john, how can you say tignes is better??! val has all the atmosphere, the bars and clubs, the looks, the better position in the centre of the espace killy ski area...i honestly would never stay in tignes when I could stay in val.  Unless maybe I was a really keen snowboarder who wasn't interested in nightlife. 

Yes, it is expensive, but there are still deals to be had on accomodation if you look around.  Just be careful about booking down in La Daille, it's cheap but if you want to make the most of val's nightlife then you'll miss out as you'll have to get the last bus back from the centre of val at half midnight. 

The best apres ski is in Folie Douce up on the slopes.  Down in the village, Cafe Face is pretty good (and cheap: beers start at a euro and go up by about 20 cents or something every half hour) and so is Bananas.  Morris Bar always has live music.  Later on in the night, head for Saloon if you want to party with the seasonaires (and are drunk enough not to care that the cocktails taste like crap), Victors (if you want to drink cocktails that don't taste like crap!) or to Blue Note for some babyfoot.  I did my first season in Val 3 yrs ago and I used to hate Dick's Tea bar so much, but this year I've been going there loads - the new management has really turned it around and now it's not just a tourist trap but a genuinely good night out.

poshfpg - yes, the BBQ place at the bottom of madeline is great! and no matter where you've been skiing for the day, you can always get the Solaise Express up from val village and go for a drink in the sun and a deckchair at the big restaurant there.  Never eaten there, but they do good vin chaud!

And don't forget to end at least one night with a trip to infamous Tocade at the La Daille end of the high street...the Tocade burger lives on!

Perhaps they would go to Val for the more interesting and varied slopes, the trees, the prettier village, the choice of ski schools, the après-ski, the restaurants, the luxurious chalets, the excellent hotels... and the fact that Tignes is but a single lift away.

Val d'Isere is a good resort - a very good resort. The only thing is that Tignes is better. Unless Tignes is full to the rafters why would anyone go to Val?

I really love Val d'Isere and especially the skiing. I ski private with skimckay (Martin), we have a ball and ski some wonderful snow. I love Val d'Isere for the off piste. Nice restaurants, this is not Courchevel, over the top, this is the best ski resort in the world.
 
Jane Stark

"It does what it says on the tin" or "You get what you pay for" Yes you've heard it all before but there is an element of truth there. Some resorts offer 30-70% less skiing (which isn't guaranteed) on decrepit lifts yet their costs are not reflective of that. Many people were caught out in the latter half of last season by going to lower resorts thinking that they were getting a bargain because there was snow but in reality it turned out to be a slush fest!
 
The cost of living and working in Val d'Isere is horrendous and that, unfortunately, is passed onto clients one way or another. But what you get is a fantastic resort with first class provision. As JYS said there are very few people making a fortune in Val and in reality maybe some of the cheaper resorts are the ones that are "relatively" overpriced.

It must really gall Johnnie Foreigner how we Brits start accusing him of whacking his prices up every time sterling collapses!
 
Val d'Isere's prices have hardly changed for years. OK, they were quite high to start with, but surely no higher than in any comparable resort? No-one is getting rich in Val d'Isere, and the village is genuinely worried about its finances.
 
If everything from a lift pass to a lager seems expensive, the main reason is that in Val d'Isere, as everywhere in France, most taxes are raised from business. When you buy a drink you are paying more towards local snow clearing and road mending than you are to the bar owner. When you buy your lift pass, you're also paying for millions of cubic metres of artificial snow and perfect pistes.

I'm prepared to pay OTT prices for food and beer on Ski holidays, Ski holidays are never cheap, and I don't expect them to be. What I'm not prepared to do is be blatantly mugged. Average bar in Val, pint (well it's not is it) of weak lager last season was £8!
 
La Folie Douce is outrageously over-priced, Atmosphere was good fun when it got going though.
 
Overall for Food, The French resorts are still lacking. Val was no exception, only the prices.
 
People: always fun and excellent hardcore skiing. sadly all the Henry's and Tabatha's seem to think so too, could be why the prices are stupid.
 
Overall I think Val is losing the plot, I hope they stop the rot and shocking greed!
 

I've been reading your mountain restaurant recommendations, and the Fruitiere, next door to La Folie Douce, is at least as good as your favourite places. It has great food which is served in really interesting ways. It also has the advantage of being easily accessible for non-skiers wanting to meet up the mountain.
 
The Datcha on the Glacier run and the outdoor BBQ and indoor bakery by the lake at the bottom of the Madeleine run are also excellent.
 
People should be warned to avoid the food at the top of both funiculars and the Solaise gondola/chair which is disgraceful, especially the self service. They seem to assume a captive audience, avoid them like the plague.