bed making

[Wilko]

Hi Miki

5 Bedrooms.

What is the cost of joining G de F?

Rgds

Wilko

[Miki]

Hi Wilko,

You have to remember that each region/dept have their own Director of operations and staff.

We come under Ille et Vilaine and we pay 750 euros per year (in fact, I

have just filled in next years forms, so anyone thinking of joining had

better be pretty smart off the blocks) plus but we had a chap called

Ian on here a year or so ago, who was an extremely  experienced

CdH patron, in fact he was actually on his G de Fr dept board

and he paid nothing like as much. This dept has many B&B's, a look

through the national book will show just how many there are in

comparison to many other depts and so is pretty dynamic but do have to

lay out a lot of money with salaries, promotions etc.

You will have to contact your local G de Fr and they will inform you of their costs, where are you ?

[Cassis]

Cripes, Miki, how many rooms do you have?  That would be 10-11 rooms here in the Sarthe!

Phil

[Miki]

We have 4 double  (inc 2 which can be treble, possibly one as a 

4 room) and a suite of two rooms which equates to the ratio of one, as

it has a private entrance and is only let as one unit.

We get charged the price of two double rooms at August price X 5, then

we have to pay the Federale association around €78. Bulletin national

€4 and regional edition catalogue €140. A couple of euros here and

there for bits and bobs.

Total, over  €750.

As I said, I think another chap who used to be on here, was paying well

under half of that in the Creuse for a similar size place.

You have to look at the relativity of it all, €750 is very expensive if

one doesn't get much from it all, but then so is €300 if one does not

take it back in revenue. It is all part of marketing and to take the

money the hard work deserves, a couple of things are the main criteria,

position, position, position (no change there then) and publicity to

attract people from all over Europe, if not the World.

If one can get those two right and sadly for a few who need to feed a

family, the first criteria of position, will mean laying out on a large

and possibly expensive house, the second will also mean laying out

money but unless someone knows another way to seriously bring in the

bacon, that is how I see it.

This is based on  some one needing to live here with a family to

feed, cloth and have enough to be able to live a comfortable life,

holidays etc. Those that rely purely on the British trade, I might be

wrong but I cannot believe, they can possibly take enough through

B&B alone (Gîtes are a different matter of course)

And none of this takes in to account any possible savings, pensions or

outside financial assistnce to bolster the turnover from B&B.

[Cassis]

Well done for resisting saying 'location, location, location'.  I didn't realise that the method of cotisations differed from region to region.  For Ch d'H here it's 70 euros per room (regardless of capacity) and 5 euros for the Allo Chambres thing.  For gites it's 62% of the peak season rate for one week (min 113, max 217).  We're dead cheap here!

Phil

[Miki]

I have taken G de FR in the 35 to task a few times over the way charges are made.

I have said to them, I don't mind having to pay if it works but what

cheeses me off, is that in the National and regional guide books, 

all of us  have the same space. So I have to pay  €750+ and

get the same space as one paying around  €125+.

The boss had a point when he come back and said how big do you think

the book would have to be to be able to do that ? Mind you, they cold give the smaller places a smaller advert !!

Are there there other

guide books that one knows (Gite or B&B in

France/UK/Europe/anywhere) that gives averyone the same space, even if

one is paying alot more than another ?

I know when we had the caravan site, gites and B&B, some years back

we used to advertise it with Chez Nous, Bonnes Vacances, Caravan Club

to name a few and all adverts were charged by size of the advert.

Still, it's not a problem as long as we earn enough to eat, drink, pay

all our bills, see the kids OK, take a few months off and even have a

holiday or two during the winter break.

So you don't pay for a regional guide (do you have one ?) and what about paying the Federation on top ?

[suein56]

May I ask how when or how often GDF inspect properties after the initial visit? As past visitors to a French owned B&B my family and I stayed in a 3 epis establishment in Normandy a few years ago and it was dire. [:(] I only now realise how dire it was after reading about the excellent-sounding chambres d'hotes [2 epis ones included] owned by the posters on here.

Sue

 

[Miki]

Well they do say 5 years but it can often come down to inspections after a complaint. 

We have had an inspection last year after a complaint from 2 miserable

folks who hid in a corner to eat, never said a word to anyone else

eating, at the end of meal, all the rest were nattering away over

coffee, they never complained to us about the food, nor the room, nor

anything. Said goodbye in the morning (one night stay in early

November) a month later we got the letter from G de Fr to tell us that

2 guests had complained about the food, and the room.

Anyone who has had a complaint will know the anger that can rush in

when you know it's total horrocks. The food was Tina's normal excellent

fare, the Livre d'or showed that at the same time, two other couples

had written lovely food and some guests a few days before had said thank you for the lovely room (the very same room) and meal.

What we are starting to realise, is that complaints are more prevalent,

not here but on reading the French forums it is agreed that there are

now people who just want to complain (remember the route these things

take, USA then the UK then here in France) 

some complainers do not realise that G de Fr are just an umbrella

and cannot offer the complainer a free holiday or money off/remboursed

etc. So in the act of trying to see what they can get from complaining,

they are in fact giving the honest owners a real pain in the backside.

We get on well with our area chief (who knows our place well enough)

but of course,  he still has to go through the motion of sending a

copy of the complaint, just as anyone else would get, plus one has to

then get case for defending ourselves...step in the all important Livre d'or to back your self up.

As for your own complaint, if they did not offer you a nice welcome,

offer you a good breakfast, or was unclean and dirty, had poor towels,

poor showers  etc, then the only way to ensure these places are

kept up to scratch is to send in your complaint. G de Fr will send in

someone in to inspect,  if one or two of those reasons were the

reason for the complaint.

[Wendy]

Miki, it does amaze me, sometimes though, how miserable some people are when they are supposed to be on holiday. Why do they bother at all?.

[Cassis]

[quote user="Miki"]

So you don't pay for a regional guide (do you have one ?) and what about paying the Federation on top ?

[/quote]

Don't want to make you sick, Miki - but yes, we have a regional guide as well, and it's all included in the price I quoted, and we don't have a separate Federation fee.

Phil

[Cassis]

[quote user="Spg"]

May I ask how when or how often GDF inspect properties after the initial visit? As past visitors to a French owned B&B my family and I stayed in a 3 epis establishment in Normandy a few years ago and it was dire. [:(] I only now realise how dire it was after reading about the excellent-sounding chambres d'hotes [2 epis ones included] owned by the posters on here.

[/quote]

Ours is excellent, of course!

[suein56]

***As for your own complaint, if they did not offer you a nice welcome, offer you a good breakfast, or was unclean and dirty, had poor towels, poor showers  etc, then the only way to ensure these places are kept up to scratch is to send in your complaint. G de Fr will send in someone in to inspect,  if one or two of those reasons were the reason for the complaint.***

Being British, and timid, we did not complain but promised ourselves that we would never return there. On reflection, and knowing what I know now, I wish I had complained - as it might have meant that no one else would have had to undergo the chilly reception, the uncomfortable beds, the paucity of bedding, the very poor shower and the extremely dingy, nay, dirty decor but ... I must add that the breakfast was good. Perhaps a French family, with more confidence and more 'nous' than us did complain and things have improved - I can only hope so. We never went back to find out - we just put it down to experience. As I said it was a while ago now ...

Sue

 

 

[Miki]

[quote user="wen"]Miki, it does amaze me, sometimes though, how

miserable some people are when they are supposed to be on holiday. Why

do they bother at all?.[/quote]

Ah, now there's the thing, if there were not grumpy gits, we

wouldn't  realise just how happy the rest of us are, would we !

[Miki]

[quote] Being British, and timid, we did not

complain but promised ourselves that we would never return there. On

reflection, and knowing what I know now, I wish I had complained -

as it might have meant that no one else would have had to undergo the

chilly reception, the uncomfortable beds, the paucity of bedding,

the very poor shower and the extremely dingy, nay, dirty decor but

... I must add that the breakfast was good. Perhaps a French

family, with more confidence and more 'nous' than us did

complain and things have improved - I can only hope so. We never went

back to find out - we just put it down to experience. As I said it was

a while ago now .

Sue

[/quote]

Have no fear Sue, we have had reasons to complain on a few ocasions but not for as bad a place as yours was.

We stayed 3 nights in Bayeux in a 3 epis last year, the breakfast was simply

left on the table, hardly any contact but Madam did ask if we needed

any more tea every morning, our bed was the lumpiest and oldest

mattress on the planet but  no real harm occurred and in general

we had a good time whilst in the area, so I think it was not worth us

complaining but your place, probably, yes.

 

 

[Dick Smith]

We once stopped at a place - booked in advance - and when we arrived at the agreed time there was no sign of Madame. In fact, as the house was a modern build type we were a bit uncertain we were at the right place. We hung about for an hour or so, and then headed off to a GdF we had seen advertised a couple of miles away. Madame there told us that she knew our Madame who was definitely expecting us, so we toddled back and a while later she showed up, having been shopping...

It turned out that the only space for us to sit was in her lounge, whilst she kept to the kitchen. The food was good, but most of the evening was spent with her either rowing with her teenage daughter or listening to the daughter recount the rows loudly down the phone to her mates.

It was just like home.

[Miki]

[quote user="Cassis"][quote user="Miki"]

So you don't pay for a regional guide (do you have one ?) and what about paying the Federation on top ?

[/quote]

Don't

want to make you sick, Miki - but yes, we have a regional guide as

well, and it's all included in the price I quoted, and we don't have a

separate Federation fee.

Phil

[/quote]

As I said, I have to say that I think all things are relative. This

region gets a huge amount of tourism, even from as little away as

Rennes and Nantes, to name just two large cities close by.

When Brittany advertises anywhere, very often G de Fr Brittany will be

in there advertising as well. Saint Malo for instance gets tourists

nearly all year round, of course there is a drop off in large numbers

around Jan and Feb but from March though to middle of November, the old

city and the coast get plenty of visitors. And for us, we have Dinan

less than 8 minutes from our door and that beautiful little town alone

pulls in one of the largest number of visitors in Brittany and with the

second most visited place in France just 35 minutes away (Le Mont St

Michel) plus the arrival of the TGV to Saint Malo.

Add all that to the way the region constantly keeps the area well

known, means someone has to pay to keep the figures up and so......at

the end of the day, our figures are more than relative, to what we have

to pay to be members.

[suein56]

***We stayed 3 nights in Bayeux in a 3 epis last year, the breakfast was simply left on the table, hardly any contact but Madam did ask if we needed any more tea every morning, our bed was the lumpiest and oldest mattress on the planet but  no real harm occurred and in general we had a good time whilst in the area***

Yes, I can understand what you say as inspite of the lodgings we loved the place/area and had a great time there - if only we had made a better choice of B&B things might have been nearly perfect.

Sue

[Wilko]

Hi Miki

84 Vaucluse

www.maspomona.com

Regds

Wilko

[Miki]

Hi Wilko,

What a classic place, superb. You really have done an excellent job.

Haven't we been here before ? I seem to remember one like this a little while ago and said just how beautiful it was then.

We used to have an appartment in Manosque, so we know the region quite well

so when we see where you are, it does bring back very fond memories.

[Tresco]

We have definitely been here before Miki.

I think there was a collective gasp of a positive nature the last time Wilko linked to his/her place [:)]

[Catalpa]

I'll add my gasp to the collective, then. What a superb, restrained, classy renovation.

[Quillan]

Wilko - I see you use google adword's and was wondering how well you find it works for you?

[Cassis]

Miki said:

[quote]As I said, I have to say that I think all things are relative. This

region gets a huge amount of tourism, even from as little away as

Rennes and Nantes, to name just two large cities close by.

When Brittany advertises anywhere, very often G de Fr Brittany will be

in there advertising as well. Saint Malo for instance gets tourists

nearly all year round, of course there is a drop off in large numbers

around Jan and Feb but from March though to middle of November, the old

city and the coast get plenty of visitors. And for us, we have Dinan

less than 8 minutes from our door and that beautiful little town alone

pulls in one of the largest number of visitors in Brittany and with the

second most visited place in France just 35 minutes away (Le Mont St

Michel) plus the arrival of the TGV to Saint Malo.

Add all that to the way the region constantly keeps the area well

known, means someone has to pay to keep the figures up and so......at

the end of the day, our figures are more than relative, to what we have

to pay to be members.

[/quote]

Don't you think that with the enormous number of gites and B&Bs in the area, the Brittany association must be raking it in?  I don't see why they are so much more expensive than the Sarthe which is part of the Pays de la Loire association, even if they spend buckets more on promotion.  It just seems odd that it should be so different.

[Miki]

[quote]

Don't you think that with the enormous number of gites

and B&Bs in the area, the Brittany association must be raking it

in?  I don't see why they are so much more expensive than the

Sarthe which is part of the Pays de la Loire association, even if they

spend buckets more on promotion.  It just seems odd that it should

be so different.

[/quote]

Well it is not one but 4 associations within Brittany.

I have asked questions about all this before but I have seen just how

much they lay out on salaries, publicity and all kinds of manner of

things, trying to keep the name Brittany at the top, or somewhere near

the top of the pile and it does not come cheap. The more accommodation

an area has, the more the Federation is bound to need to spend more to

get tourists and others to fill those places. On many days in the 5

main weeks, say from mid July until start of the last week of August,

there is a 12% shortage of beds for people searching accomodation. We

have had as many as 3 couples/families sleeping in their cars in our

car park and that is not so rare. Hotels are opening up regularly but

cannot keep up with the increase in overall numbers each year during

that period, partly of course, as for a lot of the year, rooms will be

empty. Yes, shop owners and restos will always complain that figures

are down, they are getting good at it nowand  if the percentage

decreases in the last two decades are right, we should only get 250

people in Brittany this year !!

I don't think it simply a case of raking it in, the money they charge

does actually get laid out in an effort to draw in the large amount of

tourism required. As you have noted, Brittany has a huge number

of  B&Bs,  Ille et Vilaine, the dept where we are, has

just over 200 alone (and that is without Finistere, Cotes D'Armor and

Morbihan) compared to Sarthe, with just over 70. So I guess it is

relative like I said, they do rake it in, no doubt but on the other

hand, they sure have to lay it out again. There is always something in

the posts offering a day here and there, a course here and there, an

outing etc plus many days where experts will offer free advice on

anything from Animals  to Zoos.

So, yes, it's not cheap but it works here, it's only dear when publicity doesn't work !

As I said, as long as we keep taking the amount of reservations we do, it remains relative to what we pay.

[Wilko]

Hi Quillan

I am a complete luddite with the ordinateur and if I do use google adwords it is news to me. However I do recollect, that some time ago I played around with some info I got from the Lay my hat site, which I hasten to add I did not really understand. So Quillan I can't really answer your question but why do you think I use adwords?  Any info you could furnish me with I would be grateful for, then I might well be able to shed some light on your question.

Thanks for pointing this out to me

Rgds

Wilko