A Day in The Life of A Chalet Host - The Best Ski Job in The Alps.

From crazy guests to working long hours, it's hard graft but you'll be making cakes with your eyes closed in a matter of weeks.

Work hard, play hard is the definition of being a Chalet Host.

We're talking long shifts, dealing with back-to-back bookings, a lack of sleep, tight turn arounds, hectic guests, a lot of beds to make and toilets to clean. Feb and Easter Half Term will be a killer - kids everywhere, crazy chair lift queues and lots of early dinners to rush back for. You'll find pee-stained mattresses whilst on housekeeping duties, sick blocking sinks from guests who couldn't handle their Aperol's and mass destruction in the kitchen after the guests come home from a night (this will hugely depend on company by the way, I can't imagine this happens too much in the top tier premium chalets, however if you see 'stag do' on your manifest, be ready). Some guests will tip you hundreds of euros and others will leave you nothing and that's just part of the package when you're hosting - take nothing personally.

To contradict all the hard things you have to deal with, you'll also laugh so much at all the silly moments that happen throughout the season. Things that spring to mind include finding a vegan guest making cheeky cheese sandwiches in the chalet one morning after I had been slaving away all week making special vegan alternatives (that wasted a lot of ski time!), catching your guests hooking up in the boot room after Après, bumping into your guest doing the walk of shame one morning, seeing your guests at Folie who then proceed to buy you Aperol's all afternoon. Some guests will be so much fun you'll be sad to see them leave, whilst other weeks you'll be happy to see the back of them.

If it's your first season, my greatest bit of advice is to spend time getting to know your guests in the first few days, so they get a sense of who you are. I know that this can feel scary at first, but guests are nosey and want to know all about you, so don't hide in the kitchen. Remember, these people are on holiday and they just want to chill out, eat nice food and not do any washing up. If you're friendly, approachable and serve decent grub, there's really no reason for them not to like you. I've found that the more of a rapport you build with your guests, the less likely they are to care if you mess up. We are all human and we're going to make mistakes throughout the season, so please don't worry about this. As my mother would say, just be yourself and they will love you.

Is hosting the same at every company?

No! Hosting very much varies from company to company. It largely breaks down into these categories:

Lower Tier - You'll be cooking and hosting a basic menu (or food will be given to you from a head kitchen where a chef is mass producing the food, then you'll heat it up and prep any salads etc...)
Med Tier - You'll be cooking and hosting a slightly more premium menu OR there will be a chef doing half of the prep (chef does evening service and you'll cook the breakfast and afternoon tea for example)
Upper Tier - No cooking, you'll be working with a Chef who will prep all meals. You will be hosting and housekeeping (serving food, topping up wine, making fancy drinks etc...)

The upper tier companies will require hosts to do service, housekeeping and a very small amount of food prep to assist the chefs, whilst the mid to less premium chalets will expect you to do all the cooking. This could range from three to five courses - always ask what is expected of you during the interview. Once you secure your position you will receive a menu that you can then practice at home - it really is never anything too complicated and you'll be provided with a week or two of training pre-season that will go over how the company want you to present things. They will share any tips and tricks with you, as well as go over the wines that will be available that season. The first few weeks of the season will feel a little crazy, but you'll soon get the hand of it and once Christmas NYE are done, you'll be flying.

From my previous experiences, this is what a normal week looks like for a Chalet Host in a medium tier chalet, in a busy French resort.

Day in the life...

0700- wake up (I lived in my chalet, so the commute was minimal)

0715 - turn on the oven, clear the mess from the night before

0730 - start prepping breakfast and lay the table (cereals, juices, get the coffee on etc...)

0800 - serve hot breakfast for guests usually between 8-830

0800-0900 - ensure guests have all eaten

0900 - start dinner prep / do dishes / make afternoon tea

1000 - clear breakfast area once all guests have left / clean down the rooms (bathrooms, beds, communal spaces, take out the rubbish)

1030 - lay out afternoon tea and write a nice message on the chalkboard for guests return

1100 - grab a coffee and hit the slopes

1100-1630 - ski your little heart out

1700/1730 - get back to chalet to get dinner going

1900 - service (we had canapés and champagne first, then starters, mains, desserts and a cheeseboard)

2100 - clean up and get the cheeseboard out

2130 - finish up any prep for breakfast and take the bins out

2145/2200 - meet up with friends for drinks, dinner or just meet at the communal house to watch a movie

2330/1200 - bed time (unless you go out), then repeat

Tuesday - Repeat above

Before the end of the shift, ensure continental breakfast items and afternoon tea are prepped and left in the kitchen fridge for the guests to help themselves the next day. Remind guests you won't be there as Wednesday is your day off. Ensure chalet is SO clean, especially the fridge. Guests will look and snoop around and they will 100% complain if you leave it looking dirty and unorganised

Wednesday - Day off

This is a common day off for chalet hosts in European resorts and there is usually always Après going on this day in your chosen resort.
Guests will self serve breakfast and often go out for dinner this day

Thursday

Morning off - in my company this changed over the season, but you always had 1 full day off and 1x evening and 1x morning off throughout the week
Thursday PM - head back into the chalet for evening shift at 1700

Friday

Work a normal shift
Evening off

Saturday

Work a normal shift

Sunday

Changeover! (The longest day of the week... Some days we would be up at 6:00am to wave off our guets, clean all day, food prep and get ready to welcome the new group. Dinner would then be served at 7pm onwards. Hectic!)

In France you work 5 days a week and get two days off (1 full day off, then one evening and one morning off) - usually you do one night of cooking solo (if there is no flexi host, which often happened to us or if you have a small chalet you'll work solo anyway). Every company is different so make sure to ask lots of questions.

You work roughly 8 hours a day and ski for at least 5 hours every day if you want to, plus one full day off on a Wednesday. It is incredibly sociable and the Après can be as crazy or mild as you make it. Some guests were so friendly and fun and would often invite us to sit with them or play games with them in the chalet - this is totally up to you and if you feel comfortable / like them enough.

What qualifications will I need?

If you don't have any cooking experience and can afford it, do a cookery course like Orchards Cookery School, they specialise in getting Chalet Hosts ready for their first job, plus it looks good on your CV
Otherwise, if you love to cook and don't want to do a course make sure to take lots of pictures of your creations and pull together a mini portfolio - you will struggle to get a job if you don't do this. Show off when you go to the interview too and bake something super delicious and creative that the office will be left talking about for days
Make sure you know how to lay a table - this is often something they make you do in an interview
Take time to think of a fun and creative menu on your application. Remember that vegetarians like other things than just mushrooms and vegans don't always want a boring salad.

Questions you might get asked in an interview

If you were to cook a three-course meal for me now, what would you cook?
What is a traditional French dish that you could serve?
Give me three vegan breakfast ideas
Can you think of a GF dessert?
What would you do or say if the customer was not happy with the food?
What would you do if you were running late on service? How would you handle this with the guests?
Name a time when you had a difficult interaction with a customer, what did you do to rectify this?
A customer is unhappy with the room they have been given, what do you do?
A customer has eaten the food in your chalet after a night out, what do you do?
Give me three afternoon tea cake ideas
How do you lay a table? Can you show me?
How do you speed up the cooking process of cooking potatoes?
Can you give me three ideas for kid's dinners?

When to apply

Ideally as early as possible. Some companies start interviewing in May which is straight after the season. Majority of companies though will be summer time, so June / July. You can also secure a last minute job if you're a little late to the game. I got a job in December last year which was ideal as I missed the start of the season due to working another job. If you really want it, there will be a way for you to make it work.

Top Tips:

1 - Find a company who offer solid benefits - ski hire & uniform included, transport to and from the resort (always check this as my last company failed to tell us we'd have to pay for our transport home which was a real ball ache), lift pass (or at least a seasonaire discount), good quality accommodation, holiday pay or time in lieu, a good pre-season training.

2- If you apply early enough, you can get a lift pass in the summer for a really discounted rate and then you don't have to worry about it coming off your pay check during the season as it's already been taken care of.

3 - Don't expect a higher salary just because you are older. Seasons don't pay great, but hosting means free meals, tips and great ski time. Managerial positions will pay more but you don't get a cut of the tips usually.

3 - You will probably be sharing a room with someone, but it is fine don't panic.

4 - Don't overpack, storage can be tricky and you might not have your own wardrobe or under bed storage.

5 - Practice cooking a Christmas Dinner!

Having personally worked as a Chalet Manager and a Chalet Host - hosting was far less stressful for me and I got the benefits of tips, which managers do not get. Hosting offered me more stability, the chance to make my chalet my own and I had freedom with the food I ate. I didn't have to go scrounging for leftovers (as I had to do many times as a Chalet Manager!). Chalet Managers get way more freedom and less guest interaction though - so swings and roundabouts!

There are also so many other great jobs on a season, which include working on the lifts, ski instructing (hard in France but possible in Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Japan), working in a bar/restaurant, housekeeping, driving in resort or doing transfers and nannying, which is a big one. These jobs are great if you have the ability to speak some French.

In my opinion being a Chalet Host is the best, most flexible job in the Alps and has the most ski time during the day. If you are European I would argue that instructing or working at an Après bar is also pretty great.

If you need any advice, drop me an email.

Bex