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GillianF
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Post by GillianF »

Pirou makes some sense to me regarding people who love France actually buying somewhere as a second home.

We find, talking to UK friends and family, that almost everyone has a workmate, friend, neighbour etc. who has a holiday home here and they offer it to their own friends and family "just to cover costs".

We can't compete on price with someone renting something just to cover their utilities, tax and insurance costs.
Pirou
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Post by Pirou »

To be a bit clearer, our own situation isn't quite how I made it sound in my earlier post. In fact we're renting out our main residence. For work reasons, we rent a large shoebox in a town near Paris. When my partner retires in a few years we'll stop renting the house out and make a permanent move. Because it's our main home, it is very well equipped and furnished and we charge upper end of the market prices. Not everyone wants bargain basement properties but of course the challenge is being found by those who are willing to pay more for better.

There are a couple of British-owned and one Parisian-owned holiday cottages locally that I wouldn't home a stray dog in. And I suppose experiences in places like that will also sour a person's relationship with France. Although, when I think of some of the places our parents used to book when we were children. Sleeping in a sleeping bag on a frayed and stained camp bed seemed exciting then!! :lol:
petitbois
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Post by petitbois »

though slightly depressing all your postings have cheered us up a little as at least we now know we are not alone in our experiences- as others have said am so glad we are at the end of our 15yrs & not starting up. UK guests used to be a pleasure to welcome, now not so much. We have had a handful of UKgite enquiries lately which have failed to convert for 2 reasons a) the pool is shared & b) we live on site. Fortunately all our regulars so far this year have booked for 2018 - but we are all getting older......the young guests are conspicuous by their absence. We have a large French family(22 inc 8children) for a week from tomorrow (1 couple are regulars) who have booked all 4B&B rooms & both gites, & although we will be serving breakfast we will need to keep out of sight in our 'space' for most of the week - my husband will be the pool boy & gardener & myself the maid. Pets are going to kennels for the week.....will see how we get on, but this may be our next phase of the business - 3,500euros for the week...we may move into our Gitefor2 during the 8wk season & have the rest of the year guest-free..anyone else doing this.
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

petitbois wrote:...we may move into our Gitefor2 during the 8wk season & have the rest of the year guest-free..anyone else doing this.
Its in our future plans for when we stop fostering & our youngest son leaves home, probably looking at a 16 week season though. Our main house which is our home has 7 bedroom so far to large for the 2 of us, the rough plan is to build an exclusive pool in the garden for guest renting it. We'll see how things pan out over the next few years before deciding.
For us this year has been pretty good but thing have certainly changed over past 20 odd years. I'm pleased weaning ourselves off the likes of OD & TA has been a success & i hope it continues.
gh
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Post by gh »

This thread is very interesting.

I have reread the thread and what others have said could be the reason for the decline in bookings. It is quite varied what is considered could be some off the reasons bookings are slim.

Airbnb & similar
Exchange rate
Scam properties
Quiet for teenagers
Owners charge F&F rate
Terrorism
Long Haul holidays
Previous terrible rentals
Larger properties booked between families to shared costs
No logic
Pool not private
Owners on site
Other European destinations


I am not a host, just let out our property and I am not sure as to why some owners get bookings and some don't. Sleeps 8 + 2 babies private pool, managed locally.

Been on this site long enough to know that owners on here do care about their guests and the attention they give to their property.

We use our property quite a lot renting it out only June July & August. One week available during this period; last week August. That is usually the last to go as near school return for parents. The bookings are happening later and go to booking quicker.

We find that end of June & July is in the main Irish or Scottish guests as schools stop then. As its June hopeful that the bookings come in for all.

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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

we may move into our Gitefor2 during the 8wk season & have the rest of the year guest-free..anyone else doing this.
I know I'm in ibiza....but this is what we do petitbois.
The season here is quite short (and some would say getting shorter :shock: ) We move out of our home end of May (we start renting the end of may school holiday week) in to a 1 bed apartment/casita we have attached to the villa (though completely seperate) and move back in mid to end September (depending on bookings).

We rent over 16 week period.

It's hard work getting your home ready for guests, and all that moving out of your home entails, as you're on a tight deadline.....but it afford us the life we live at the moment.

This thread is very interesting. Here things are also changing but it's more to do with the VIP culture that is getting a stranglehold on the island.

Mousie
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

I have just been hearing that rental friends down here are suddenly swamped with booking requests. After a quiet start to the year they are now receiving enough requests for July and August to let them ten times over.

I don't know if this is a widespread phenomenon, but taking on board La Vache's comment (elsewhere today) about the popularity of Airbnb searches, I wonder if the Airbnb concept of spontaneous booking at short notice is making itself felt in the holiday rentals market and changing the whole dynamic. People's expectations are to go where they like, when they like, at a moment's notice, and we are seeing the knock-on effect of that in the traditional rentals market.

Just a thought to conjure with . . .

Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
petitbois
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Post by petitbois »

in last 3 days have taken 5wks of bookings in B&B & Gitefor2 - French, Dutch & from UK - all for the next 4wks
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

Mols, you may be right. I went from one week's booking for the summer Jun-Aug to almost fully booked in just a couple of weeks. I was dealing with booking requests non-stop over the last Frnech bank holiday weekend.
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

I just let my last week in July (from Saturday) to Belgian guests, one week in advance of arrival. Bookings are definitely more last minute, but saying that I've had a few bookings from UK for 2018 so fingers crossed that the UK bookings will be better next year.
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

la vache! wrote:I just let my last week in July (from Saturday) to Belgian guests, one week in advance of arrival. Bookings are definitely more last minute, but saying that I've had a few bookings from UK for 2018 so fingers crossed that the UK bookings will be better next year.
Its looking good for next year for us as well with 18 weeks booked hopefully this will continue. This year to date is our second best but very different from the previous years with just a handful of bookings in May and 1 so far in September to balance this we have had a really busy June & October/November/December bookings are way better than usual.
JP
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Post by JP »

Reading with interest here as I have only been in this game for 4 full years, those of you who say bookings are dwindling are your guest mainly British based?
Our 4 full years renting have had very similar levels of bookings but we get very few Brits.
Our first couple of years did include more uk based bookings but these have halved and been replaced by world wide guests.
We seem to attract short stays of maybe 3-5 nights which I think is because people want to explore the glitz of St Tropez and all around but like the 15 minutes drive back to peace and quiet and of course much cheaper prices.
I don't personally know many people now who holiday in France from Britain other than caravaners and campers.
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

Something very strange is going on - we've had more bookings for next year than ever before at this point in the current year and because we're running a shorter season next year have already filled more than half of our available weeks in both houses :shock: - and all but one booking from the UK.

It doesn't make any logical sense at all. Sterling is tumbling (we charge in euros), airport chaos rules, and there are more and more holiday lets, including endless start-ups and second home owners who want to reap a bit of a return. We've increased our prices by a fairly big hike (5% and 8%) too.

I'm baffled. Not unhappy, but baffled.
JP
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Post by JP »

Long may it last 😎
jlaceysmith
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Post by jlaceysmith »

It's very bizarre - we have our 3 cottages on all the main listings, although we always hope that guests will find us through our website and avoid extra booking fees. Last week, exhausted from cleaning gites and in a moment of madness, I added a €50 cleaning fee to our booking.com listing (thinking of a week stay). Since then, I've had 3 one night bookings, all of them paying the nightly tariff, plus the €50 cleaning fee. Seems mad?!
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