What are you responsible for at the holiday cottage in Sälen?

Most people who rent a mountain cottage prepare for the skiing, the food and the weather – but not for the small amount of responsibility that comes with staying in a cottage rather than a hotel. Waste sorting in a mountain cabin isn’t the same as at home; the snow at the entrance becomes nobody’s responsibility unless you take it on, and parking on the property has consequences far beyond your own car. None of these things is a major burden. All three, however, are easy to overlook, which is why they’re listed here.

This article is about your ongoing responsibilities at the holiday home during your stay – not about cleaning on departure, nor about the journey there. Do you expect to rent a mountain cottage in Sälen It is this quarter’s daily work that makes the difference between a hassle-free stay and a departure marred by friction. The specific details applicable to your particular house are set out in the house information and the booking terms and conditions.

Short answer: three things that are the guest’s responsibility

Strip away everything else and three points remain:

• Keep entrances and footpaths clear of snow during the stay.
• Sort your rubbish and take it out – and take the recyclables to the recycling centre.
• Please park in the designated area so that snow-clearing lorries and emergency vehicles can get through.

That’s the whole list. The rest – cleaning, supervision, technical support and maintenance – is our responsibility.

Snow at the entrance and on the footpaths – why it’s your responsibility

Roads and communal areas are cleared by the road maintenance association or a contractor. The final section – the steps, the entrance, the path to the door, and the area around the car – is, however, the responsibility of the person living in the house. The reason is practical: no snow plough can clear a flight of stairs, and a thirty-centimetre snowfall overnight makes an entrance impassable long before anyone has time to go out and check it.

It is also a safety issue. A snow-blocked entrance is a blocked escape route, and an icy staircase is the most common cause of injuries amongst those living in the mountains. Snow shovels and brooms are available in the house, usually in the entrance hall or the storeroom. Ten minutes in the morning after a snowfall is, in practice, always enough. Spread grit if there is any, and shovel away from the door rather than out towards the road.

Rubbish: sorting, bins and what must not be left behind

There are bins for household waste next to the house, and these are emptied according to the local authority’s schedule – not when they are full. A group of twelve people produces more waste in a week than the bins are designed to hold, which is why sorting waste is not a matter of convenience but a matter of capacity.

You should therefore sort your waste regularly throughout the week rather than doing it all on the day of departure. Keep food waste and general waste in the bins by the house, and collect glass, metal, paper and plastic separately. Under no circumstances should you leave any rubbish outside the bins, in the storeroom or in the ski shed. It attracts animals, it freezes solid, and it results in an extra cost that someone will have to bear. We have described the entire departure routine in our guide to Cleaning and check-out in practice.

The recycling centre: where it is and when you should go there

This is the point that surprises most people, particularly city dwellers who are used to having recycling rooms in their blocks of flats. In the mountains, guests are responsible for taking their recyclable waste to the nearest recycling point themselves. There is no collection service for glass, metal, cardboard and plastic at the holiday cottages.

In practical terms, here’s how to sort it out: keep two bins in the storeroom or garage – one for glass and metal, and one for cardboard and plastic. Empty them once midweek when you’re out shopping anyway, and once on the day of departure. The location of the nearest recycling point is listed in the building information – have a look at it on your first evening, so you don’t have to go searching for it with a full car on Sunday morning. Cardboard takes up the most space; flatten it straight away.

Parking on the property: spaces, turning room and access for snow ploughs

Each house has a specified number of parking spaces, and these are normally sufficient for the number of guests the house is designed to accommodate. If you’re arriving in more cars than the spaces allow – which is common when the group travels separately from different towns – please let us know in advance. Parking at the roadside is generally not permitted, and this is rarely just a matter of order: a narrow mountain road with a car on the wrong side becomes impassable for a snowplough and dangerous for an ambulance.

Two practical tips. Reverse the car into its parking space – it’s easier to drive out of a snow-covered driveway than to reverse out. And move the car at some point during the week if it’s snowing heavily, otherwise it will get stuck in a snowdrift. You can find out more about driving and road conditions in our guide to driving to Sälen in winter.

Electric car charging – only at designated charging points

If the house has a charging point, it is marked, and that is where charging should take place. Plugging the car into a standard wall socket in the garage or under the patio is not permitted, and the reason is fire safety: an older socket is not designed to handle many hours of continuous load, and in a timber-framed house at sub-zero temperatures, the margins are very small.

If you drive an electric car, check the charging facilities when you book – and bear in mind that the range will drop significantly in the cold mountain air. We’ve listed accommodation with charging facilities under holiday cottages with electric car charging points, and public options are described in the article on electric car charging points in Sälen.

What happens if it isn’t dealt with

In practice: very little, as almost everyone takes care of it. But there are consequences, and they are reasonable. Waste left behind or not sorted, and any extra cleaning time, may be charged in accordance with the booking terms and conditions. An illegally parked car may need to be towed away at the owner’s expense. An uncleared entrance is, first and foremost, a risk to you yourselves.

The point isn’t the threat, but the fact that it’s so easy to avoid. Three bags, a snow shovel and a parking space – that’s all it takes.

Summary – half an hour that saves the whole journey

Sorting rubbish at a mountain cabin, clearing snow from the entrance and parking on the property are the guest’s three tasks, and together they take less time than a single queue for the ski lift. Set out the recycling bins on the first evening, find out where the recycling point is before you need it, clear the snow from the entrance after a snowfall, and park in the designated space. If you do this, your departure day will simply be a matter of locking the door and leaving – and the next group of guests will arrive at a cottage that’s just as well-looked-after as the one you found on arrival.