I always go to Villars with my kids.

Have a look at this

http://www.villars.ch/en/index.cfm

Great place Villars indeed!

Dean,

check out at Ovronnaz. They have good deals for Hotel, caban, appartment, lift passes and always comes with the Thermal baths.

This is value for your money and is not as far as alot of the other family locations.

http://www.ovronnaz.ch

Another good one is Leukerbad which is a step up on Ovronnaz but is bit more expensive. (largest thermal spa and wellness resort in the Alps)

http://www.leukerbad.ch/en/welcome.cfm

Villars is great, but I love the resorts that have the thermal baths, a good way too end a long day of skiing or children stress.

But i agree Villars is top.

Hey Dean when is your next Geneva Curry club event? Would love to go to the next one at Lady Godiva bar n resto.

You can try my, or rather my ex's, place in Nendaz.

http://www.chalet-victoria.com

Another thing you should consider is early season snow conditions.  Low lying places like Villars might not have great snow conditions by Christmas.  Also I have been to Villars it is ok but quite expensive for the size/quality of the resort, my opinion.  About Ovrannaz I have not been there in the winter, aside the thermal baths are great, but if you look at there piste map you will see lots of surface lifts and older lifts.  This is probably why it is cheaper.

I would suggest looking at some of the higher resorts, or ones that at least have the option in case of poor snow quality.  Nendaz as suggested by Charlie might be ok or you could look at some of the French resorts such as Flaine or 3 Vallees.

Good luck and have fun.

Hi Dave - Thanks for the info.

The curry was due this week, but have to babysit all week (wife doing some driving course as part of her test... every night for 2 hours... or at least that's what she's telling me!! Mmmm!  And can't do next week as I have an Ironman comp on the following Sunday... and curry is never a good preparation food for long hors in a bike saddle!!  So it will be the week after!  And I'll need one... and a few pints!

Looks really nice actually!!  Shit... she got that!!  But you got the beach mansion in the Hamptons, right?

(This not was for you Charles Charlie Charles...)

I recommend Avoriaz in the Portes du Soleil. It's quite high (1800m) so should have good early-season snow, has nice runs of all levels (and you can link into the rest of the Portes du Soleil for another 500km or so of runs if you want!). Being in France it offers beter value for money than equivalent Swiss resorts.

The resort itself is modern purpose-built so no picture-postcard chalets, but it is completely car free which gives a really nice atmosphere.

As well as the usual Ecole de Ski Francais there are a number of other ski schools in the resort, some are English-language specialists, there is at least one that specialises in adult tuition and several that have 'ski creche' for young kids. I'm not sure what the lower age limit is though, 2 is pretty young. The ESF creche is called Club Piou Piou, try googling them.

I gathered matey... 

Good luck in your hunt, if you need more reommmendations I can let you know where there will be snow most likely...

Actually from Geneva you could try Chamonix, its an active enough resort to keep the whole family happy in the evenings and enough places for absolute beginners.

I agree with Charlie: Nendaz is one of my favourite (the chalet is gorgeous!!)

And yes Adam: Avoriaz (Portes du Soleil) in France is family friendly, too and you can pay in EUR. They have good offers before Christmas.

http://www.avoriaz.com/ski-holidays/