It was 1770 when the very first guest house was opened in Chamonix France. Before this Chamonix village constituted a savage and tough agrarian place where the people caught their animals and farmed their barley.
Farms at this time were used to farm animals over the summer. The milk was preserved by turning it into different types of cheese and preserved in the village for use over the hard winter times. In the winter the farmhouses were fastened, and any valuables were put safely in a small mazot.
Quite who devised catered chalet holidays is nameless, it was in all likelihood some spirited chaps who acknowledged a set up which worked. With Erna Low it all began when she was a nostalgic alumna and couldn’t visit her parents back home in Austria as often as she would like to. So in the early 1930’s she took a punt and placed a ad in the Times to tempt guests on a ski holiday. For only £15 they journeyed to and from the ski resort, enjoyed dinner and accommodation in the sole pub lodging, and had ski gear and instruction. The trip was strenuous work, there were no lifts, no safety fixings, merely strong leather boots, it was such a hit that Erna kept on taking groups on vacation, guaranteeing she sourced superb hotels and guides.
Catered chalet breaks in the beginning were a long way to the luxuries we can enjoy nowadays. Back then hot water was in limited supply, washrooms had to be used by all of the punters, and there wasn’t a cook; the guests had to help out with the chores. It was a real gamble who may be in the chalet for a week, you could be enjoyably surprised to encounter brand new allies, or not gel with the group.
The chalet holiday was later on publicized on their additional pluses. Your own cook, who served you breakfast and dinner and provided you cakes, plentiful hot water for washing.
