the views of james - seasonaire for winter 2002/3:

les arcs 1800 has some great bars and vibrant nightlife that begins from the moment you come off the slopes. i worked in the red hot saloon, host to live music 6 nights a week. some of the bands are brilliant - particularly bluefunkt, 2mjs and semayala. dj j funk is a mad dutch lad that can scratch and mix with the best of them and you will can guarentee everyone will be jumping around and having a ball. they play most sports events live on sky, so you don't have to miss the match, whatever it may be. later in the season, red hot also host live bands as early as 4 or 5pm for the proper apres skiers.

across the terrace is le benji, a smaller and more cozy alpine pub with great staff, always up for a laugh and a friendly chat. i recommend the bloody marys, smurf shooter and the trusty G&T. there are plenty of other good bars including boo boos (sign says la thurla for some reason) and le bowling.

there are two nightclubs - apocalypse and le fairway. apocalpyse is a very well equiped club with lasers and the works, which you may not expect in a 70's style ski resort. there are excellent bar staff that will sort you out with most cocktails and shots you've ever heard of and more. it can be quite french but more often than not, the english punters take over with a mix of dutch and assorted others.

le fairway is very french and often only seasonaires bless the dancefloors. they do have good parties though, ive had to climb out of paddling pools and attempt to master the 'snake' skateboard a few times in there.

as for food - there is a whole range of good quality restaurants. some are not cheap, but we are in the alps. good steaks and tartiflette are common fayre, le benji serves excellent tex mex and the jewel in the resort, in my humble opinion is 'le kebab' - fantastic after a night in apocalypse or anywhere for that matter. there are good pizza houses, other tex mex haunts, just try as many or as few as you like.

you must visit the arpette which is half way up the mountain. they offer brilliant vin chaud to keep you going on a cold and warm day alike. they also do a party night, with loads of food and wine then a tricky torch-lit ski down into the resort - pile back into the red hot saloon and dance the snow off your boots.

another bar worth a visit, particularly during the day, is mont blanc in villandry. it is a couple of hundred metres up the piste from the main villandry lift. very friendly staff, a nice sunny terrace and good shots of kamikaze. they also host some good live music nights if you are willing to search for transport back to les arcs 1800 afterwards. i dont recommend walking it!

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