01763 289660 | 
Resort Artist
Since Collett's started in 1998 we have had an artist in resort to offer informal watercolour tuition to our guests. Not only do these mountains offer spectacular variety and exhilaration to walkers, they provide masses of wonderful subject matter to the artist. Study our main website to get an idea of the awe-inspiring terrain that characterises the area, and imagine trying to capture it on paper!
We offer our guests the opportunity to paint five days a week (not Wednesdays or Saturdays). The Resort Artist is responsible for providing informal watercolour tuition to guests on a one to one basis or in a small group, normally on location somewhere in the area.
Other duties would include domestic help in our chalets (assistance before, during and after breakfast and dinner, preparation of packed lunches, room and apartment cleans and changovers, welcoming new guests and settling them in, passing on local information in the evening at an informal gathering we call 'Office Hour'.
Collett's Guest Summer 2008
Domestic Days
It normally works out that the artist provides four days tuition per week then has two days of domestic duties. Domestic Days involve the day to day domestic chores that are required to keep our properties running efficiently - 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.
- Up at 7.00 or 7.30 am to help make sandwiches for packed lunches for the guests and other staff - we make about 130 packed lunches a day.
- Serving and helping at breakfast in a chalet, clearing away and washing up.
- Passing on ideas and information to guests at breakfast who may still be deciding what to do that day.
- Cleaning rooms and apartments (toilets and en suite bathrooms included!)
- Watering and dead heading the chalet's balcony flower boxes.
- Other odd jobs around the resort - washing resort vehicles, doing the recycling, unpacking food deliveries etc.
- Afternoons are generally free, although once a week you would have an Arrivals Duty, where you man the resort office from 2pm onwards waiting to meet and greet and settle in new guests, dealing with the brief paperwork and any questions they may have etc..
- From 5.30 till 7.30 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 painting taking place the next day, and maybe suggesting ideas for walks etc..
- After Office Hour you would help at 'your' chalet during dinner, a focal point in the day for our guests. You will help to serve, wash up and between frenetic periods of activity, sit down to enjoy the meal with the guests, chatting, getting to know people etc.
- You would expect to finish between 10 and 10.30pm, but often you might stay later enjoying the company of the guests or even adjourn to one of the village's bars with them.
- Whilst a domestic day will generally be perceived as the less attractive option, they can be fun, especially if each member of the team supports one another and there is good camaraderie within your team. There is no place for you with Collett's if you are not a supportive, giving and tolerant 'team player'. Also, as domestic chores are usually finished by lunch time, a Domestic Day gives you a free afternoon. This allows you to team up for, say, a walk, climb or bike ride etc. with other team members, who will hopefully be your friends after a few weeks in the area. Or you can use the afternoon to catch up with your own clothes washing, letter writing etc. In short, a Domestic Day is a three-times-per-week opportunity (not including your day off) to have a few hours to yourself. We expect a lot of you when you are with our guests, so we particularly appreciate the value and importance of your guest-free time.
Important - the 'Resort Day / Painting Day' rota (with the various jobs they entail) is only the beginning of your responsibility to the job - not the end. Jobs can crop up unexpectedly and usually they need to be carried out immediately. We aim to recruit people who are prepared to 'go the extra mile;' people who will drop what they are doing (work or leisure) to help out when necessary.
in one of our Chalets
Airport Transfers
An occasional alternative to the normal Domestic Day for most of our Walk Organisers is Airport Transfer duty. This involves driving to Venice and/or Treviso via mountain roads and motorway to drop off departing guests and pick up new Depending on numbers, you will either drive an Estate Car or a 9 seater minibus. It is a three hour journey to Venice - a six hour round trip
The worst case scenario (in terms of time) would be an early start from the Dolomites (6am) to drop people off for a mid morning flight, and a late return after picking people up on a late afternoon flight. This is also a good scenario if you fancy spending a little time in Venice or Treviso - a bit of urban life (especially in one of these two beautiful cities) can be occasionally refreshing after the comparatively tranquil and isolated mountain environment.
- New arrivals can either be chatty and excited and will ask you lots of questions, or tired and irritable, especially if their day has been subject to a delay or a suitcase gone missing.
- It is an important job, as you are the first person from the company that guests will meet. You will therefore determine their first impression of Collett's 'in the flesh'. It is essential that you are well presented, welcoming, informative and, most important all, a good, safe driver, who puts their passengers at ease by driving with total and utter competence.
- Airport Transfers provide a break to the routine, but they can be tiring.
- Airport Transfer drivers are expected to have an early-ish and abstemious night prior to their transfer.
- Depending on the number of drivers in the team you might expect to do a transfer once every 10 days.
