CRYSTAL Ski is continuing to roll out its club hotels with the addition of three more in its winter 2000/01 preview programme. It brings the number of club hotels run by the operator to 14.
Crystal’s new managing director Debbie Marshall said the clubs are important in securing accommodation.
“They are exclusive to Crystal and gives us bed stock in some of the best resorts,” she said. “It also gives us control over quality. We have expanded the number of clubs rapidly in the last couple of years and will continue to do so.”
Club additions this year are in France, Italy and Canada with prices at the new Club Hotel Columbia in Lake Louise starting at £549 per person for seven nights’ half-board.
New for the season are pyjama clubs where nannies and club leaders babysit children for two hours in the evening.
The service, available at five resorts, is pre-bookable and costs £15 per child for five nights.
“It allows parents to spend time together without worrying about the children,” said Marshall.
The preview programme contains around 95% of Crystal’s ski product although Marshall said new product will be introduced in its first edition brochure later in the year.
Early-booking offers include a free, one-night UK break with Crystal Premier Britain on bookings made at selected hotels before May 31. A prize draw will also take place for early bookers with the chance for holidaymakers to win back the cost of the holiday.
Meanwhile, Marshall said bookings for February and March have lifted the ski market out of its pre-Christmas gloom. “It was tough but the past couple of months have taken off,” she said. “Margins have also been good.”
France has taken share from Italy, which is suffering after a poor season of snow last year, while Canada has shown strong growth.