Malinô Brdo - Ružomberok

The strongest praise goes to the access: an eight-seater gondola lifts you from the base in about ten minutes, and a ski bus runs up from Ruzomberok, so a car is optional. The pistes are wide and, by most accounts, beautifully groomed - immaculately prepared runs are the most repeated compliment. Queues are rare even at weekends, and set against Austria, France or Italy the value looks very good indeed.

Prices are criticised as steep by Slovak standards, and part of the hardware is dated: the drag lifts are said to need modernising and the slopeside bar has been waiting years for a refurbishment. Parking is the real sore point - capacity and the approach road cannot cope with demand, and one guest described being refused entry to a car park that visibly had spaces. Staff at the ticket desks and lifts are repeatedly called unhelpful, and some mornings the grooming turns out to be poor.