How does 'Ask Daniel' work

How does ‘Ask Daniel’ work?

Happy New Year!

I thought it might be useful to say how the ‘Ask Daniel’ service works, and give you some examples.

I set the ‘Ask Daniel’ service up to help skiers to find better holidays more easily. It’s a way for you to use my knowledge of ski resorts, accommodation providers and journeys so that you have find, or put together, a brilliant holiday.

There’s so much choice of destinations and holidays that sometimes you can get the feeling of ‘I don’t know where to begin’.  The Internet has made browsing holidays easier, but it hasn’t made choosing holidays easier. The key thing is to narrow down the search to the most suitable options. That’s what I help you do.

With the ‘Ask Daniel’ service, you aren’t buying a holiday from Snowcarbon – because Snowcarbon doesn’t sell holidays (nor does it sell train tickets). 

But what I do is to come up with suggestions for great holidays and put you in touch with independent accommodation providers and excellent tour operators who can help.   They’ll charge you the same rate as if you’ve gone to them direct, but will give me a commission (if you book) for having referred you.

I always try to make the process as effective as possible, and this means not just making assumptions but asking the right questions. We do this by email and also by phone – because often in a five-minute conversation you can properly ascertain and get a feel for what kind of holiday is going to be right for someone – something that email alone cannot always achieve.

Six days in a ski resort is about 144 hours in that resort.  That’s a lot of time.  If you are a party of 12, that’s 1,728 hours. So if you are booking a holiday, I believe it’s really worth spending a little time up front narrowing down the options so that you can choose from the best.  That means less time browsing the Internet, and a bit more time speaking to people who can help you choose because of the knowledge they have.

How to begin?

The best thing is to drop me an email in the first place with some notes about what you are ideally after.  I’ll then contact you back by email or phone, as you like, and once we’ve clarified your requirements, I’ll start getting some great suggestions to you and putting you in touch with suitable providers.  It works really well.

Examples of what people say:

“Hi Daniel, we are looking to book into a shared chalet in the next week. We’d like to travel by overnight Ski Train - we’ve done that before.  We are all experienced skiers and looking to be in a resort that has a big ski area, such as Tignes, Val d'Isere, 3Valleys or Paradiski. We aren’t fussed about being somewhere will loads of nightlife - nice to have a couple of bars nearby - and we would like to be in a chalet located close to the pistes. Thanks in advance for your help" – Robert

“Hello Daniel, I’m organising a trip for a group of colleagues. We have to travel for the week of 31st March (we realise this is pricer but don’t have a choice of weeks), and would like to go by train or otherwise fly.  We are looking for a resort that will suit a range of ski abilities, and has a bit of apres ski / a few bars (but doesn’t need to be Party Central).  We’d ideally like to be in a catered chalet, or otherwise a self-catered apartment, if there are restaurants in the village too. As not everyone knows each other well, we thought catered chalet would be the most ideal, somewhere where we are not all on top of each other. If flying, would hope for something good value to cover ski passes and ski hire too." - Christina

"Dear Daniel,

We are looking for a chalet ski holiday,

* We're 6 people - all holidaying without partners, though we're used to
pairing up in order to share twin rooms.
* We're in our 60s and 70s, and are mostly good-intermediate skiers.
* For several seasons we've stayed at Hotel La Vanoise at
Peisey-Vallandry. It's very nice but, this year, we fancy a chalet for a
change. Plan Peisey or Vallandry suit us fine: we often ski on the slopes
near them, and also often take the Transarc to Les Arcs 2000, and we'd
want to continue doing that.
* a shared chalet is ok, though smaller is better than bigger;
* hot tub great (a pool is not necessary);
* some of our party would prefer train travel;

"We’d prefer somewhere very quiet: we're not interested in apres-ski or partying. I think some ofthe chalets in Peisey-Vallandry are very close (too close) to the bars
near the Vanoise Express. You probably know Hotel La Vanoise, which is on
the piste but a bit away from the bars. We like the fitness centre, pool and sauna at Hotel La Vanoise, so would
ideally have access to something similar in a chalet. Naturally we prefer ski-in ski-out but we realise a chalet may involve a
bit of walking.”

"Hi Daniel, may I ask your advice? I am keen to try the daytime ski train. We have to go in half term because of the kids but are hoping to go with several friends this year for the birthday celebrations! We live in Leamington Spa. Can you advise on transport and maybe even some suitable chalet accommodation for that area? 24-30 people?  Last year we stayed at Les village Arcs 1950 in an apartment for 4. (Pierre Vacances). I'm not mad on wild apres ski just love a good meal, a few glasses of wine, relaxing evening having a laugh with friends and a good sleep. It's all about the skiing!" - Jill

“Hi Daniel, we are looking for a ski holiday by train, ideally.  Self-catering or half-board, ideally somewhere with a swimming pool.
The children are are beginners.  We would like to be in a resort that is as snowsure as possible, as we went previously at Xmas and didn’t have much snow. We don’t need busy nightlife or a fashionable resort - but just somewhere nice and family friendly.
In terms of travel, we would ideally like to travel by daytime Eurostar Ski Train, but could possibly change in Paris with taxi. Thanks for your help and ideas."  - Catherine
 

Get in touch

Helping people find great holidays is a pleasure, so feel free to get in touch anytime that suits you - just start by sending me an email.