The Snow Centre — Attraction in Dacorum

A hit or miss with the instructors. Wished we could choose, might not return unless I can.

I took level 1 and 3 snowboarding lessons with Charl, who was great! Decided to recommend it to my sister-in-law, who had no previous snowboarding experience.

Unfortunately her lesson was with Chelsea, who was rude and unhelpful. My sister-in-law had such a bad experience that she will not return.

Despite this, since I had a good experience with Charl, I went ahead with my level 4 lesson. I was assigned to Chelsea. At this point, I did not know Chelsea was the same instructor my sister-in-law had - we only confirmed it later after we checked we had the same instructor initials 'CW' in our cards.

At the start of my level 4 lesson, I commented with Chelsea that my last lesson was level 3. I misunderstood her question and also told her that I skipped level 2. The reason I skipped level 2 was because I went to Tignes where I took three snowboarding lessons, and therefore was confident to move forward to level 3. I had also had no issues with level 3, and duly passed it.

Chelsea from the outset said I should have not skipped level 2 because it meant I did not know how to control my body weight on the board. We had a few laps in the small slope and she gave me no feedback, so I assumed all was well.

We moved to the big slope, and Chelsea told us that we would need to be able to make a run with 2 zig-zags followed by 6 turns. We were also taught how to take the lift. All went well and I was feeling confident, since I was able to achieve this. Chelsea also gave me no input during the lesson, which I understood as a good thing (since we were a group, those that needed more help would naturally receive more assistance).

At the end of the lesson, she failed my level 4 and said I needed to repeat it. Her explanation was that I did not know how to control my weight on the board.

I was confused: why was I not given guidance during the lesson? Why was I made to repeat level 4 if I had achieved the goals which Chelsea set at the start? It appeared to me that she made up her mind from the start when I told her I skipped level 2 (despite having passed level 3 and having taken other lessons which justified the skip).

I am now stuck with another lesson which I had previously purchased. Overall, the bad attitude from an instructor which seems to have a bootcamp approach and very little customer service skills ruined the experience.

Will see if I can call and make sure I get Charl or someone else - just...

Had my daughters 7th birthday party here yesterday. The organisation for the party was a complete shambles. We’ve had a party in various other places over the last few years and none have been this unorganised. I booked the party online and apparently I didn’t select for the children to have desert, I did email and ask about what the extras were mentioned but didn’t get a response to explain what the extras were. Having paid over £400 you would think the customer service would be better, I would have expected a call before the party to go over everything and check everything was organised. I had zero contact from them after booking other than automated standard responses to the booking. Even when I asked the sales team questions they just referred me to the website which didn’t answer my questions. I did email the guest list and Karl replied which was helpful but I had no idea I was supposed to pay and book extra for pudding, if I had been told I would have done this, Karl did come and speak to me after I complained on the day but said the kitchen could not accommodate the ice cream or a any desert for 15 kids on the day even if I paid the extra now (this seems poor as surely they serve this to paying guests who are in the cafe?) Anyway, luckily we had a big cake we brought with us so we gave this out for pudding instead. The kids loved the Ringo slide, and I can’t fault the guys out there running this part of the party, they were great and the kids had a blast out there. Then we return back to the party room where more unorganised chaos resumes, the booking stated a speaker was in the room for party music, yet I had to go and find someone and ask where this speaker was? Someone then came and looked about in the cupboards and found it and got it sorted out, it’s a party!! Why wasn’t the speaker set up before the party started, not an hour in! The party host we had was pleasant and friendly with the kids but it just wasn’t very organised and was stressful for me as a parent. Children were asking for more food which I had to get myself and the staff were too busy chatting to each other to even notice the kids asking. The whole point of paying a venue like this to do the party is to reduce the stress not cause more! The staff are all very young and that showed in their lack of organisation and customer service. I would not recommend a party here at all, I feel it was a complete...

Booked a 5hr adult beginner ski day. Unfortunately due to a bad traffic accident on my way there resulting in a 2hr standstill I turned up 30 minutes late so missed the start of the session (which I do appreciate was not the centres fault). However on arrival I was made to feel stupid and very little effort was offered to help me catch up. The group was large and therefore there was a lot of time spent waiting for your turn. The website implied that instructors stay at the pace/skill level of the slowest in the group. This was definitely not what happened with my group and the instructor disappeared further up the slope offering the less able group members no feedback, making improving further almost impossible. This had the opposite effect and made those of us who were left, deafened and less confident. Luckily the person I came with who wasn't having a lesson was able to book me a 1-1 for the last hour and the instructor was much better, took the time to explain where I was going wrong and specifically where to improve. Unfortunately it will take a lot more than this to repair my shattered confidence. We did have to pay the difference for the 1-1 lesson and although we complained the best they could offer was credit (they don't offer refunds they said). I initially left satisfied that I could come back, reset and try again however there are no available dates for the foreseeable future and therefore I will not be able to use my credit before my planned trip. This makes the gesture seem redundant although I hope a phonecall will perhaps allow us to book something before then 🤞

In my opinion, the group lessons are not good value for money and if you are a beginner it would be better spent on a shorter...