Ski and Snowboard News, Deals, and Events

The three-star Husa Confort Patagònia hotel in VallNord is offering a special ‘Weekend Break at Foot of Chairlift' through February at a special rate of 151.50 Euros.

The deal includes one night bed and breakfast, one night on half-board including e-mail, and a two-day VallNord skipass, based on double room occupancy.

The hotel, in Arinsal, is located right next to the lifts and features apartments with balconies, safety deposit boxes, fully-equipped bathroom, satellite TV, daily cleaning, and microwave ovens.

The Patagonia has a bar, restaurant, children's game room, arcade games, gym, and Internet connection. A five-day version of the package is available for 318 Euros.

Arinsal was established in the early 1970s when the Western end of the La Massana Valley was developed. It is an attractive but rather spread out Catalan village, to the north of Andorra la Vella, the capital. The village is typical of quaint Pyreneen villages, attractively built in the local style of slate and stone. The village is only nine kilometres (six miles) from the Spanish border. It is very lively and rapidly expanding (expect building work).

Andorra is a country well-known for its extraordinary duty free shopping, Arinsal is a year-round holiday destination but especially popular during the skiing season when seasonal workers outnumber locals six to one.

Pal and Arinsal were two separate resorts until 2000-01, but remain two separate villages. The two resorts and ski areas were linked and began to market themselves jointly. This was followed by another marketing merger with the Arcalis ski area (known as Ordino). Together the ski areas became known as VallNord. They are the latest of many resort mergers in Andorra so that the country which once had ten or so fragmented ski areas, now officially has just two ski resorts.