My wife, my daughter (a beginner) and I went for a week from end of February 2012 to early March. Getting to the 3 valleys was a bit of a nightmare as it was the French school holidays so a part of the journey that should have taken 3 hours actually took more like 6.

We made use of the ESF (French ski school) and they were great. By the end of the week my daughter was doing small jumps off-piste and did her first red run. However, something that did trouble me was that we were assured that if the children were not picked up then they would be cared for. Another couple were late returning and their child was left sitting in the snow alone.

We had nothing but sunshine for the whole week. Great for our daughter but we would have liked a little fresh snow. However, despite this none of the pistes were closed due to lack of snow (on the Friday the other side of the valley was closed for blasting due to an avalanche). It did mean that sometimes the pistes were a little icy in the morning but by mid morning they had softened. We are not expert skiers but it appears there are enough pistes to cover all levels.

Les Menuires is part of the 3 valleys and if you are an experienced skier then you will want to buy a 3 valleys pass. As we needed to be back for the end of the ski school at lunch time we opted for the cheaper Les Menuires and Val Thoren option and even then never managed to ski everywhere.

The resort has loads of places to eat and drink but as with all ski resorts you pay a premium if you shop locally. We brought a load of food with us and it really saved us a lot of money.

Getting around the resort is made easy by the free shuttle buses. You just hop on or off at the stop you need. Our first day was made tricky as getting down the mountain to the ski school meant lugging the skis for us all on and off the bus and then using a couple of ordinary lifts. Not a big problem once our daughter was able to ski the basic run to the ski school though.

A big issue is the level of dog muck. I know it is an English cliche that France is covered in dog poo, but it really was everywhere around our residence (Madian) and around the roads and even the waiting area for the ski school. It was especially irritating to have to wipe skis and poles on return as a the ski in area clearly doubled as a dog toilet. They had made a half hearted effort to erect a pole dispensing poo bags but clearly the dog owners ignored this.

Generally, I'd say we had a great holiday and would go back again (despite the poo).