CGH Residences & Spas Kalinda

The layout is excellent, 3 bathrooms! The heating is electric, dries the air. There was a problem with parking the car: the height of the parking lot does not allow check-in. You can't stand anywhere on the street! But this is not a hotel idea.

A very nicely appointed hotel with good size rooms (for a ski resort). The hotel is well located in Tignes 1800 close to the slopes. An easy ski down to the gondola that links to the rest of Tignes ski area. The ski bus that runs every 15 minutes stops right outside the hotel. Two ski hire shops are next to it. The spa shop is also next to it if you need to get food. The staff at Le Kalinda were always friendly and helpful, you never felt like a burden. There were also plenty of staff so you never had to wait. The pool and spa were very nice and a good size. The only thing that was a tiny fault was wifi didn't really work but I didn't bother raising it. The phone signal is very strong so it wasn't an issue for us. I would recommend the hotel and would certainly go back if I was in Tignes again.

The hotel is just what we wanted: close to the slopes, self catering, with swimming pool. It ticked all those boxes. The apar**ent itself was the 4-6 person one. There were 4 of us and I wouldn’t have wanted any more people in there! There were 6 chairs around the dining table but this left no space at all for cooking- so we moved two of the chairs elsewhere. You need to use the table as work surface as there is about 20cm of workspace on the actual kitchen worktop! Other than that it was perfectly comfortable. There was a (very narrow) bath, a shower, a large outdoor terrace area just for us, comfortable beds, and good control of the temperature. We did have a couple of issues with the oven and a couple of items missing, but they were sorted promptly with no hassle. The oven even got replaced with a new one whilst we were skiing on the first day. The lift takes you down to your large ski locker cupboard in the basement, which also has boot heaters. From there can walk through the underground carpark and take another lift up to within about 20m of the slopes. There’s a beginner area immediately outside with magic carpets and from the bottom of that you have gondolas up and down the mountain. You can also jump onto the free bus which literally leaves from outside the reception of the hotel, and takes you to Val D’Isere, Tignes 2100, Les Brevieres etc. so if you just want to go to those villages quickly without taking several gondolas, you can. We didn’t bother! The ski hire shop is basically in the hotel. The lift pass shop is right there too, about a minute’s walk away. There’s also a Spar which sells most essentials, right next to the hotel, in the same building. The pools, saunas and steam rooms are top notch. The jacuzzis are nice but could be warmer. In terms of facilities, the only downside is that there isn’t a bar, as such. There is a large lounge at reception which you can sit in and drink your own drinks, but no bar (though they do sell bottles of wine). I wouldn’t say it was somewhere to stay if you want the most sociable holiday as it wasn’t hugely easy to meet other people. Negatives: They say they give you dishwasher tablets, which they do, but we only got 6 for a 7 day stay. We asked for more and we’re told we were lucky to have got more than 1! They only give you two loo rolls. They give you two absolutely tiny bottles of washing up liquid, one sponge and one cloth. And no coffee filters for the machine. If you want to buy these things from the shop they’re expensive, so try to take your own. The biggest negative is the WiFi. It’s absolutely unusable: slow and it cuts out all the time anyway. Make sure you have plenty of data on your phones. Luckily the mobile reception is good. However, were it not for the rubbish WiFi, I’d have given five stars. But… it was very good overall. Extremely friendly staff, super location for the slopes, the bus stop, the ski hire and the shop. Plenty of snow in late March, too.

On the postive side: The chalets are simple but comfortable. Access to the slopes is good. The chalets are next to the beginners slope which is a short skip to the gondola which connects quickly to the main ski area. There is a good spar shop and a couple of good ski hire shops. There is a pool/gym/sauna on site (very busy in early evenings). Reception staff are helpful. Buses are free and frequent to Le Lac and Les Brevieres On the negative side there is little to do especially in the evenings. There are three places to eat in 1800: An overpriced more formal restaurant pretending to be traditional but isn't. A busy pizza bar which is fine and a slightly depressing sports bar which feels badly run. It is a bit soulless. It is v quiet and depending on what you want to do you will need to get to Le Lac or Les Brevieres in the evening on at least 3/4 evenings of your week. To summarise if you want a quiet week and do lots of self catering then this is a good option. If you want more then stay in 2100. If you want a quiet traditional Savoyard experience then go to 1500.

Lots to like about CGH Kalinda. We are a family four, kids age 8 and 11. We stayed in a two bedroom apar**ent with a balcony over the central square. Quiet place for families. The apar**ent reminded me of Center Parcs, well appointed but looks better in the pictures. The beds were very comfy, nice to have a twin room and a proper king size bed instead of twins pushed together. The kitchen had all it needed with a hob, microwave/oven, coffee machine, filter coffee machine, kettle and toaster. Nice big fridge with a freezer compar**ent. All dishwashing liquid, tablets for the dishwasher and cleaning equipment/bin bags provided, Heated towel rails in the bathroom were brilliant for drying towels and swim gear. Bathrooms look brand new in our apar**ent and spacious. Drying rack also provided for drying out ski gear over night. The sofa is a sofa bed, so super uncomfortable to sit on with a metal bar down the middle. We couldn't get sound on the TV, but had taken a big iPad so didn't need it. CGH Kalinda has a private boot room for every apar**ent in the basement which opens with your room key. Great space and secure. The pool is just as lovely as in the pictures. If you're going for a few laps its the perfect temperature, if you're splashing around with the kids, it's pretty chilly. The hot tubs weren't working all week and stone cold, but the sauna was nice. Kids aren't allowed in any of the sauna/hot tubs/steam room so effectively they are off limits to parents too which is a shame. The gym looked great but with all the skiing we didn't use it. The Kalinda has a Skiset as part of it, staff were fantastic. There is also a SPAR which sells all sorts including live lobster and crab which will give you a flavour of the eye watering prices, but it's pretty expensive everywhere in the mountains! There's a friendly bar which sells crepes and really really good pizzas which is the family friendly food. 1800 has two other restaurants "O 1800" which serves typical savyarde food. Looked lovely but nothing vegetarian on the menu. There's also the Sports bar (formerly Four 7) sort of high end gastro pub fare but nothing really for kids except "cornflake chicken"? The residence is quiet and clean with friendly reception staff eager to help. They stayed open late to receive us when we were delayed arriving. The shuttle bus goes from right outside to Tignes 2100/Val Claret/Brevieres/Val D'Isere although I didn't enjoy the ride with kids, it's hard to get them a seat and they get thrown all over the bus going around those hairpins trying to hang onto skis and poles. For beginners you can walk straight out onto a lovely nursery slope. It has a magic carpet lift, brand new, in a covered tube easy for everyone to use and a great place to find your feet. The bubble (Les Boisses) then goes up to a blue run into Le Lac/2100. You can ski a green run down to Brevieres which is lovely when the snow is good but quickly icy if not. In summary a lovely apar**ent bloc

Very comfortable and well equipped apar**ent. The Spa never seemed to be open until mid afternoon which was a great shame as I was stuck in the apar**ent with an injury. Also there’s little choice of eating out, within walking distance. Not great if you’re stuck in the apar**ent! But ideal place to get out onto the slopes. No medical centre at 1800 you have to taxi to Tignes, Le Lac but the taxis were excellent.

Apar**ent was very spacious, cosy and warm. Beds are super comfortable, and the kitchen is well equipped. Best pizza place just around the corner. Free navette to Tignes 2100. Highly recommend!

Apar**ent was clean and well equipped but Tignes 1800 has precious little to offer. The apar**ents are serviced by a hotel reception which is only open at certain times of the day but staff were helpful and friendly. There is a gym (room with a couple of running machines and a couple of exercise machines - not really useful for anything more). There are also 2 restaurants attached but only 1 was ever open and again only at certain times of day. Nowhere to grab a morning coffee or breakfast etc. There is a shop on site, a SPAR but this is the fanciest Spar I have ever seen, fresh Crab and Lobster, full on meat and cheese deli, and huge selection of wines and spirits…. But it is Very Expensive. Loaf of bread 5euro, and you could pay upwards of 1000euro for a bottle of wine!!! The hotel has a free bus service that transports you to Tignes 2100 every 30 mins. 2100 is much better with lots of activities accessible by purchasing a Tignes Card. This gives you 40 activities per person over a 3week period, only issue is you are required to book each activity up to 48hours in advance, we only stayed a week as became very frustrated trying to get a space on an activity. We ended up booking a tennIs court for 1 hour, paddle board for 30mins and kayaking for 30mins and pedalo for 30mins. But that was as much as we managed over a 7day stay. Nowhere really to sit and relax around the lake. My son (11) was really excited to do some downhill mountain biking…. We went to the rental shop and they suggested we do a half day guided ride. 25 euro each for the guide and 95eur each for the bike hire for half day! So 3 of us and you are looking at 360euro for half a day ride! Sorry no. On a positive we Did a lovely hike down from the top of the cable car, and had a couple of nice meals looking over the lake. Scenery is breathtaking. We originally booked for 3 weeks but felt we had had enough after 1 week so drove back home and booked a last min flight to a resort hotel. The mountains are beautiful but I would not go back to Tignes 1800 again, but would choose to go to Val d isere instead, much more lively and some great hotels, activities and restaurants (go to the Garage pizza bar for a great vibe and terrific pizza)

Fantastic Family Apar**ent. Stopped in a two bedroom and two bathroom apar**ent. Large modern facility with nice kitchen / living area. Lots of space for a family of five. High quality accommodation. Right next to Tignes 1800 lift and slopes. Short ski bus ride to main Tignes resort with a bus running regularly and into the evening. There are a couple of bars serving food near by and a take away pizza place. The spar shop offers high quality food including a deli, hot chickens, fresh bread and pastries, ready prepared food and fresh lobster and crab. For more restaurant choice head into the main resort 10 minutes away on the free ski bus. Loved skiing in Tignes and the duel pass that lets you ski at Val