A sign of the holiday times?

[Gastines]

I noticed at the weekend that a large hotel,[part of a national chain ] by the barrage, between Dinard and St.Malo, is being sold off as apartments.. The large hotel has a sign that permanently says,No Vacancies, the entrance is poorly marked and the interior could definately do with a wash and brush up. The question is... Is this a sign of the diminishing tourist market, as the hotel is part of a French chain, I expect franchised, but I don't know for sure, I expect that it is well marketed.advertised. I note from a few replies on various topics on this forum, that some members are honest enough and open enough to say that things are very quiet this year. We had a visit from the owner of a well advertised music bar and he said he had never known it to be so quiet and he was worried about the consequences  if things don't pick up. I do think a percantage of the loss of trade can be put down to the World Cup and now it's over can only hope it picks up for one and all.

Regards. B&B St Malo     ourinns.org

[Poppy]

We live in France but always holiday in Spanish hotels.  We have always found the standard of hotels far better and much cheaper than the hotel chains in France.We can stay in a four star hotel full board for not much more than room only in a Premiere Classe or similar. French hotels with restaurants are almost double the price of Spanish and in our opinion half the standard. There are also lots of adverts in France for overseas holidays which is something new in the last few years. Unfortunately [:(] I cant comment on top class French hotels, wish I could. We have stayed in B&B's which are British owned and the standard was excellent but its only a couple of nights on the way to Spain.

We have friends who have Gites and they are only booked for six weeks. Perhaps there is just so much choice available on the internet with the facility to book at the last minute. I would have thought the North coast still popular with the English out of main season so maybe World Cup has a lot to do with it. As a matter of interest do B& B owners look to booking weeks or nights.

 

 

 

 

[Cerise]

I don't know if it is anything to do with the choice of accommodation because if the same number of tourists were staying in more places they would still be around in restaurants etc, whereas in this area they are simply not here.  The local restaurants are full of doom and gloom and the visitors we do have are saying how nice it is that nothing is crowded (but it should be in July). 

I think France as a destination has become expensive compared with other European countries, Croatia etc.  The unrest earlier in the year makes people anxious that they will get stuck in airports or port or held up by strikes and I genuinely feel that the French have had a tendency to rest on their laurels and not improve things over the last few years.

French hotels can be very old fashioned and gloomy.  Many restaurants look shut even when they are open and have tired menus and poorish service.  Stupid things like the refusal to let men where shorts in local swimming pools irritate tourists a lot and weigh on their decision where to go next year 'We never get that kind of hassle in Spain' said one very fed up family the week before last when they were turned away from a pool because dad and grandad had 'the wrong sort of swimming costumes'.  Their children were upset and they were fed up and although they thought the gite that had rented was lovely, I doubt they will be back. 

 

[Quillan]

I have just had a look at my stats.

Compaired against last year our bookings till the end of June have increased by just over 9%. We are now full till the end of the first week in August with only some bits and pieces after that. To date we have had to say no to 29 enquiries due to being full. We have also had 18 enquiries which did not book because they went somewhere else. At the moment I am not to unhappy with the way things are going.

The first part of the year was not so busy but we believe thats because the quantity of house hunters has dropped considerably. The general feeling round here is that many have bought properties and are now staying in them rather than B&B's or Gites.

[Coco]

[quote user="Quillan"]

I have just had a look at my stats.

Compaired against last year our bookings till the end of June have increased by just over 9%.

The first part of the year was not so busy but we believe thats because the quantity of house hunters has dropped considerably. The general feeling round here is that many have bought properties and are now staying in them rather than B&B's or Gites.

[/quote]

I checked my figures the other day (to the end of July) and even though we were only on 7th July we were 15% up on our figures to the end of July last year.  A huge percentage of these guests are American or French, with hardly any Brits at all.  Several of the French have commented on the ease of finding places now with the internet, so possibly it's working in the small man's favour and they no longer have to stay in those grotty chain hotels because they're the only thing they can find available at the last minute  and  from a distance.

We're the same as Chris, one night let in January, two in Feb and none in March compared to about 25 for the same time last year and yes, I would say that is largely due to the drop-off in house-hunters. 

I know the hotel you're talking about Gastines - best thing they could do is close it down - but it must have lovely views over the Rance from the higher floors!

[Gastines]

Perhaps not close it down but knock it down. We looked at a couple of options in the building BUT apart from it is high up and you would think you get good views, they are through about a dozen high tension electricity cables.Also the noise from the junction goes up and the exterior of the building obviously has a problem with rusting reinforcing rods in the concrete structure. The 2 we looked at both had water [ rain ] penetration problems and when I stuck my head around the balconies it became apparent why. Huge roofspan with TINY gutters and 100mm down pipes ,all blocked and ,I would imagine, a near impossibility to maintain.Still looking for a SMALL project.

Regards. B&B St.Malo    ourinns.org