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Which Neilson Ski Holiday Resort Is Best? 2024 Guide To Neilson Ski Chalets And Hotels
Neilson is a respected name in the snowboarding and skiing holiday market for UK families. They're at the posher end of ski hotels and ski chalets but they do have some good deals and offers.
There are six Neilson Ski Hotels. They vary in size a bit, but all have about 20-60 bedrooms.
They also have a Neilson Ski Chalet called Chalet Motxo, which is designed for a big group of 24 people in 11 bedrooms. It is next door to one of the hotels and your host lives in with you.
This guide focuses on the hotels and looks at things like customer reviews, travel time from the UK and distance to the slopes before deciding which Neilson resort is best.
If you want to skip all our waffle, then here's the summary:
If you want a bit more detail, keep reading...
There are six Neilson Ski Hotels. They vary in size a bit, but all have about 20-60 bedrooms.
They also have a Neilson Ski Chalet called Chalet Motxo, which is designed for a big group of 24 people in 11 bedrooms. It is next door to one of the hotels and your host lives in with you.
This guide focuses on the hotels and looks at things like customer reviews, travel time from the UK and distance to the slopes before deciding which Neilson resort is best.
If you want to skip all our waffle, then here's the summary:
- Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra is the best value Neilson ski hotel
- Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France and Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France are highly rated ski hotels but they're more expensive.
If you want a bit more detail, keep reading...
Which Neilson Ski hotel gets the best reviews?
Let’s start with the Neilson Hotels.
There are six Neilson ski hotels at the time of writing. They're in France, Andorra and Italy.
We’ve ranked them in order of review score by adding together the TripAdvisor and Google review scores.
(Scores checked in October 2023).
So, Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France and Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra are joint highest rated with customers. However, they’re all scoring at least 8/10 which is a respectable score.
We will have a look later at things like typical holiday costs and travel time (that’s what they call a teaser to keep you reading…).
The ones with an asterisk (*) are those which Neilson call their Mountain Collection Hotels rather than the more basic 'Mountain Collection Chalet Hotels'.
The advantages of the Mountain Collection Hotels are that:
There are six Neilson ski hotels at the time of writing. They're in France, Andorra and Italy.
We’ve ranked them in order of review score by adding together the TripAdvisor and Google review scores.
- Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France* scores 4.7/5 on Google Reviews and 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor – total of 9.2/10.
- Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra* scores 4.5/5 on Google reviews and 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor – total of 9/10.
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy scores 4.5/5 on Google reviews and TripAdvisor – total of 9/10
- Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France* scores 4.3/5 on Google Reviews and 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor – total of 8.8/10.
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Casale in El Tarter in Andorra scores 4/5 on TripAdvisor – total of 8/10.
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Edelweiss in Sauze d’Oulx in Italy scores 4/5 on TripAdvisor - total of 8/10.
(Scores checked in October 2023).
So, Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France and Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra are joint highest rated with customers. However, they’re all scoring at least 8/10 which is a respectable score.
We will have a look later at things like typical holiday costs and travel time (that’s what they call a teaser to keep you reading…).
The ones with an asterisk (*) are those which Neilson call their Mountain Collection Hotels rather than the more basic 'Mountain Collection Chalet Hotels'.
The advantages of the Mountain Collection Hotels are that:
- most have childcare (apart from Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France)
- you get seven evening meals instead of six
- you get ‘free, professional ski guiding and coaching’.
Neilson's hotel in Val d'Isere gets outstanding reviews from customers...
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...as does Neilson's Hotel Del Clos in Andorra which has this sun terrace
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Which is the cheapest Neilson ski holiday hotel?
We looked for the cost of a holiday for a family of four for a week in mid-January 2024, half board in a Neilson hotel. Of course, school holidays are more expensive, and the tail end of the season is cheaper because you might not get decent snow.
In order from most expensive to cheapest:
The three hotels with (*) symbols are the ones in the Mountain Collection which offer an extra meal, ski coaching and guiding. Three of the Mountain Collection Hotels also offer childcare.
Overall, there's a significant difference in price between the most expensive Neilson hotel and the cheapest (about £2000).
Two of the posher hotels with the best reviews are also the most expensive (Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France and Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France).
However, there is one hotel which is in the posher Mountain Collection, but which is considerably cheaper (Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra).
There's also a hotel which gets reviews, but which is at the cheaper end of the scale (Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy).
In order from most expensive to cheapest:
- Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France* - £4927
- Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France* - £3907
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Edelweiss in Sauze d’Oulx in Italy - £3716
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy - £3125
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Casale in El Tarter in Andorra - £2996
- Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra* – £2785
The three hotels with (*) symbols are the ones in the Mountain Collection which offer an extra meal, ski coaching and guiding. Three of the Mountain Collection Hotels also offer childcare.
Overall, there's a significant difference in price between the most expensive Neilson hotel and the cheapest (about £2000).
Two of the posher hotels with the best reviews are also the most expensive (Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France and Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France).
However, there is one hotel which is in the posher Mountain Collection, but which is considerably cheaper (Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra).
There's also a hotel which gets reviews, but which is at the cheaper end of the scale (Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy).
Which Neilson Ski Hotel is nearest to the UK?
There are a few things to look for when picking a location for a Neilson ski holiday. First, we’ll look at how long it takes to get to the different ski and boarding resorts from a UK airport.
Here they are ranked from shortest to longest travel time. We added together the flight time and the transfer time, but we didn’t include the time you spend stood around in the Airport waiting for your bag to appear etc:
The difference in travel time between the closest and furthest Neilson ski resort is about 2 hours. One of the resorts in Italy takes about four hours so you might want to put that on your shortlist if a quick journey is a priority.
We’ll add these numbers into our conclusions when deciding which ones to go for.
Here they are ranked from shortest to longest travel time. We added together the flight time and the transfer time, but we didn’t include the time you spend stood around in the Airport waiting for your bag to appear etc:
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Edelweiss in Sauze d’Oulx in Italy 3 hours, 50 minutes
- Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra – 5 hours
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Casale in El Tarter in Andorra – 5 hours
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy – 5 hours, 5 minutes
- Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France – 5 hours, 5 minutes
- Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France – 5 hours 35 minutes
The difference in travel time between the closest and furthest Neilson ski resort is about 2 hours. One of the resorts in Italy takes about four hours so you might want to put that on your shortlist if a quick journey is a priority.
We’ll add these numbers into our conclusions when deciding which ones to go for.
Which Neilson ski hotel is in the best ski resort?
This is obviously a bit subjective but there are various opinions on the ‘best ski resorts’ in Europe.
Conde Nast Traveller ask their readers to vote for the top 20 European Ski and Snowboard Resorts. As of 2023, the highest rated resort which is served by Neilson ski holidays was Val D’Isere at number three (Neilson Hotel La Tovière is in Val d'Isère).
Les Menuires was number 17 in the top 20 in 2020 (Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa is in Les Menuires) but had slipped out of the top 20 in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Conde Nast Traveller ask their readers to vote for the top 20 European Ski and Snowboard Resorts. As of 2023, the highest rated resort which is served by Neilson ski holidays was Val D’Isere at number three (Neilson Hotel La Tovière is in Val d'Isère).
Les Menuires was number 17 in the top 20 in 2020 (Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa is in Les Menuires) but had slipped out of the top 20 in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Which Neilson Ski Hotel has the biggest and best range of ski slopes?
If you're a beginner then you aren't likely to do a huge amount of exploring during a week's skiing or snowboarding.
However, if you've been skiing before then the range of pistes and slopes available can make a difference.
You can measure these things in various ways, such as the number of beginner and expert slopes or the total distance of the ski runs. However, for simplicity we've ranked them by the total number of ski runs in each resort. It's a little complex, as some skiing resorts are linked but let's not worry about that. From most to least:
However, if you've been skiing before then the range of pistes and slopes available can make a difference.
You can measure these things in various ways, such as the number of beginner and expert slopes or the total distance of the ski runs. However, for simplicity we've ranked them by the total number of ski runs in each resort. It's a little complex, as some skiing resorts are linked but let's not worry about that. From most to least:
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy – 668 different ski runs
- Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France – 275 runs
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Edelweiss in Sauze d’Oulx in Italy - 212 runs
- Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France – 159 runs
- Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra – 128 runs
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Casale in El Tarter in Andorra – 128 runs
Which Neilson Ski Hotel is closest to the ski slopes?
For new skiers, this might sound like a bit of a minor point but bear with me.
Once you've got your cumbersome ski boots on, you then need to make your way to the nearest ski lift whilst carrying your skis. This is not great fun, particularly if you are towing three children and a grumpy spouse.
So, we've ranked the seven Neilson ski hotels based on how close they are to the nearest ski lift. From closest to furthest away:
So, the furthest walk will be about half a mile. That would only be a 10-minute walk under normal conditions but will take a lot longer whilst wearing ski boots and carrying skis.
Again, this is a little complex as some hotels are close to gondola stations which will take you to the top of the mountain, whilst others are close to a small lift which might only cover one part of the mountain. Anyway, let's not complicate things any further.
Once you've got your cumbersome ski boots on, you then need to make your way to the nearest ski lift whilst carrying your skis. This is not great fun, particularly if you are towing three children and a grumpy spouse.
So, we've ranked the seven Neilson ski hotels based on how close they are to the nearest ski lift. From closest to furthest away:
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Edelweiss in Sauze d’Oulx in Italy - 50 metres
- Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère in France – 120 metres
- Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires in France – 200 metres
- Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra – 350 metres
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Casale in El Tarter in Andorra – 650 metres
- Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy – 875 metres
So, the furthest walk will be about half a mile. That would only be a 10-minute walk under normal conditions but will take a lot longer whilst wearing ski boots and carrying skis.
Again, this is a little complex as some hotels are close to gondola stations which will take you to the top of the mountain, whilst others are close to a small lift which might only cover one part of the mountain. Anyway, let's not complicate things any further.
Conclusion - which is the best Neilson ski resort?
Right then, what can we conclude from this huge list of data and statistics? I've been staring at the numbers for ages and have reached the following four conclusions:
- If you want a good value all-rounder, I would start by looking at Neilson Hotel Del Clos in El Tarter in Andorra. I was so surprised at the price that I checked it twice.
It gets the joint highest customer reviews, yet it was the cheapest in our price comparison. It's part of the Neilson Mountain Collection which means you get an extra meal and the option of ski coaching and childcare.
The downsides are that it's not a world-famous resort like Val d'Isere. It's also not got quite as many runs as some resorts, and it takes an extra hour or so to get there compared to some other Neilson resorts. - If you want to stick with a French Alps resort, then I would have a look at Neilson Hotel Le Menuire & Spa in Les Menuires or Neilson Hotel La Tovière in Val d'Isère. Le Menuire has a better range of runs and offers childcare whilst Neilson Hotel La Tovière gets slightly better reviews and is in a world-famous resort. They're both nice and close to the ski slopes.
They've both got the same downsides of being expensive and being a relatively long way from the UK. One advantage for me would be that I can fumble my way through a French menu, but I wouldn't have much chance with a Catalan menu (the main language in Andorra). - Neilson Chalet Hotel Dolomites Inn (Penia di Canazei) in Val di Fassa in Italy is worth an honourable mention. It has the biggest number of ski slopes by some distance, so it might be a good option for an experienced skier who wants to do a lot of exploring. It was also a good-value option and scores well with customers.
The downside is that it's not one of the Neilson Mountain Collection hotels, so you don't get as many bells and whistles. Plus, it's a long walk from the hotel to the ski lifts. - Neilson Chalet Hotel Edelweiss in Sauze d’Oulx in Italy also got our attention as it's one of the quickest to reach from the UK and the ski lift is very close to the hotel. However, it is a bit behind on reviews and doesn't have a big number of ski slopes to choose from.
Note: Neilson Chalet Hotel Le Crȇt in Les Deux Alpes in France is no longer available to book. We previously featured it in this guide, but it was removed from the Neilson website in 2022.
