Family Apartments

The surroundings are nice, parking is available, and the lifts are close by. But the accommodation itself was a bad fit for five people, with very little room: the bedroom barely fits its bed and door, only one person can stand in the hallway, and there is nowhere for skis. The rooms were dark because tall, dense trees close to the windows blocked the sun. There was almost no spare outlet for charging a phone, and Wi-Fi only reached the kitchen table, where the connection still wasn't very good. The pillows looked like they had survived an atomic explosion and were awful to sleep on. After the first night we slept terribly because the beds had painfully hard mattresses, and we regretted booking four nights. The shower was falling apart too: its handle was missing, water drained from the tub after showering, and the door hung so loosely we worried it would come off when closing it.

The bathroom was fairly new and clean, but the rest of the setup left us unhappy. The room was basically a kitchenette with two daybeds, and while the fridge humming at night wasn't a major issue, the beds looked cheap. There were no pillows or duvets on them, just bare mattresses, as if guests were meant to bring sleeping bags. I called to check that we'd been given the right room, and the woman said the duvets were probably under the daybed in a cover. They were there, clean but not made up, so we had to put on the covers ourselves. At €30 per person per night, having to make up bedding that dozens of people had slept in before us felt like poor value. The price-to-quality ratio was really bad. Welcome to Donovaly, I guess; for good service at good prices, you'd probably be better off in the Alps. The next day my boyfriend found flea bites under his armpit, which was the final straw.

The boot warmer in the ski storage made skiing much more comfortable, and the slope is about 100 metres away. Part of the walk is up a little incline, though you can ski back if there's enough snow. We stayed in the d6 studio apartment, which was a comfortable size for two adults and a child. The internet dropped out now and then but was usable. The kitchen had what we needed, and when we asked reception for a garbage bag, the owner had already brought one by the time we got back. I think it's an ideal place at an affordable price. You can book a good-value half-board meal at the Party ski bistro, where you can also make the reservation.

The location is ideal: the lift is 50 metres away, a restaurant is just 30 metres away, the ski school is in front of the building, and ski rental is next door. We stayed in the Patty XL Apartment, whose four rooms, two toilets, two bathrooms, and living room with an American kitchen comfortably accommodated 14 people. The furniture and equipment were mediocre, but the apartment was very clean and well maintained when we arrived.