It was 1770 when the 1st guest house was opened up in Chamonix village. Prior to this Chamonix Mont Blanc embodied a wild and tough agricultural town where folks hunted animals and grew their own wheat.

Barns back then were used to breed cows during the summer months. Their milk was preserved by transforming it into cheeses and stored in the valley for eating during the bleak winters. In the winter the barns were bolted, and any valuables were secured in a liitle hut.

Who invented the chalet holiday is obscured by time, it was probably various keen people who realized a set up that worked. For entrepreneur Erna Low it all started when she was a nostalgic postgraduate and could not visit her parents back home in Austria as much as she would like to. Therefore in 1930 she took a risk and put a small ad in the broadsheets to ask guests on a skiing vacation. For only £15 they traveled to and from the skiing resort, were provided with dinner and accommodation in the sole chalet, and had ski hire and instruction. Holidays were arduous , there weren’t any ski lifts, no safety bindings, only heavy leather shoes, however it was such a hit that Erna Low continued to take groups on breaks, seeing to it that she employed great hotels and ski guides.

These ski vacations in the beginning were a far cry to the luxury we can experience nowadays. Back then hot water was in short supply, the bathrooms would be shared out by all of the punters, and there was no a chef; the punters had to help out. It was a real gamble who may be in the chalet for a holiday, you could be surprised to meet new acquaintances, or grimace at the thought of having to spend any more time with them.

Chalets France were later on advertised on their additional bonuses. A cook, who would serve you continental breakfast and dinner and cooked you a cake, and {more hot water for bathing.