Renen Hotel - Ski All Inclusive, Åre, Sweden

We booked this holiday a week before we went on a last minute deal and it was one of the best ski holidays we've ever been on! We went to Sweden in January 2011 - flight times were short (2.5hrs), transfer just over an hour. Quiet airport so only took 20 mins to get through the airport. Hotel Renen in Duved was really nice, we stayed half board but our room ended up being an apartment as well so we had a fridge and could easily make our lunches. Food was really nice - breakfast was AMAZING lots of locals came to the hotel for the breakfast too it was that good. Evening meal also good, but was Swedish food, may not be to everyone's taste. Nearest lift is a 3 minute walk away, but well worth getting the ski bus to the next couple of towns. Best skiing was a bus ride away. But the buses start an hour before the lifts start anyway - so no ski time missed! The skiing - excellent, we enjoy reds & blues and there were plenty of brilliant runs, you don’t need to ski the same run twice, though some were so good we did! There are a few blacks as well but if that’s what you after, there aren't loads. There was quite a bit of off piste as well - even basic ones for people like us that had never been off piste before. The altitude is lower than the Alps but the snow was fantastic - great to ski on and it snowed every day so plenty of it. As it was January the weather was quite cold and wild right on the top of the mountain so the very tops lifts were closed. Temperatures were meant to be around -15 but they weren’t; only 1 day did we feel the cold and on other days it was even up to -1. Fantastic scenery! Mountains and trees all around with a huge frozen lake at the bottom. There are a lot of drag lifts (mainly T bars) in Sweden, this is due to the wind so they don't need to close the lifts as often. We didn't really find them much of a problem though. They even have night skiing early on in the season when the daylight hours are shorter - something we'd never done before!! You can ski till 4pm, go back for a break and some food, then go out again later on for a couple of hours!! I will say though - alcohol is VERY expensive in Sweden lol - around £7 a pint £8 a glass of wine - even at the bottom of slopes! Take some duty free!! And in Duved the nightlife is a little limited though not non existent. You can get 1 or 2 night buses in January to Are which is good. Apparently there are more buses as the season progresses. Loads of other activities to do too, we went skidooing on the frozen lake and then up into the hills - that was a BRILLIANT half day too. You can only go dog sledding and moose kissing. On the last day our rep said we could night ski and drop the ski's back at the shop afterwards - this however was not true - the shop closed at 5pm. It caused a bit of stress for a few guests, but the rep ended up having to sort it for them the day after (as the transfer bus left before the shop opened). We went as a couple but I would say it is an EXCELLENT resort for families too - especially younger kids. Loads of facilities for them including 2 woods full of carving and animals that sing and play music when you go past. Overall - this was one of the best ski holidays we've both been on. We will DEFINITELY return.

Apres Ski: 4/5

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