If I were you, I'd get the boyfriend to go to Tamworth or Milton Keynes snowdome for a 'ski in a day' intensive lesson before you go abroad. That way, he'll already have the snowplough basics mastered before you hit the snow abroad, and it'll also familiarise him with the button tow.
That way when you get abroad, you can spend the first morning together finding your feet on the nursery slope (even intermediates need to do this for an hour or so after a year out of action).
If he takes to it, he may not even need lessons, and you can just attack the harder runs together as the holiday progresses. I never had any lessons abroad (just a day's course in MK snowdome) and was skiing reds by the end of day two in Austria - and believe me, I have always been completely RUBBISH at everything like rollerskating, skatboarding, iceskating etc etc etc (even the climbing frame at school eluded me!) but for some reason, when it came to skiing, I had found my niche! As most men are fearless anyway (and there'll be the showing off factor, plus he won't want to be beaten by a girl) I think you may be fine on your own - and you'll save money too!
As for where to go - I recommed Nassfeld in Austria. Brilliant variety - there are some lovely winding, gentle blues, couple with the wider straighter variety, and although the reds do vary in steepness, none are overly harrowing. Even the blacks aren't too bad. It's in the treeline too, so very picturesque. And handsfree skipasses - a godsend!
Good news is the Brits aren't flocking there en mass, and the resort is never crowded. No queues! It's truly a great place to learn and improve - the nursery slope is fine but challenging enough to get beginners pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. Just don't book through Crystal - you'll probably find you can package something up much cheaper if you book the different elements separately, flying into Slovenia rather than Austria (Slovenian plane food is also awesome! And it's economy!)