lit d'une personne .Coin cuisine avec
plaques électriques + mini four. Salle de bains avec baignoire et wc
séparés."

So... can someone in the know (Nic?) explain to me exactly what a "coin
montagne" is? I find it hard to believe I get a "corner of the mountain"
in the apartment... Furthermore, is there a difference between what I
formerly knew to be a sofa-bed (banquette-lit) and what they describe as a
"Canape Lit" - lit. "settee bed"?

They've also told me it's the "Résidence La Loubatière, située dans le
centre du village, à 200m des pistes ." so at least I know where the damn
place is now! Probably all 200 metres are up a 1 i n6 gradient that will
have the kids whinging every step of the way and it'll be 180 metres to
the ski bus stop...

I've taken the translation of "2 lit jumeaux" as "2 twin beds" - was that
wise?

Can anyone tell me what phrase I should be using to ask for a floor plan
please? I've been asking for a "plan d'étage" but I realise that these
literal translations don't always work, so maybe that's where I'm going
wrong!

Also, if anyone can offer any advice about either these specific
apartments (Loubatière) i.e. whether to utterly avoid them or not! then
that'd be handy! Also, I'm unable to get them to tell me whether there
will be an open swimming pool anywhere in the resort that my non-skiing
wife can use in March, so if anyone knows that, that'd be handy too...

Cheers!

Carl wrote:

So... can someone in the know (Nic?) explain to me exactly what a "coin
montagne" is?


I came across this before, and had to check it out.

As others say, it's an alcove. Somewhere out of the way where you can
stash a bed or bunk. Possibly OK for small kids - not for adults wanting
privacy.




--
The bells, the bells......

"nic in la tania" wrote in message
...
yeah they are all part timers (35 hours a week!) , i felt like i did that
in
a day yesterday 32 guests arriving within an hour !

Coin montagne ...mmmm could either be bunks in the hall OR bunks in a
small
(very ) bunk room off the living room , it all seems to differ between
agancies.

good luck anyhow.....
....what dates was it for :-)

Nic - if you could get me to La Tania in 1.5 hours from Turin airport, I'd
be on the phone to you... )

Dances with Men wrote:
Carl wrote:


So... can someone in the know (Nic?) explain to me exactly what a "coin
montagne" is?



I came across this before, and had to check it out.

As others say, it's an alcove. Somewhere out of the way where you can
stash a bed or bunk. Possibly OK for small kids - not for adults wanting
privacy.




UM I thought coin montagne was a place to store your skis. In other
words there is no ski locker! Hopefully I am wrong.

If you search carefully on the web you will find private letters
advitising their apartments. These usually offer photos and floor plans.