Wine in bed, skiing to the pub, shots at lunchtime, dinner in the lift – and breathtaking views.
Welcome to the life of a chalet girl as depicted by Lily Peake, who has been documenting her time living and working in the French Alps in a series of fascinating ‘day in the life’ videos posted to her TikTok account (@likypeake).
The 19-year-old from Bath is working her second ski season with VIP SKI at Bear Lodge in Les Arcs 1950 and says: ‘It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.’
But it isn’t all fun and games, as some might imagine. She told MailOnline Travel: ‘It’s a much harder job than you would think.’
Lily Peake (pictured), who documents her life as a chalet girl on TikTok, told MailOnline Travel: ‘It’s the best thing I’ve ever done’
On Lily’s days off, it’s a life of skiing to the pub, drinking on the side of the mountain and enjoying wine in bed
Lily describes the position as 50 per cent working, 30 per cent skiing and 20 per cent partying.
Most of the time, she says, she is ‘cooking, cleaning, building a rapport with guests and making their holiday as fabulous as possible’.
She adds: ‘Whether that is to strip the beds, clean the loos, pour Champagne or play games with the guests after dinner, we do it all with a smile on our faces.’
Lily explains that the chalet staff share en suite rooms, a communal kitchen and a lounge. She describes it as a ‘complete bubble’ from reality. She adds: ‘We are really well looked after. The chalets are amazing and the guests are great.’
A typical day for Lily and her fellow chalet hosts starts at 6:15am ‘with a billion alarms going off’.
Lily adds: ‘We are in the chalets before 7am cooking breakfast for roughly eight people. We lay out the table for breakfast and while we wait for guests to wake up, we make the afternoon tea cake.’
Lily works with VIP SKI at Bear Lodge in Les Arcs. She describes the position as ’50 per cent working, 30 per cent skiing and 20 per cent partying’
A typical day as a chalet host starts at 6:00am and involves ‘cooking, cleaning and building a rapport with guests’
Lily and her fellow chalet hosts are in the chalets before 7am most mornings. She says: ‘It’s a much harder job than you would think’
After breakfast wraps up, they clean the kitchen, and living room and lay out afternoon tea. They then scrub down the bedrooms and the bathrooms, before heading to the slopes for a day of skiing at around 11am.
By 6pm, they’re back in the chalets ‘preparing canapés, starters, mains, dessert, cheeseboards and truffles’. The day wraps up at 9:30pm, after which Lily and her chalet hosts usually ‘go and play pool at our local Irish bar’.
Lily says chalet hosts often experience ‘mid-season blues’, where they’ll become ‘run down because of the lifestyle’.
While this ‘is very demanding’, she says ‘everything gets easier as the season goes on – less time at work and more time on the slopes’.
The highs, she says, include their days off when they’ll ‘party on tables with Champagne showers’, and ski ‘on days where there isn’t a cloud in the sky’.
And the perks? She says: ‘Skiing and living with your best friends in the Alps.’
After a long morning of work, Lily usually heads to the slopes at 11am. By the end of the season, she claims ‘we all become excellent snowboarders and skiers’
While the life of a chalet girl can be ‘very demanding’, Lily says ‘everything gets easier as the season goes on’
The highs, Lily says, include days off when she’ll ‘party on tables with Champagne showers’, and ski ‘on days where there isn’t a cloud in the sky’
Lily filmed a ‘dinner in the lift’ session at the chalet
While Lily described the pay as ‘okay’, she says: ‘The tips make a difference. They vary massively from €150-500 (£127-£426) a week.’
And, by the end of the season, Lily says: ‘We all become excellent skiers and snowboarders.’
While Lily admits ‘I’m not sure how many seasons I have left in me’, she adds: ‘I have a feeling this isn’t my last.’
Her tips for those thinking of becoming a chalet worker?
She says: ‘Apply as early as May and get some hospitality and cooking experience under your belt.’
To see more from Lily visit her on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@likypeake.
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