Alan

This will be interesting to see want others think. This is our second full year running a chamber d hote. The first year we started in the july and  most of our business came from the Office de Tourisme. Last year we got no business from the office de tourisme and all our bookings came from our two paid advertisements or referrals , one French based and one English. Cost about 120 pounds and 100 euros So far this year all our bookings have come from our paid sites, we also have advertisements on 7 free sites but have not had an enquiry from any of them But I found last year most of my bookings were made within about 4 weeks of the commencement of the holidays, its not like gites where these seem to get booked 4 to 6 months in advance. Do others that operate B&B find the same as far as bookings are concerned or maybe its down to our areas.  

I must admit I did wonder for 2 seconds when I was stopped what would happen if I had told the gendarmes that I lived in England. At the time I was stopped I was driving a friends hire car ( I was a named driver) had my uk passport on me and the uk licence. But I could not bring myself to say so , so I  just handed over my titre de sejour

Got stopped on Tuesday by the gendarmes for speeding. Produced my european licence, only to be told this must be changed to a french one, told him the prefecture would not change it as i had tried 3 years ago to do so. The reply was OH well they will now as we have to give you the points.Was told the prefecture would write to me, have also been told that i might also get a fine for not having a french licence , but not sure how true this is

We are with the CA, and had a meeting with them last week and I then made enquiry about a machine because it would makes things easier for deposits etc. was not given any details but was told they would get somebody to give us a call as the bank said it would depend on our turnover. We don’t have a siret number so it looks like a no go then.

Why don’t you email them the conditions and ask them to send a signed copy back to you with the deposit   We run a chambre d hotes. I don’t except dollars payment for me has to be in euro .We also ask for a deposit in advance for summer bookings, and have just taken 2 bookings from the states. I checked with the bank to find out the cost for cashing a dollar cheque and also asked them for there current exchange rate and then told them that they would have to pay the extra cost in cashing the cheque, we also gave them the option of transferring the money to our account provided they pick up all costs on both sides. I got the cheques for the deposit in 7 days. The problem I have had this year is that for maybe a 2 night stay it is then not cost effective to pay a deposit

Quillan thanks for posting these comments, I did not know that there site had been hacked. Lets hopes things get sorted soon, they do need to listen to us as you correctly say we are the customer after all, communication is what its all about

Is anybody else having problems now with this site, the calendar in my instance has not up dated since the 3rd Feb, I however update this daily.  I have emailed them about this and on their forum they have said that they are having problems. Not had any reply so far to my emails. Also to make matters worse last night I was lucky to receive 2 calls from people who could not post enquiries to me through there system. I was lucky as one turned into a 10 night booking for 3 rooms. However a lot of people will not bother to make the call to France. It could also make us look unprofessional  if the enquirer think the email has been sent and gets no response

We let our twin room as part of our family suite so it really only gets used by children. In the last 2 years we have only once been asked for a twin room for a 3-night booking. In your current situation where you wish to maximise your letting then maybe you ought to look at beds that clip together but they will take up much more room, but it might be worthwhile as the type of holiday maker you are aiming at may well wish to go on a painting holiday with friends instead of partners Best of luck

This is the reply on there holiday business forum from site admin   ''Not changing any content but clicking the calendar's UPDATE button will also change the last updated date, and be reflected in search results display order.''

crumpets, thats a sore point. Guests bought two packets and ended up eating all but 2. cant buy them in our area , muffins however are freely available

As teamedup has suggested its best to check it out with a lawyer. In our case we moved from germany to England and then later to france. The father had custody and saw the children once a month. However as we were moving within the EU he could not stop the move.For him he now sees them for longer periods as the children go to germany for holidays 2 or 3 times a year. ps should point out that the father and mother are german and the children where also born in germany

Has to be more to this nothing in life is free. The ave cost of a translation is 10 euros per doc and 0.12 per word, cant see somebody sitting there for hours going through a pile of translations for nothing, or am i in cuckoo land

When we had our pool installed the pool installer said that we did not need a declaration de travaux, as our pool would be classed as portable, as the poolsides were metal panels below ground ( which could in theroy be dug out again if we so wished). We went and had a word with the mayor who said that they would be no problem with the declaration de travaux and to go ahead as the pool installer had suggested and put in our application. However before we signed anything as the pool installer wanted to get started on the job we got written confirmation from him that that if permission was not grated then he would not be paid for any work carried out.

Mine took 6 days; back in june. I have since got married and have been told I need to change my passport or get it up dated? however I cant see in the passport that it states that you are married or single. dont fancy paying another 80 odd euros to amend it now

>So what is expected of our >guests? Am I creating work >for myself? Surely not if you want repeat business, afraid I would soon check out or have something to say if I got back to find the bed not made. Afraid in this business its not an easy life if you want to stay ahead, its now 0.30am and I have just finished cleaning the kitchen from tonights dinner and just having 30 minutes to myself before going off to bed. The guests we currently have do not tend to leave they rooms in a morning until nearly lunchtime so the afternoons have been hectic this week. We make beds and change the towels daily, hover and clean the bathrooms every day, thats the bath and shower cubical ( all those hairs such a lovely job)and bloodly toothpaste all over the sink.Its want i would expect and i am sure if my guests did not get that level of service then my bookings would soon go down hill. Well it will be soon 6.30 and another day will start, still after tomorrow i think i have got 2 days off this weeks so that something to look forward to.

we currently have a mortgage with the CIC , and are re-mortgaging with the CA

How have you decided which family to tell? I think you need to get on the phone the sooner its done the better, you have tried to come up with a solution and it would be better to ring than email I have just had to contact people that are due for 3 days next week to say the pool will be out of action when they are here and offered a full refund. One clause I put in my conditions is the following Under no circumstances shall the owners liability to the client exceed the amount paid to the owner for the rental period. Good luck hope it all works out well for you

We have an account with Credit Agricole, had used all the cheques then realised we had not had a new book. Went into the local branch and was told the first booked had to be requested through the branch and and further books would be sent to our address.We now get a letter to say that the book has been sent and if not received within 10 days to let them know. The went for the CIC .

We live in Gramont which is on the border of the Gers and Tarn-et-Garonne, 8 kilometers from St Clar.Approx 85km from toulouse, my wife works in Toulouse the other side of the airport,it takes her approx 1 hour 15 to get to work in the morning, she leaves home about 7.45, Traffic can be bad at night out of Toulouse

our tax increased about 200 euros once the pool was fitted. regards

i have just sold through the registrars , Lloyds TSB. it all had to be done via the post and they would not pay the money direct into a bank account , but sent me a sterling cheque

Teamedup I think you will find is correct on this as many French companies make you work a year in hand. My partner has worked for the same company for 9 years now ,first in Germany then England and now France. After she had been here a few months decided she wanted holiday and they told her that she had none to take. If she leaves the company they then will have to pay her for the 27 days that are owed or she then has to take them in the final notice period. In her case the company said after working 6 months she could take 12 days off with pay in the first year of being in france any other holiday was unpaid.Also when she left school in france many years ago the first company she worked for the same rule applied. But there seems to be many funny rules, she gets every other Friday off , which in theory is meant to work out for the 35 hour week , which in her case is a laugh. However if she takes holiday leading up to her Friday off then she is not entitled to the Friday off and this has to be taken as holiday. However if she takes the Monday after the Friday then that’s ok.

ensure you send a photo

LAST EDITED ON 10-Feb-04 AT 08:38 PM (GMT) if you want to add some inches as well creme brulee, but thats only the yolks. i am sure i heard someone say that they froze eggs, but maybe i am dreaming on that one, not in there shells of course. recipe for creme brulee 6 egg yolks 1 pint of cream 2oz sugar whisk eggs and sugar together add cream cook in an bainmarie for approx 1 hour 30 ,140 degree . once set take out of oven and put into the fridge just before serving add sugar and place under a grill or us a blow tourch to brown the top

I think its a sad world if you cant offer some advice. I do see your point. But at the end of the day if these people have done there homework they would know if the area is saturated or not. In every business there is competition we would all like to think that are places are the best and the service is second to none. But this is something you have to work at and I think a few people may have come complacent over the years. I will admit that a lot of people seem to think opening a chamber d hote or gite business is easy money and have no real idea of the time it all takes.it does amaze me the amount of people we have spoken to who think they can just up sticks and come over and live the high life without putting much effort into it. Maybe you should start to run some kind of training course to show the ups and downs of running a chamber d hote I am sure after a week in high season many people would think twice before starting. We are lucky for us its just to provide the little extras in life as my partner works full time but if you were to work out my hourly rate it makes you wonder if its all worth it. In my case it is something I enjoy doing.