So that was January was it?

[Dusty]

With the way the euro has been going on the currency exchange markets I was expecting January to be a bumper month of enquiries and bookings, but it seems it was not to be.

297 page views on OD (compared to 476 for last Jan) resulted in 3 enquiries and a booking for 1 week. Combined with 1 enquiry via HL and one from a returning visitor didn't make for an exciting month.

I wonder if the troubles in Paris earlier in the month has put people off France, what are other peoples experience?

On the bright side the spam/scam enquiries seem to have reduced significantly!

[Zingara]

Yes, I did wonder about the impact of recent events...
We now only use OD : 232 views as opposed to 361 in Jan 2014, 6 enquiries (2 of which 'unsuitable' : family of 4 in a studio sleeping 2), 3 bookings (just over 4 weeks)
We now have 15 weeks booked of an (average) 20 week season, 4 weeks repeat clients, and the bulk 14 days, which is nice

[Mouse]

We have had our best booking experience in 10 years. Which is a shock because we only use OD and I was deeply concerned about the impact that the scaremongering on tv and in the press might have had on enquiries via their site.

We had 11 weeks booked before Christmas (previous best had been 9) and by the start of the 2nd week in January we had almost booked out all weeks. We only have 2 left (one currently on hold), and have had to turn 2 returning guests away as we didn't have the weeks they wanted.

Interestingly (to me) none of the OD enquirers rang me or asked for proof of ownership before booking.

One other factor is that this year, more than any other, our repeat bookings are very good. Normally we get the odd one, but because people holiday as part of a group, for a celebration or with another family, we rarely get repeats. However for 2015 we have had 4 clients from past years book...and, as mentioned, turned 2 away.

So a very positive 2015 so far (fingers crossed)

Mousie
x
p.s. and we price in £'s, so we are now more expensive than last year against our euro competition.

[mi casa]

Like Mouse we have also had great bookings. June, July and August were all booked by October. Two weeks in May booked last week and also one week in September. This was a great surprise as we had increased our prices for 2015. We use OD and HA but all bookings came from OD. Our listing with HA expires next month and will not be renewing.

It was a first for us since we started renting seven years ago. We have had some great reviews thanks to our new managers - I think this has helped.

[Dusty]

Very interesting, especially as Mouse and Mi casa are not in France, but Zingara are both in France and having similar experiences. We are doing ok for bookings generally but I was surprised at how quiet January was, lets hope Feb picks up.

[JanB]

January not the usual busy enquiry month at all for me. Nothing from HL and OD quiet.

Could be because I have closed out for six weeks for a break and to do a new bathroom but surprising none the less.

Patterns do seem to be changing generally with more last minute requests. Bizarrely, September almost booked!

[kg1]

We are about 50% booked for the year which is good for us and still in January. Most of the bookings have been taken this month.
But today has been really busy with bookings and enquiries. Must be Spring coming!

[chipiechoo]

As the other French owners say an odd month. We in the past have always had a very busy January but not this year. Had one booking which we declined and another enquiry, so nothing from either.
Less lookers on OD than 2014 but having said that we had more weeks pre-booked over July/August/September than any past year in the last 7 and all taken in October and December 2014.
Roll on February, may the available weeks be taken up.
Isn't it a roller coaster business we are in????

[Goscar]

Our experience mirrors that of Zingara. We also have 15 weeks booked, which is well up on the same time last year. Most of our business has been generated by our HL subscription listing, supplemented by four repeat bookings and a couple from OD.

[tavi]

I have 22 weeks booked over the year so far(operate all year round)

4 repeats
1 through Mediahols
7 through OD/own website

All unusually early, all British (one exception being French thru Mediahols). Am convinced the exchange rate has helped (I price in Euros but my prices are high for my area/capacity).

[limetree]

We're in France and only one booking in January for beginning of July and that was through Facebook. January OD viewings down considerably on January 2014. We have a repeat August booking and a 3 week August booking which was booked in February 2014. We signed up with Homeaway and Chez Nous last year and nothing from either of them either. Not panicking yet but hope that it picks up a bit this month

[Cas & Irene]

After a very good last quarter 2014 and a kick start in begin of January everything goes very slow now.
We had 71 enquiries in January and ¨only¨ 10 bookings, bust most of them are for B&B.

About 35% of the enquiries were for self-catering and 2 makes the booking ( 1 last-minute for last weekend)
The quality of the enquiries were quit low, many didn´t come back after the quotation and the remainder email, a few quite about the price and some had booked something else.

Last year January (2014) we had less enquiries (43) but with the same amount of bookings.
Can´t explain this and hope that February will bring everything back on track.

[Old Bill]

We had 502 page views in January with 2 enquiries and 2 bookings. We were happy with this as out of the 14 weeks we consider to be available for rent 11 have now gone. We only started using OD in February 2014 so can't make a comparison with last year. We only advertise on OD and a local lettings agent. There haven't been any spam enquiries since November.

[SandyBeaches]

January was very busy as usual. In terms of forward bookings we are up compared to the same time last year. We've got 33 and 37 bookings in each of our Norfolk cottages, plus 28 in one that I just started managing in December so very happy with that.

Still getting a good level of enquiries coming through. We use OD and our own website.

[lasourcetranquille]

We're just outside Paris and we're a little concerned at the lack of bookings. We've got about 9 weeks booked so far with very little between now and the end of May. For our last three years we've had summer fully booked by now and have averaged 30+ weeks a year. Not good.