If you've stayed in a catered chalet in Méribel, have you ever thought about how seamless your best chalet holiday was? If you didn’t think about it at all – that’s probably because it was so seamless, right?!
We like to think of the best chalet teams as like ducks – calm and composed on the surface, but constantly busy behind the scenes. The best chalet hosts, in the best chalets in Méribel, seem to make the whole thing look easy…
We can assure you, however, that they’re working extremely hard! By way of proof, here’s a rough overview of a day in the life of a chalet host, in a Chalet Company chalet in Méribel:
The morning in a chalet
7:00– Arrive at the chalet, quiet as a mouse! Get the hot water on, kettles and urn filled. Start making the day’s cake and get it in the oven asap (you’ll need it to be perfectly cooled to ice/slice/leave for afternoon tea). 7.30 – Do a quick tidy up of living and dining areas – tidying away any extra glasses and dinner remnants. Clear and re-lay the fire. Check there are not hot embers still, or the flipping thing will go straight up in flames again! Lay table for breakfast and pop the croissants in to heat. 8.00 – Guests will start to emerge and decide what they’d like for breakfast. Discuss their day’s ski plans as you cook up breakfast. As they eat, start prepping anything that can be done for tonight’s dinner. 9:00 – Guests will start leaving in the TCC shuttle for the slopes, which means you can crack on with tidying away breakfast and cleaning the chalet. A lot of multitasking happens here as you may have things on the cook at the same time as cleaning wizardry! 10:30 – Finish cleaning, tidy up in the kitchen and lay out afternoon tea featuring this morning’s cake. 11:00 – Head back to staff accommodation and get changed to get out on the hill!A chalet host’s evening
16:30 – Come back from a glorious day skiing around Méribel and the Three Valleys, shower and, potentially, have a danger nap*… 18:00 – Head back into the chalet and clear away afternoon tea while you catch up with guests who aren’t at après. Get dinner prep going and lay the table for dinner. Lighting candles or the fire creates a lovely atmosphere. 19:00 – Dish out canapés and drinks for guests. If your prep earlier in the day went well, then this should be a relaxing time for you too! Some guests love to chat about their day and/or ask for recommendations, this is a nice opportunity to do so. 19:30 – Serve a delicious dinner and pray you’ll have calculated correctly to grab a few bites for yourself! 21:30 – As dinner winds down, clear the table and serve more drinks or tea/coffee before you leave. 22:00 – This is when you decide if you head to bed (the skier’s choice) or to a bar (the seasonnaire’s choice)! *so-called because of the dangerous consequence of sleeping through the four or five alarms you will have set!What else do chalet hosts have to do?
Meal planning and shopping
While your host will probably have a ‘core’ menu that they like to cook up in the chalet, each group of guests will have slightly different requirements or preferences. Families may ask for something simpler for the kids, you may have vegetarians, vegans, someone with an allergy, or a fancy, celebratory dinner! Before guests arrive, the host will have planned out the week’s meals. Furthermore, all the ingredients have to be ordered or bought (according to the chalet’s budget too).The day off dilemma
Chalet staff in Méribel tend to have Wednesday off. One day off a week becomes very precious, but how to make the most of it?! The options are either a) make the most of having a lie in, and have a big night out on Tuesday… or make the most of getting first lifts and have an early night on Tuesday! This decision is often swayed by the weather forecast. Rubbish weather days often become admin days: chilling in Méribel town, doing exotic things like laundry. If the weather looks great, it’s straight up the hill on Wednesday morning – regardless of the hangover!Changeover day in Méribel
When your lovely guests have to leave, you’ll be in the chalet all day prepping for the next lot. Tasks will include:- Strip bed linen and bag up all bathroom laundry, ready for collection.
- A deep clean of all bedrooms, bathrooms, communal areas and the kitchen.
- Stocking up things like firewood, loo rolls, the minibar.
- Empty, clean and refill the hot tub.
- Make beds with fresh linen and lay out clean towels.
- Prep for the evening’s dinner and prepare afternoon tea for guests’ arrival.
- Do any food prep for later in the week if you have time – can anything be frozen?
- Make the chalet look warm, cosy and inviting!