Nick Williams is the Joint-Founder of Mountain Heaven, a family-run specialist in apartment and chalet holidays in the French and Swiss Alps. Nick believed he could do a better job for both holiday-makers and property-owners when he set up Mountain Heaven 13 years ago, with a handful of apartments in the resort of Plagne Montalbert.
Now with 4,000 mostly repeat customers and a £2 million turnover, it’s clear Nick’s foresight was spot on.
Why did you set up Mountain Heaven ?
I bought property in Montalbert and signed up with a company which managed the property and let it out for us. After the first season I was unimpressed by their service and decided to set up Mountain Heaven, initially working with 10 properties in the village owned by friends. It was a bit of a gamble but we’ve just gone from strength to strength and now run 16 catered chalets and around 30 self-catering apartments in French and Swiss resorts.
Any mistakes in your business development you’re prepared to confess to ?
I think we’ve made mistakes every season but the important thing is to learn from them. One winter we thought it would be nice to give our guests a free bottle of wine waiting for them on arrival, but then people started saying “thanks but could we have red wine not white?” or they asked for beer not wine, and it became quite a headache. Another season we picked some great apartments but then found the resort itself was not so popular.
What are the main differences between you and other operators ?
We’re family run, and both property owners and holidaymakers can and do still talk to us directly. Our key staff like Maria in the office have been with us since day one, and some we’ve known since well before we set up the business.
What do people ask for the most ?
No question, it’s being as close to the slopes as possible, so all our properties are either ski-in/ski-out or very close.
Most unusual customer request ?
A lady once asked me how long our baguettes were. There was logic to her request though as she was trying to calculate how many sandwiches she could make.
Will the fast new gondola from Montalbert this season spoil the unspoilt nature of Montalbert ?
No, it will help people staying in Montalbert get into the full Paradiski region much more quickly at the start of the day. It will also help local businesses in the resort as it will be easier for people to come for lunch in the village and know they can get back to other areas of the circuit quickly, but in the evening Montalbert will remain the same unique community.
The future ?
We don’t want to grow much more as we don’t want to lose the personal touch and the direct connection between ourselves and our customers. We have just bought land for a chalet in Morzine next to the Nyon lift though and plan to build then open our own catered chalet for the first time.