We recently published a report from our teen correspondent, Katie Campkin, claiming Esprit Ski was not as ‘family-friendly’ as it claimed, when it comes to family holidays with children of mixed ages.  You can read her report by clicking HERE. 

Since then, Moira Clarke, Head of Marketing for Esprit Ski has sent us this response to Katie’s article, which we are printing here verbatim:

“It’s always disappointing to hear of a family that have not had the Esprit experience we would hope all our families enjoy and below I have tried  to respond to the particular points Katie raises.

We are quite open and upfront in our brochure and website about the main element highlighted in this blog – the under 13 rule at adult dinner. It is stated quite clearly in several places that children under 12 have High Tea and only 13’s and over join adult dinner.  As everyone knows when a line is drawn across any age range there will always be some children that are unfortunately right on the cusp, but that doesn’t mean the goal posts are moved because then different families will also be affected.  It is only right and fair to all guests that the line stays firm.  When our staff deviated from the line as these chalet staff did,  all that happens is that our other Esprit guests are unhappy,  as Katie quite clearly states:  ‘It did, however, cause a less communal, relaxed atmosphere in the chalet to the detriment of everyone’s holiday’.

We do however offer an alternative, our Family Dining Chalets, where families can eat together regardless of age, and if this was of such import to this family they should perhaps have discussed the meal arrangements at the time of booking and we would have been happy to suggest booking them  into one of those.

The evening children’s club, Cocoa Club that supervises children whilst parents have their dinner, is a service that all parents pay for so I am unsure as to why Katie thought her brothers should receive this service for free.  Again, other guests would feel disadvantaged if the boys were treated differently to their own children.

Esprit makes no claim to be the answer to families with teenagers.  Our clubs and classes state their age range quite candidly and we have none for the over 12s.  The majority of our guests are families with children under 8 so it is unclear why this family booked with us in the first place.  Sometimes the criteria for booking a holiday can create a need for compromise and if location was key, then the compromise would have been to realise that the family make-up was not ideal for a true Esprit holiday and to go with it rather than to try and enforce personal holiday criteria into a template that wasn’t designed for it.

We are passionate about giving families a truly memorable ski holiday with us and you only have to see the posts on our Facebook page to realise that on the whole we achieve our aim.”

 

If you have recently had a ski holiday with Esprit, come and let us know your experiences on the FamilySkiNews facebook page.