Seaside appartment, a gite?

[Fritz]

If not, does it matter? If yes, can anyone recommend the best websites to advertise on?

[Liz]

In my view,no. A gite (or stictly speaking a gite rurale) is a country property let out for holidays through Gites de France. The word has been taken over, mostly by the English, to indicate any holiday let. Does it matter? - no!

I don't believe there is a best web site. Some things work for some people but not others. Have a read through this section of the Forum, there are brickbats and bouquets for a number of sites. Look at the sites mentioned and see if you would be attracted by them. Are they easy to navigate or do they just make you want to switch off. I found that those that mention France or French in the title were generally more effective than those that offer rentals in other countries and other kinds of holiday as well. Having said that I found Holiday Lets and Holiday Lettings worthwhile.

Check the search engines, which sites come up first?

Look out for free introductory offers, you have nothing to lose and some of them do work. Also, as you have an appartment, look for sites that have a reasonable number of other appartments.

Liz (29)

[vrooje<BR>Cheers,<br>-Brooke<BR><br><B><A TARGET=blank HREF="http:www.experienceburgundy.com">http:www.experienceburgundy.com<A><B>]

There are a lot of FAQs and suggestions/how-to instructions for advertising your rental property on the Lay My Hat forum (do a search on this phrase; I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link). I run a rental property for my parents, and I post on Lay My Hat all the time.

I agree, though, that an apartment probably isn't technically a gite.

Edit: I also don't think it matters that much.

[Ian Hoare<br>All the best<br>Ian<br>La Souvigne Corrèze<br>http:www.souvigne.com]

Hi,

Technically, any furnished accommodation offered for rent to tourists (apart from Chambres d'Hôtes) is called a "Meublé de Tourisme". Some of them are within the organisation "Gîtes de France" and technically only these should be called a "Gîte". (not that this matters much when advertising to the Brit market). However be aware that technically it is breach of tradename.

GdF will only accept accommodation in towns of less than about 1500 inhabitants, but WILL accept appartments. In our area, as it happens, we have a number of appartments which ARE Meublés de Tourisme. Don't know of any that are GdF approved.

Hope that helps.

Oh by the way, increasingly, owners are being required to have their tourist accommodation inspected and classified. Certainly our tourist office won't advertise any that haven't been classified.

[Fritz]

Thanks folks. Very helpful.