Chalet Host / Chef

It involves the following and much more: welcoming guests and settling them in, ensuring the well-being and comfort of guests at all times, breakfast and a two or three course dinner six days a week, bedroom and bathroom cleaning, changeovers and other general duties pertaining to the domestic management of the chalet (food ordering, chalet accounts, laundry etc.).

The host might be assisted during the morning with chalet chores by other members of the staff team. The amount of help depends on how busy the rest of the resort is.

See Our Hosted Chalets

Domestic Days

Domestic Days involve the day to day domestic chores that are required to keep our properties running efficiently, this includes - cleaning, kitchen assistance, room changes, tending to the window boxes, food and wine supplies etc. You are likely to be affiliated to a particular chalet where you will help whenever they are on a domestic day, morning and evening. A typical day would involve the following:

• Up early to have breakfast ready for 8am. Breakfast is a semi-continental buffet, usually with a cooked egg of some description. Many hosts use this early morning time to start preparing the evening meal.
• During and after breakfast you might have guests who are looking for ideas that day, so good local knowledge is also required, sharing with them you favourite walks and places to visit etc.
• Day to day running of the casual chalet bars - settling up house accounts on the eve of a guest's departure.
• At 9am you would normally start clearing up breakfast before embarking on the daily cleaning commitment. We clean guest bedrooms every other day. Room changeovers are carried out on the day a room is vacated. Communal areas and stairwells need regular cleaning too. Make sure the chalet is clean, tidy and welcoming for guests when they return from their walks in the late afternoon.
• Flower boxes also need looking after, watering and dead-heading every day.
• Most hosts then spend a good part of the morning preparing the evening meal.
• A well organised host can expect to have most afternoons free, and would normally be back in the kitchen by about 6pm to finish preparations for the evening meal, which is served at 7.30pm.
• From 6 till 8 each evening, there is 'Office Hour', when we meet our guests in a central bar or Chalet to pass on information about walks in the area. You will sign up anyone interested in an Organised Walk taking place the next day, including the Walk you will be arranging and accompanying the next day.
• New arrivals will often arrive at the chalet during this pre-dinner period and we would expect you to take time out to welcome and help settle them in, showing them around the chalet etc.
• A three course dinner is served at 7.30pm and you would try to sit and enjoy the meal with the guests, jumping up between courses to prepare the next stage.
• You should expect to finish between 10.00 and 10.30pm, although sometimes you find yourself putting the world to rights with your guests until a lot later, either at the table or having adjourned to a nearby bar!

Chalet Team Assistance

Each day you would have help in the morning and evening from other members of the staff team. They are there to help with all aspects of the domestic management of the chalet - breakfast, dinner, changeovers, cleaning and other chalet chores, but not with the cooking as such. The amount of help is dependent on how busy the rest of the resort is, but generally this support is designed to make it possible for our chalet hosts to get out on the mountain for a full day at least twice a week, not including the your day-off. This 'free time' is dependent on your skills and experience to get the job done properly before going out to enjoy the mountains and should not be taken as guaranteed. However, we do want you to enjoy the area as much as possible and we realise the importance of your outdoor and personal free time.

Weekly Jobs, Food Ordering, Menus & Budgets

Food Ordering - all food is ordered and delivered to the resort. This saves time and allows you to spend more time enjoying the area and looking after you guests. Dry stores are ordered on a Monday and delivered Tuesday, Fruit and Veg twice a week from the local grocer and meat once a week or so from a local butcher.

We ask you to work within a budget of about €5 per person per day (inc. wine) which our resort managers will help you maintain. We are very keen for our hosts not to feel too restricted by budgetary restraints and to enjoy cooking with their preferred ingredients. We do not impose menus on you - we prefer to give you a fairly free rein and will only interfere if we deem it necessary from a budgetary (or quality) point of view.

Throughout the week we would expect you to take an interest in your guests, ensuring their well-being and comfort throughout their stay and being interested in them and the progress of their holiday. The hospitality we offer in the chalets is at the core of what we offer as a company. On the whole our clients really are delightful, but very occasionally an 'awkward rotten apple' comes along and we expect diplomacy and good manners at all times. It's part of the job and other guests (understanding your predicament) will admire you for it.

Qualifications and Experience required for a 'Chalet Host'

To get the most out of this experience, we cannot over exaggerate the importance of having a keen interest in the alpine environment and mountain activities, especially walking or climbing. There is very little to do in the villages in which we are based unless you are an outdoor enthusiast. If you are looking for a lively nightlife, forget it! We tend to socialise in the chalets or in a local bar with our guests or other members of the staff team.

The following are absolutely essential:

• Common sense and willingness to see a job through to its end.
• Polite, responsible and helpful nature / Engaging personality / Well presented.
• Respect for and interest in people, places and local culture.
• Positive energy, hard work and a willingness to get stuck into a range of day to day domestic and menial resort chores.
• Team skills /compatibility - a tolerant, flexible and supportive attitude.
• A focus on cleanliness and tidiness.
• The willingness to do jobs over and above a timetabled schedule.
• Passion for a mountainous alpine environment.
• Availability from mid-May to early October.

Cooking Experience Required:

• Over the years we have had hosts of varying degrees of experience and training. Many have been 'food enthusiasts' who have always enjoyed cooking for family and friends; others have been qualified chefs who have run their own restaurants. What they have all had in common is a passion for food, cooking and sharing this with other people (and, in most cases, a keen interest in the outdoors - see below).
• We pride ourselves on serving excellent quality, home cooked food, well presented and balanced throughout the week, abundant enough to satisfy the hungry walker and interesting enough to impress the food enthusiast.
• We also cater for special dietary requirements (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free etc.), so flexibility and an ability to adapt your dishes is essential. These people must also have a gastronomically pleasurable experience - not just a meal.
• A natural willingness to do an early supper for children is important. To be honest, we do not get many children at an age where they need to eat early or separately.
• The job requires good organisational skills and forward planning, as well as an ability to think on your feet and adapt your menus at the last minute.
• You need to be relatively confident in your cooking abilities and happy to look after varying groups of guests, whilst enjoying the experience yourself.

A bonus but not essential:

• Knowledge of or qualifications in kitchen & Food Hygiene procedures. We do raise your awareness of Food Hygiene in our training and orientation fortnight
• A keen interest in walking or climbing or general interest in the outdoors. There is very little to do in the villages in which we are based unless you are an outdoor enthusiast. Many of our past hosts have enjoyed just the ambience and scenery of living in a mountain village, some have been very keen walkers and taken advantage of the outdoor possibilities on the door step. If you are looking for a lively night life, forget it! We tend to socialise in local bars and pubs (some livelier than others) with our guests and the rest of the staff team.

Training & Awareness

We dedicate the first two weeks of the season to 'Staff Training & Awareness' and 'Local Orientation.'

All of our staff, especially our Walk and Via Ferrata Organisers, must offer accurate and suitable advice to our clients at all times and so, once in resort, everyone is required to nurture a good level of local information and to take an interest in the local geography.

Much of this 'Training & Awareness' period therefore includes an extensive familiarisation programme of the local area with a series of walks, talks and drives. It is essential that, within as short a period as possible, you can talk about the area with knowledge and authority.

Of equal importance are the procedures and techniques that apply to the safety, efficiency and success of both Outdoor Days and Domestic Days.

The following areas are covered - (With areas such as First Aid, Food Hygiene and Driving etc.. we cannot provide certified training as such, but we do raise your awareness of the relevant safety issues as much as we can).

• 'Organised Walks' - procedures and safety.
• Hosting, Hospitality and Guest Wellbeing.
• Local Knowledge, the Walks & Neighbouring Valleys.
• Office Hour.
• Cleaning, Changeovers & Chalet Kitchen Assistance.
• First Aid.
• Food Hygiene.
• Driving in the Mountains.
• Airport Transfers.
• Packed Lunches.