Starting a B&B

[Marjorie<EM><STRONG>Marjorie<STRONG><EM>]

Hello everyone

We are seriously thinking of starting a B&B in France and have read all the messages on the Forums with great interest!   However, we should be really pleased if you could answer the questions we have!

1. where do we find guides and regulations on starting up such a business - we read lots of magazines, but there must be a magazine on this subject or do we approach the Chambre de Commerce
2. do regulations vary from department-department
3. when we find a house, how do we know if we are allowed to start a B&B in that village

These of course are the start of many questions, but I thought I would start with a few!!

 

 

[mascamps.com]

If you scan the "legality" thread, you'll find all the references that we've collectively come up with in terms of the legal aspect. They do vary between departments.

I've not seen a magazine dealing with this specifically but there are a couple of books on the subject. Can't remember the exact names at present but a search on Amazon should turn them up in no time. We had "Running a B&B in France" which is useful, also we bought one or two "running a B&B" books aimed at the UK (the principles of running a business are, in general, the same but you need the "B&B in France" book for the specifics over here) also essential is "Living and Working in France" which covers pretty much all aspects of life here (possibly not the exact titles).

Register at the Chambre de Commerce and start. There doesn't appear to be anything stopping anyone starting a CdH. To register with Gites de France you can't be in a village of more than 1500 people.

As soon as you've settled on a place, start marketing it. We thought that arriving here at Easter would give us a good start financially but ended up with all of one couple staying with us at Easter - in practice you need to be here about a couple of months before the holiday season to get any kind of sensible number of guests.

This forum is very useful for getting answers to specific questions. The books above don't cover everything but will answer most of your initial questions and give you a better feel for what running a CdH might be like.

 

 

Arnold

 

[Russethouse]

I think if you take a look at the Living France main web site there is a link to books and I believe a book about running a B & B in France was recently featured.

[Marjorie<EM><STRONG>Marjorie<STRONG><EM>]

Gay & Arnold, thanks for your replies. 

Do we need to visit the Mairie before we buy the house and get his/her permission to start the CdH?   Also, if we need to install 'en suites', do we need permission before we go ahead with the work??

[Quillan]

Hi,

In the useful links part of the forum there is a copy of the rules issued for the Paris region for both B&B and evening meals (known as Chambres D'Hôtes and Table D'Hôtes). These are roughly along the lines of what Gites de France require and you won't go far wrong by following them.

We bought the book and then discovered after we were up and running that it was not all correct as things have moved on in France. The people who wrote it have, I believe, returned to the UK a year or so back, well they don't do B&B for sure now.

It's always good to keep your mayor informed of what you are doing or intend to do not that he can stop you in this case. Nice o have him/her 'on side' as it were, he can also help with putting up signs etc.

You will not need permission to make your rooms en-suite providing you do not increase the physical size of the building, by this I mean extend.

If you are going to run it at as a full time business in France you really have to register with the Chambre of Commerce which, if memory serve me right is around 2,800€ the first year for your cotistations and about 3,500€ the second then a percentage every year thereafter. There is a post somewhere about this

Good luck

[mascamps.com]

It may be true that you don't need permission to make the rooms ensuite but you would need to check that your septic tank would be up to the job. If you buy an ordinary house in the country with just the one toilet then, if it has a septic tank that tank will have been sized for an ordinary sized family. Adding a number of rooms for guests may mean that you need to get a larger tank installed - it's best to check this before you hit potentially very messy and smelly problems. Also, you will probably need to upgrade the water heating system to cope with the ensuite showers & baths.

After receiving the bill from URSSAF for the 3000€, I wrote them a letter pointing out that this was more than my income up to that point and they were OK about that. Where the 3000€ is coming from is the amount due on some estimate of what a typical company would expect to make in the first year; from the second year they start basing your bills on the actual income figures ie my telling them that our actual income was zero was enough. I'd have thought that for most startup CdH type businesses, the outgoings for the first year would exceed the money coming in so a similar letter to URSSAF should work.

 

Arnold

 

[Quillan]

Fosse Septic is a good point and it will have to meet the new regs as well so look for a place with mains drainage is the simple answer.

Different departments perhaps different regs but for Aude it is, and I quote directly from the paperwok which I have in front of me from CCI.

First year.: 2538€

Second Year.: 3746€

 

[Marjorie<EM><STRONG>Marjorie<STRONG><EM>]

Thank you for all your answers!