Never before have so few people offered to carry my skis on a trip to the Alps. Usually, I mention a posh hotel in St Moritz, an off-piste guide in the Monte Rosa, or a snowboard competition in Val d'Isère and they are all over me - colleagues, family, random acquaintances in pubs - offering to be the photographer or valet. When I say I am going to stay in a mobile home, however, they disappear with a muttered, "Skiing out of a caravan? Rather you than me, mate."
If winter sports accommodation has a class structure (and, boy, does skiing have class structures), it goes something like this: proper hotel, private catered chalet, luxury apartment, chalet hotel, shared chalet, bog standard apartment. "Mobile home" would presumably be found towards the seedier end of that street - we've all seen the trailer parks at the foot of the valley, well outside the resorts - especially when it's available for just £389 a week.
In fact, the Parc L'Escale at Le Grand Bornand (part of the Aravis ski area, with La Clusaz) turned out to be more central than I expected, just the other side of the river from the main square - a five-minute walk to bars, restaurants and a supermarket (not necessary on arrival, as we'd taken the option of ordering a welcome pack of food). There was a ski bus stop right outside as well.
So prejudice one (it'll be miles from the centre) down, we quickly dealt with prejudice two. After a few joking enquiries as to the whereabouts of dogs on string (none), we had a proper look at the group of around a dozen homes.
White, with a clapboard-effect exterior and wooden terraces attached, they look more like chalets (the Frinton rather than the Alpine variety). Or, as I looked out the back window of mine, to the next one close by, and started whistling The Great Escape, POW barracks (nothing wrong with them if you remove the barbed wire and watchtowers). Close they may be, but they're detached, and you do not hear every cough of your neighbour, as in most Alpine apartment blocks.
The other advantage over an apartment is size. This is not a holiday caravan in the usual style: there is a shower room with a basin, and a separate toilet; then there is a double bedroom and two twins, and a living room measuring 5m x 3.8m. To its credit, Thomson is urging customers not to book six adults into these properties - not least because whoever draws the short straw will be lumbered with a boiler in their cupboard.
As for the decor, celeb designer Linda Barker was brought in as a consultant (another red flag before arrival, but the result is fine - muted patterns, neutral colours, nice use of lights in the main bedroom, beech veneer everywhere). The only real sign a TV designer has been involved is the stupid trendy cupboard handles - which you can't hang anything on. The trailers are designed predominantly for summer holidays, but whether it's ski kit or swimming cozzies, every last hanging spot is sacred. At least there are plenty of heating outlets to put chairs in front of - destroying yet another preconception. No need to keep your thermals on to nip off for a late-night pee, because the mobile home is perfectly warm.
The final prejudice concerned the on-site facilities. The indoor/outdoor pool with a water slide I expected, but when it came to food, we had girded ourselves for the usual chips and burgers. Far from it. La Ferme du Pepé is a family-run restaurant in a converted farmhouse, serving quality dishes such as pork cheek in red wine with apples, as well as traditional cheesy favourites such as raclette and a lethal sapinette moonshine.
Le Grand Bornand is a surprisingly decent-sized ski area, with nursery slopes that stood up to the early-season snow drought and some fun intermediate runs. Add in La Clusaz (which has good off-piste routes in better snow years), and you've got a decent sized area - big bowls and attractive tree runs.
OK, it isn't the Trois Vallées or Chamonix, but in those resorts it might be tough to find the space near the resort centres for a park like this. However, it is an improvement on the apartment blocks that are still going up all over the Alps. The buildings are low-rise, low-impact and, as long as they're properly maintained, reasonably attractive. Plus they can be taken away to summer locations when they're no longer needed. Is this the beginning of a class war in holiday accommodation? It's certainly enough to make the ruling elite nervous.
· Thomson Al Fresco (0870 1660366, thomsonalfresco.co.uk) offers seven nights' self-catering in a mobile home in Le Grand Bornand from £389 (for up to four adults or two adults and three children). Price for seven nights for four people, with flights and transfers is £1,032.
