Why Avoriaz in France is THE best place for a family ski holiday

 There’s nothing like being able to ski right up to your front door. No heavy skis or boards to shoulder while you waddle for what feels like miles in clunky boots, just an effortless glide back home then packing your kit away in minutes.

That’s the reality of family ski trip to Avoriaz 1800, France’s purpose-made resort high in the Alps above Morzine in the valley below. What it lacks in Morzine’s picture-postcard Alpine chalets it more than makes up for in spectacular scenery, ski-in, ski-out apartments and, err, snow. I visited in April with my two sons Sonny (14) and Sol (9) right at the end of the ski season, and Avoriaz still had an impressive carpet of powder, while Morzine was already looking like a summer holiday poster, all fields of flowers, cherry blossom and tinkling streams.

Sounds idyllic, but why’s it so good for beginners?

I repeat, you’re staying on the piste. This makes it incredibly easy from the get-go. Roll out of bed, get dressed and you’re on the slopes without having to catch a single button or chair lift, which is highly appealing if you’re a parent with little ones to wrangle (or a teen who loves lying in as long as possible).

And then there are the instructors. Ecole Ski France (ESF) trained teachers, easily spotted in their vivid red onesies, who are old hands at getting kids of all ages whizzing down the mountains in days (or in Sonny's case, hours).

Children from three years old and up can enrol in daily ski school (€49 for a two-hour group lesson) or you can book a private lesson (€64 per hour). We only had four days so booked the latter and it was the right decision, as the one-on-one time meant a faster learning process. We met their instructor, Jerome Tavernier, at Le Plateau, a five-minute walk from our apartment, and he had them tackling the baby slopes in less than an hour after a short intro on how to release your skis, snow plough, duck walk and side step.

A travelator means no exhausting climb back to the top of the slopes, though as someone who was made to side step all the way back to the start when I was young I was slightly envious that all they had to do was step on a moving belt to repeat their run. Within two hours the boys were snow-ploughing down a green run and were all smiles when we met for lunch at the end of the session.

By day two Jerome had showed them how to handle the button and chairlifts and they’d enjoyed two blissful, sun-drenched runs down Proclou, a legendary beginner's slope which I’m told has a tunnel, epic bends and a wide stretch at the end ideal for practicing turns. By day three, they’d been guided down part of a red route, and were so keen to continue skiing they headed out in the afternoon, unaccompanied.

Jerome assured me that if they stuck to the routes they knew they’d be fine - in a world of over-parenting it felt almost illegal to wave them off to slide down a mountain with nothing more than a promise to ‘stick together' and 'call me if you get into trouble’.

And what about when I’m not skiing?

If you want to go safely off-piste in Avoriaz, book a snowshoe hike. We met our guide, Lauren, at the ESF office in the centre of Avoraiz and from there he led us through the trees and sugary slopes, which we slid down on our bums while shrieking with laughter, past a gurgling stream and eventually along a path to a viewing platform at La Mine. The site of a former slate mine for Morzine where you can still see the winch that passed crates of slate up and down the mountainside, a forerunner to the first cable cars.

We were transfixed by the view, with the valley of Morzine spread out below, soaring cliffs, birds of prey circling overhead, the smell of pine in the air and flowers starting to poke through the soil. It felt like an extraordinary time to visit the mountains. The snowshoe hike back up was great cardio, we were sweating by the end, tumbling around before things culminated with a snowball fight despite Lauren's best efforts to guide the kids, ‘Look, you can do more than fight’ he said as he juggled three snowballs. Impressive.

Sledging is a popular pastime in Avoriaz. We loved picking up free sledges from the reception of L'Amara and heading to the piste opposite for sunset sessions, taking in the jaw-dropping views of the mountains crowned with a golden halo as we giggled while speeding over the bumps and ice and trying to avoid bowling over the tots out way past their usual bed time.

Where am I staying?

Pierre & Vacances' Premium Residence L’Amara self-catering apartments are exactly where you need to be. Spread across three high-rise buildings built on the edge of the resort and overlooking a smooth piste, they’ve thought of literally everything that could elevate your ski holiday from average to exceptional.

For starters the warm apartments are contemporary yet cosy, perfectly blending Alpine aesthetics with modern decor - wood furniture, soft throws, sepia pictures of mountain scapes and comfortable sofas and beds. Our spacious apartment in Prana block slept six (double bed with ensuite bathroom, two singles and a sofa bed) and had a really well-equipped ktichen inclduing, hallelujah, a dish washer. Best of all were the spacious balconies with far-reaching mountain and piste views, a place I loved sitting in the morning to watch the early bird skiers set off on their adventures.

Talking of skiing, there’s a ski room in the basement where you get a locker to store your gear, meaning getting ready in the morning is simply a case of pulling on boots, grabbing your skiis and poles and heading out through an exit the kids called ‘the secret door’ which miraculously lands you right on the edge of the piste. Result.

L’Amara is way more than a place to sleep, however. A vast wellbeing area is very welcome after a day on the slopes, with a warm indoor pool (all ages welcome), outdoor hot tub, spa treatments and stunning wood barrel saunas situated on a terrace overlooking the slopes. Children can use all the facilities, which is really refreshing as so many hotels restrict pool time for families.

There’s also a kids’ club and the activities looked great, including an Easter Egg Hunt during our stay. So if you want to hit the slopes sans children, you can enrol them for a morning safe in the knowledge they’ll be having the time of their lives sledging, painting and getting up to all sorts of fun with new mates. Families are so welcome, there’s even a cute kids’ area with bean bags, toys, books and teepee in the reception area, meaning even checking in is a breeze.

And what about food?

Oh the food. We were self-catering, so having a Sherpa supermarket around the corner was a God send. This is my new favourite food store, because it’s full of delectable fresh veg and fruit, French treats like canard in a can, rotisserie chicken legs (which we devoured daily), fresh croissants and a mouth-watering range of charcuterie and cheeses. Pretty impressive considering it’s half way up a mountain.

On the days we did treat ourselves, Yeti restaurant on La Plateau where the ski lessons start and end was a favourite for lunches of steaming plates of pasta and steak frites. The famous Folie Deuce is further up the slope, but aside from asking me why a lady was hanging in the air in a hoop and someone else was 'singing karaoke badly’, my crew weren’t blown away by the legendary day into night club (I’m pretty sure they won’t be saying that in five years time).