Nimportequoi

[quote user="Sashabel"]A lot of holidaymakers save all year for their two week break, so why should they have to put up with worse conditions than they have at home AND pay for it?.[/quote] On that basis, why do people go camping or stay in mobile homes? Because they want a different experience to what they have at home. Saying that, I try to provide as much as possible, and my gites are booked from start April through to end October, I've got bookings for 2012 and 2013, but I'm finding that generally these days people want more and more and want to pay less.

I've had quite a few bookings in the last couple of years because I have king size beds in the gites/ The Dutch especially seem to want them, and most gîtes and B&Bs don't offer them. It cost me around 900€ each to replace each standard double (including all the bedding), so it isn't cheap to do. Running gîtes is not very profitable, but you have to keep up with what people want or you lose bookings.

I have French as well as UK TV. I also have to pay SACEM and SPRE as well as the redevance for the TVs my gîtes. There seems to be a new tax every year.

[quote user="Claude"] Does anybody know that it is the case that you can't get on Trip Advisor free anymore, at least with a gite?[/quote] You can, but you have to live on site and have more than one letting unit. You then come under the category of Speciality Lodging, like my gites. If you don't come into this category (and TA check), then Flipkey is the (rather expensive) alternative.

It doesn't mention the positives that France has compared to other European countries - such as the highest birth rate in Europe, low level of personal debt compared to that in the UK and the SMIC which is higher than many other countries (including Germany and the UK). All the French people I teach to (in a big company) are very happy with their 35 hour week and the 40 + days holiday (including RTT) that they have every year and are happy to sacrifice increases in salary as a result of that. I agree about the comments on the Metro - when I went to London recently with French OH he was very impressed with the Underground in comparison.

[quote user="AnOther"][quote user="Nimportequoi"]Well, in 4 years no-one has - I've only got 1Mo so it isn't easy to telecharge anything...I know, I've tried with films in the past.[/quote]You mean you assume no-one has, you cannot possibly know that, and I can assure you that 1mb is more than enough to download music and films. PS: Cannot quote you with a ' in your user name. [/quote] Music yes, but it takes a long time to download films, I've tried, as I said in a previous post. At least 4 hours and I'd know if someone else was doing it as they would be hogging all the bandwidth. People who stay here generally are families and they have better things to do with their time then spend hours downloading stuff, so Hadopi isn't at the top of my worry list.

[quote user="AnOther"]I make that in excess of 35 holiday fortnights x the average family of 2 + 2 kids giving a total of 140 individuals so the question is how confident are you that not a single one of those guest or their 'orrible offspring will abuse your WiFi ? [/quote] Well, in 4 years no-one has - I've only got 1Mo so it isn't easy to telecharge anything...I know, I've tried with films in the past. I've had a lot of bookings which have depended on having internet availability. Maybe not essential for everyone, (not so much for French guests) but it is for me and most other nationalities. Same for the pool, king size beds...guests expect more and more now, and if you don't keep up with the demand, you lose risk losing bookings.

[quote user="Théière"][quote user="Nimportequoi"][quote user="euro"]Is WIFI internet becoming a must have for guests ? Thanks[/quote]  it is a must have and has been for a couple of years. [/quote] This is the first year my poll results have indicated it is now requested. As I don't yet have it but have 90% booking for this summer there are plenty of people who prefer the pool to the internet and most smart phones receive email without issue so is browsing so important? [/quote] I am 98% full in all three gites from April to September, maybe it is because of the free wifi;) The pool helps of course. 3G doesn't work inside my gites (thick granite walls) and anyway it is very expensive abroad - I have an iphone and it costs lots to surf the internet when I go to the UK, even with the special Orange abroad package. People don't just use the internet for work, but also recipes, things to do in the local area, everything really. Free internet access would be indispensable to me so that is why I offer it to my guests.

[quote user="euro"]Is WIFI internet becoming a must have for guests ? Thanks[/quote] It isn't becoming a must have, it is a must have and has been for a couple of years. You can use a system like open DNS to restrice usage of certain websites if you are worried about downloading. I never haveas I don't want to restrict my usage and I'm use the same router as the guests.

I get most of my French bookings from my ads on Leboncoin now. I don't think I've had anything from the Abritel upgrade I took with OD.

I still get a lot of weekend bookings for my gîtes (from the French market) so it can be an attractive option for families as it works out cheaper than a hotel for a family (average 17,50€ per person per night as opposed to around 25€+ in a hotel). But for one person or a couple, a hotel is probably a better and cheaper option, I agree. And yes, 5-e has a good solution, personal recommendation counts for a lot.

[quote user="Cendrillon"] personally I would almost consider it not worth while to stock up the self catering rental for just a few days. [/quote] That's why many gîte owners supply basics, so people don't have to buy condiments, herbs and spices, oil, sugar, etc. I take a 25% deposit and payment on arrival for French guests as many prefer this. For other nationalities I take full payment 4 - 8 weeks before the arrival date, payment by credit card. And G de F and Clévacances may well ensure that you will have the correct number of m² in a bedroom and a pressure cooker in the kitchen, but they do nothing for measuring the subjective charm of properties. Their websites are also awful so you have virtually no photos to consult (and those are the most important for me). I'd check the big listing sites like Owners Direct, Holidaylettings etc. where you have comprehensive lists of facilities which you can check, and lots of photos.

I use Payboxmail to take on line credit card payments in conjunction with my bank CA (a business account is necessary). Annual charge of 225€, but I only pay 0,45% in commission, which works out a lot cheaper than Paypal would. But if I had only French clients it wouldn't be worth it as they generally hate paying by CB online and most still want to pay by cheque.

http://www.europe1.fr/Consommation/Location-l-animal-familier-ne-peut-etre-interdit-399545/ Yes, it's true, but then many French people ignore laws anyway, so I'm not sure this will be any different.

I don't understand - the registration I have with the Mairie is nothing to do with the Préfectural classification (which I don't have). You only need to be registered with the Mairie. You do not require Préfectural classification to run a gite business, although it will give you tax benefits if you are in the microbic régime (71% abattement as opposed to 50% without classification). Go ahead and start advertising asap.

Agree about www.laymyhat.com being a useful source of info for gite owners,, but disagree that the French gîte letting season is very short. It depends on a lot of things, location, facilities etc. but it is possible to get 30+ weeks (pool probably essential), although the average is probably 12 weeks. Bookings are slower this year than last for me too.

I wonder what the situation would be like if Mitterand hadn't reduced the retirement age from 65 to 60 in 1982? In my experience, most of the French people I know are happy with the demonstrations as most dislike Sarkozy and the way he has forced through the legislation without debate. However most (except the fonctionnaires) agree that the retirement age has to be raised. Whether there are any companies who will be willing to employ people over the age of 55 is another matter.

I don't use PoolRX on it's own, but with chlorine. I like not having the worry of a green pool.

How much is it? I've been using PoolRX for years, a similar ioniser and have never had a green pool since using it. I replace it annually, it is around 120€.

[quote user="chicken"]Sorry, yes. Do I still need to register it at the local Mairie? Thanks again. [/quote] Yes.

[quote user="idun"]Which web site is that then? I am from well north of the Watford Gap.[/quote] Probably AngloInfo. It consists largely of posts asking for English speaking hairdressers/doctors/dentists/butchers/garage mechanics etc. and asking where they can buy UK food.

I think if you have French guests, then you can do this, but for the UK market (and other international guests) then expecations are more that of a hotel nowadays, even down to a concierge service in some cases.

[quote user="water rat"]You can't beat Gites de France for attracting the french and belgians. You'll get inspected which is why the french use it as their bible. We are a chambres d'hotes ,but have never looked back since registering with them and it's the same for gites.[/quote] I don't agree, I think it works better for B&B than gites. Certainly all the gite owners I know who were with G de F dropped them pretty quickly. There are much better, and cheaper French internet sites available to list on.

[quote user="Richard51"] Re the bedlinen - it's the norm for French people to bring their own bedlinen (sheets and pillow cases) - so most are delighted that they are included or that we offer a discount if they bring their own. [/quote] I agree that it is easier with French guests - and the house is generally left much tidier than with UK guests. However, I'm finding more and more that French guests prefer to have the bed linen provided now, disount or not. Things are changing... As far as internet advertising portals - what works for one, doesn't necessarily work for another. I found Homelidays a waste of time, but other sites still bring in the business. As Cendrillon said, the Laymyhat.com site will give you lots of examples of different advertising portals and how to see which will suit your property the most.

My most clueless guests were a few years ago, Mr and Mrs Guest plus grown up daughter and her boyfriend. One day, b/f decided to go fishing and borrowed Mr Guests 4 x 4. He didn't come home that night, next morning, daughter in tears on doorstep, so I phoned round the local hospitals and police and located him - he had smashed up the car on the way home from fishing, as he'd got drunk. I took guests to hospital as it was near to my work, and they all got a taxi back to the gite later. The car was a write off, so I had to take Mr G to the Gendarmerie to explain what had happened and pick up car keys, then to garage to pick up remaining belongings from car, then I had to go shopping for them and finally organised them a taxi to the port so they could get home. Of course, I got no thanks at all [Www]