Strangford couple take over ski chalet in Alps

30 September 2020

STRANGFORD couple Peter and Caroline McErlean are going off piste soon as they leave village life to run a luxury ski chalet in the French Alps.

They will be serving a little taste of home with Peter’s famed baked breads alongside French pastries at Riverwood Lodge in the resort of Morzine.

The hospitality experts ran The Cuan Hotel for the last 30 years and became known for serving the best of local produce in the most comfortable and welcoming of surroundings.

After the couple recently sold the hotel to trusted new local owners, many friends and patrols may have thought that the hardworking parents of four adult children would have enjoyed a well-earned early retirement.

Not for this energetic couple, who are in their mid-fifties and say that they cannot wait to take on the new work challenge and change in lifestyle.

While Caroline will be the chalet’s front of house manager, Peter will be the chef in the fully catered experience with both dedicating themselves to their guests’ every comfort.

Rather than seeking the opportunity to take on this new business, like many of the twists and turns in life, it came to them.

Peter explained: “Selling the Cuan was always on the cards. It was a personal decision for Caroline and I as our children have all carved their own careers and there was no personal interest in succession planning.

“We felt it was the right time for us as we had worked for 32 years on the Cuan. We rebuilt the whole place and established it as one of the best locations to eat and for accommodation in Co Down.”

Caroline continued: “We know the new owner is 100% committed to the business and we are very pleased about who is taking over. We wish them every success. We have no doubt that they will do a great job.

“After the sale, however, we were perfectly happy to sit back and relax as we had 30 years of pretty intense business. When you run and manage your own business, you never get the chance to take the days off that you should, so we were looking forward to sitting back and enjoying our free time and allow things to come to us.”

Fate intervened when a family friend, Gillian Campbell, who owns the five star ski chalet, approached Peter and Caroline as the perfect people to provide guests with the experience she wanted them to have.

Caroline said: “Gillian thought that the chalet and us would make a lovely coupling and with our skill set, that Peter and I could take up the reins better than anyone else.

“We really didn’t have to think too long about the prospect and we just thought, ‘Why not?’. If we sat down and wrote a job deion for ourselves, this ticks every single box for us. It’s such a lovely thing for us to do to fill in this period of our lives. We love sport and to ski, and sure, we are still youngsters. If we settle in and we enjoy it, it may become part of what we do each and every year.”

The chalet boasts five ensuite family rooms, a heated ski and boot room and of course, for the ultimate snow experience, a heated outside hot tub which combined with a cosy yet modern interior, gives a real ski chalet experience.

Up to five couples (some with children) will be picked up from the airport and taken to the chalet where dinner and wine will await. Then they taken and collected each day of their week’s stay to the nearest ski lifts just six minutes’ drive away in the resort which boasts one the best snow records in France.

Peter will be returning to his first love and that’s the creation of a range of dishes which blends the best of his Irish cooking and baking with French cuisine.

“It’s basically a UK and Ireland clientele and I will definitely be serving up potato, wheaten and soda bread as I’m a trained baker,” he said.

“Due to Covid restrictions, we can cater for five couples and will try to keep them as one bubble or perhaps two bubbles in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Guests need feel confident that when they arrive that the chalet has been cleansed thoroughly and with our expertise we can meet their expectations.”

Caroline stressed further: “Guests can travel in their bubble, dine in their bubble, sleep in their bubble and ski in their bubble. When it comes to safety, we believe that this is single best route for avid skiers to enjoy their holiday and be well looked after at the same time.”

Peter will be taking his own baking tins with him to order to ensure full authenticity when it comes to his bakes.

“As a professionally trained chef and qualified baker, I will adapt all the recipes that I have and give them a lovely Irish-French flavour. I will be serving breakfast with one hot choice with a continental style breakfast, then an afternoon tea with scones, cakes and pastries with hot chocolate and coffee, followed with a three-course dinner five nights a week,” he said.

“We anticipate reasonably early mornings and early nights but I’m sure that once I get settled there and fine tune our daily routine, we will be able to get out later in the morning onto the mountains and pistes for a few hours ski-ing and be back in time to serve afternoon tea.”

The cost of the week ranges from £540 per person up to £833, depending on the best weeks of the season.

The couple will go to France in early December and return back to Strangford in March.

They have no intention of leaving the village where they raised their children – Ruairi (27), Una (24), Bronagh (22) and 21 year-old Conall – for good.

“We love the village and I just can’t speak highly enough of the village and the residents. It’s such a gorgeous place and the community that we are grateful to live among is much more like a family,” added Peter.

To find out more about the chalet, visit www.riverwoodlodge.eu.

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