Ski Reosrt Jobs for Couples

While many seasonal workers come to the winter season single, and ski resorts can definitely be a great place for that, some of you might prefer to bring your better half with you…

Roles available

There are actually a number of chalets that specifically advertise for couples to run their chalet. The reason is that, particularly in the smaller chalets with small teams, it’s crucial that staff get on well with each other. Friction between staff can effect working relationships and can translate into a poor customer experience.

Of course, you don’t need to be in a committed relationship! You might just be looking for work with your brother, sister or close friend.

Typical jobs in the chalet would include cook or chalet host. In the smaller chalets, you will be expected to pitch in with everything required to run the chalet.

As a host, you would be expected to provide guests with information, change the beds, do the laundry, fetch supplies, take orders at breakfast and dinner, drive guests around the town, and attend to any other needs of the guests.

There are also hospitality jobs in cafes, bars and restaurants which will often employ multiple people at the same time – this could be suitable for couples if you apply together. Learn more about hospitality jobs in Niseko.

As a cook, you will obviously be preparing the meals – most often breakfast, morning tea and dinner.

What is the job like?

Jobs in a chalet can be challenging and tiring, but rewarding and awesome at the same time. The days typically follow a similar rhythm. Mornings are focused on breakfast, followed by ferrying guests to the slopes and around town. Once guests are out and about, it falls to you to clean up the meal area, prepare the rooms, and get ready for dinner. This might take a few hours, which means getting some time on the slopes in the afternoon, as long as you’re organised in terms of dinner prep and other bits and pieces.

The afternoon will mean collecting your guests from the slopes and then the evening service begins. Once that wraps up, there is a bit of cleaning and prep for the next day, hopefully after a nice meal with your partner!

Changeover days are when new guests arrive, so that typically involves shuttling out the old guests to the airport and collecting the new guests.

Couple jobs work in tandem, so you’ll be constantly pitching in and helping out with the other person’s job throughout the week.

Skills, experience and requirements

Customer service experience is great to have as a chalet host, given you are interacting with guests every day, sometimes in a very cosy chalet. This interaction is crucial to the guest experience.

For cooks, catering qualifications are highly regarded. It can be tough to compete with those with professional certifications, if you don’t have them yourself.

For those looking to work in Europe, you may need an EU passport. However, it remains to be seen what the new working arrangements are after the UK leaves the EU – and whether a UK working holiday visa might be enough.

For Canada, Japan etc, you will need to get a working holiday visa.

Pay and advantages

Working in the mountains! And you get to do it with your partner, which is a cool experience for the two of you. It also means you both have an income to spend on the fun stuff – gear, going out and enjoying the season. In addition, you can stay at the same chalet together and don’t need to separately sort out accommodation.

Employers will typically also throw in free food, a free lift pass, ski hire. In the European resorts, you could expect pay of around £150-200 per week on top of all the free stuff.