Downtown Chamonix, France, April 24, 2025. JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP
Benjamin Berger remembers a time not so long ago, in the 2000s, when many owners of mountain apartments or chalets were reluctant to rent their properties to vacationers, mostly seeing the inconveniences that came with it. "Culturally, the idea of having strangers sleep in your home wasn't well accepted," said the mountain real estate specialist and founder of the Cimalpes agency, which manages 1,200 seasonal rentals. "We would even go so far as to replace mattresses just to convince some owners to rent!"
Times have changed. Berger points to a decisive moment: the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. Many property owners whose fortunes were closely tied to the financial markets realized they couldn't afford to leave their real estate to sit idle without generating income. More importantly, platforms like Airbnb, Abritel and Booking arrived, making short-term rentals flexible, easy and lucrative – with concierge services springing up everywhere. "The culture of secondary homes in the mountains has shifted. The investment mindset has overtaken the family and emotional side," said Louis Andrews, director of the chalet rental platform OVO.
