Getting the Simply Morzine resort team ready for winter…
Hi! My name’s Hamish Crawford and I’m the Resort Manager for Simply Morzine. This is my brand new blog!
In case you don’t know, Simply Morzine provide luxury winter ski holidays and summer family activity holidays in Morzine, France’s premier alpine resort. We have a portfolio of luxury accommodation in Morzine in the French Alps, with three officially rated 4-star luxury catered chalets, two self-catered apartments and a French family-run chalet-hotel. We provide hassle free winter skiing and summer alpine holidays, including special interests such as adult alpine adventure holidays, walking, painting, flora, golf, sightseeing and more.
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to all that Simply Morzine is, and, as we have just welcomed our first guests to Morzine, I wanted to give you all an insight into what it actually takes to prepare all of our properties and staff so that we are guest ready for the start of a busy ski season by the mid December.
I’ve been in the beautiful ex-slate mining town-come-ski resort of Morzine for nearly four weeks now, and let me tell you it has been non-stop the entire time! Within three days of my arrival, the Simply Morzine team had started to take shape, complete with assistant manager Maddy, chalet manager and my girlfriend of 8 years Rachel, maintenance man Ed, and of course, the ever present Director and ‘Grandest of Fromages’ Gareth Marshall. As a small team we bonded over some beers at some great local Morzine watering holes, and worked tirelessly to get as much prepared as possible for the arrival of the rest of the staff. This involved much moving of wine, light bulbs, furniture, kitchen appliances and almost anything else you can think of from one place to another, and often back again!
Our ‘A team’ is made up of four professional chefs (Suzy, Curtis, Rob and Julian), two resort representatives (Ollie and Tom), chalet manager (Colleen), and four ‘hostests with the mostests’ Steph, Jade, Charlotte and Georgie. After everyone had arrived, our thoughts and efforts moved over to training. Between us we cleaned everything from hot tubs to toilet brushes, vans to ovens, and made everything from beds to duck spring rolls, and cleaning buckets to chocolate nemesis. Training three groups of people requires a lot of organisation and planning, and with deliveries arriving almost daily, even these most well laid plans are almost invariably thrown out of the window. However for me this is part of the fun of working for a holiday company. You always have to be prepared for anything to happen, as it usually does.
Having four seasoned chefs learning the ropes in a chalet environment is stressful for them, but for the rest of the staff it means the chalet girls/boys bums and tums have started growing very early indeed. As a team we have been treated to four course meal again and again, with sumptuous treats like duck cooked three ways, deconstructed lemon meringue tart, and even an Indian-themed evening. Our professional transfer drivers have also been thrown in at the deep end with trip after trip to Geneva airport, and specialist alpine driver training with an ex-police chase driver instructor.
Amidst all of this hard work, we have even been able to get out of the chalets/vans/office and head up the mountain in a full multi-coloured convoy style team skiing session. The sun has been shining, and there is some wonderful skiing to be had in the Portes du Soleil at the moment. As this is the first week of official lift opening, it is also relatively quiet, a luxury the more experienced seasonnaires know not to expect to last, so we have been making the most of it.
I hope you enjoyed reading this brief introduction to Simply Morzine, we will be posting regularly, so watch this space for the next instalment. If you want to get in touch you can reach us via our contact form or call +44 (0) 1664 568902. We hope to see you out in Morzine soon, enjoying the many delights that a Simply Morzine holiday can offer each and every one of you.
