French attitudes to holiday renting

[Giddy Goat]

The French seem to be more, err, economical: they are unlikely to spend money on a house that sleeps 8 if they do not actually require that amount of space...

At the risk of making sweeping generalisations, I think the French are less interested in their interiors overall, (this may be changing) and spend much more per capita on fashion, health and beauty treatments, food and wine - so perhaps they consider unused bedrooms a waste of money which could be better spent at the spa down the road!

It has often been stated on other threads that they have high standards of cleanliness in their homes. I can't comment on this as we've only had one set of French guests so far - but they were also the ones who grumbled the most!

[la vache!]

I had an enquiry yesterday from some French people for my little cottage, which sleeps 2 adults and 2 children ideally.
They were a group of 7 adults and 1 child, they were also going to bring a camper van with them (which may well have been hooked up to my electricity) and they wanted a 3 night stay which would have cost 180€, which works out around 7,50€ per head per night.

I turned down the booking.

My observations on the French rental market:-
1. They like squashing as many people in as possible to the accommodation in order to get the price per head as low as possible.
2. Comfort is not a priority, neither is having a bed for the kids (they tend to bring inflatable beds for offspring, see no.1)
3. The higher the price they have to pay, even for luxury accommodation, the more they will complain.
4. Plenty of dining space indoors and out plus a barbecue is a priority, no matter what the weather.
5. They do not pay as much for rentals as other nationalities, I never get any French bookings for Peak
6. They do not book very far in advance, often just days.
7. Supervision of children is sometimes wanting, although the children are always very polite.
8. The welcome they receive on site is of far more importance to them than it seems to be to UK guests
9. They are more sociable and I get invited for aperos very often, even if they only book for a weekend
10. They like UK bed linen
11. They always strip the beds and clean thoroughly, even when housecleaning is included
12. They never read the 'régles de vie', or my directions (which are all in French) and rarely dispose of their own rubbish in the communal bins as asked.
13. The sofas are cleaner as they eat their meals at the table, the children are not allowed to snack on yogurts/biscuits/chocolate on the sofas and ruin the covers.
14. A filter coffee maker is essential
15. They always write a comment in the livre d'or (guest book) before leaving and so far they have always been very nice.
16. They give me a lot of shoulder season bookings which I am very happy about!

I'm sure I will think of some more soon....

[Rocket Rab]

What a superb ragoût of observations, LV...

Got to tidy the hutch out right now, but I'll hop by again later...

[Giddy Goat]

That's a great list Susan and makes interesting reading! Be keen to see what else pops into that head!

[Sarah]

Just thought I'd add my observations as we had, with exception of one Spanish family, entirely French guests last summer.

Our experiences seem to be different to Susan's. This maybe is due to our location as we are down south, perhaps French families are more likely to head south during the summers hols.

1. Our property sleeps 8-10 but all of the families underoccupied, two of the families comprised just 2 adults and 2 children.

2. There were absolutely no problems with paying the full peak season price. The only quibble in some cases was over the damage deposit. Some people were not happy to pay in advance and wanted it returned on the day they left. Others asked for the cheque not to be cashed which is standard practice in France.

3. The house was left in a much cleaner state than with the majority of our British guests. There was, however a problem with getting them to leave on time on the day of departure. Without exception, they were all still packing up and in one case having breakfast at 10am.

4. We had only one complaint and that was about the fridge not being big enough, which it wasn't (has now been replaced with a huge one). At the time we provided a second fridge to go in the boiler room.

5. The French were more 'all encompassing' than our British guests, really making themselves at home and using the garden/pool area to it maximum.

6. The feedback we received from our French visitors was that they prefer not to be on a gite complex, they like the place to themselves and they like not to have to share the pool with anyone. This was a big plus point as far as they were concerned with our place. They also liked the ensuites and the bed linen.

7. The visitors didn't use the guest book as much as others for comments, instead they used the 'Homelidays' comments system and sent e-mails afterwards. Having said that, I didn't actually point it out to them so maybe they didn't realise that it was there, (it is very small, A5 size - must get a bigger one!)


I was quite nervous at the start of last summer as I didn't know what to expect, but have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Sarah

[la vache!]

J
6. The feedback we received from our French visitors was that they prefer not to be on a gite complex, they like the place to themselves and they like not to have to share the pool with anyone. This was a big plus point as far as they were concerned with our place.
Sarah

I don't really see this as being anything to do with nationality - it is just personal preference and if they have booked somewhere private, then that is obviously their preference. Other people actually prefer a gite complex as they like their children to make other friends and don't mind sharing facilities as the price is often lower than a private villa. It is horses for courses.

I agree that most French tend to head South for the sun in the summer and will probably pay more for that. Brittany tends to attract the Northern Europeans in the summer!

[Sarah]

J
6. The feedback we received from our French visitors was that they prefer not to be on a gite complex, they like the place to themselves and they like not to have to share the pool with anyone. This was a big plus point as far as they were concerned with our place.
Sarah

I don't really see this as being anything to do with nationality - it is just personal preference and if they have booked somewhere private, then that is obviously their preference. Other people actually prefer a gite complex as they like their children to make other friends and don't mind sharing facilities as the price is often lower than a private villa. It is horses for courses.

I'm not criticising gite complexes, our intention was always to have 3 gites (we are on the way to completing the second) and I would agree that some people like to be on a complex.

However, these were comments made by our French guests and one of the major reasons for them making the booking and paying peak season prices. We haven't received similar comments from guests of other nationalities although obviously, it may have been a factor in the decision to book our gite.

[Rocket Rab]

Just thought I'd add my observations as we had, with exception of one Spanish family, entirely French guests last summer.

Hi Sarah,

I'm intrigued! What's your secret for attracting so many French families? Do you leave fine wines and foie gras scattered around?

Seriously, perhaps you advertise solely on sites I personally regard as more 'French-oriented' (?), i.e. Homelidays....

Am I right in thinking that you are quite unusual in this amongst the LMHers in France ?

[Sarah]

Hi Rab

The honest answer is, I really don't know what happened last year.

Our bookings got off to a late start, we got our first one on boxing day (a French family through Homelidays). The others came in steadily after that, all French bar one Spanish family, through Homelidays. Apart from Homelidays we were using French Connections, Escape and Holidaylets. With the exception of FC who tend to provide us with June and September bookings we didn't get anything from the other two sites (now dropped) at all.

This year, we have used Holidaylettings and Holiday Rentals and were booked up for all but a couple of weeks in July by the end of October 2006. All Brits for 2007. I think by the time we got to the French booking season (after Christmas), everything had gone bar this couple of weeks in July we have left. I did have a French enquiry last week for the whole of July but they obviously hadn't looked at our availability calendar.

I think as a rule, the French book late, stick to school holidays unless it's for long weekends and tend to go south for summer. They all said that sole use of the site was also important.

On the subject of wines and fois gras, we did find that the French were more sniffy about wine (naturally I suppose) and what we thought of as 'rather nice' bottles were not appreciated much. One family brought a few cases of vintage Veuve Cliquot (which they did invite us to try ), something I don't think we could run to in the welcome pack, so I'm not sure that wine is the way to go in future. Maybe the fois gras though......


Sarah

[Jimbo]

Rocket Rab wrote:

Am I right in thinking that you are quite unusual in this amongst the LMHers in France ?

In three years here, we've never had a French booking and, unless I'm mistaken, never a French enquiry either. However, as long as other nationalities book, we've never seen it as a problem but it is intriguing. Lots of French visitors to this area in the summer but I've assumed that what we have on offer isn't attractive to the French on holiday. And, truth to tell, I've always enjoyed the cosmopolitan nature of our guests.

Diana says it might be because we make all the guest sing Land of Hope and Glory at sundown, but I don't believe this.

Jim

[Giddy Goat]

And it's in your advertising bumph too is it Jimbo?

Do you advertise in Homelidays as this seems to be where the majority of referrals to LMH peeps from French guests is reportedly coming from?

[chrismooney]

fascinating thread this as last year we had nearly 99% english guests advertising through stopover connections,owners direct and visit france. interesting though that we had about 6 french visitors turn up at different times of the season...we have some conspicuous signs advertising our place on the main road so we are easy to find,asking for rooms for the night. when we quoted them the b and b rate, 60euro for a room sleeping 2 adults and 2 children with breakfast, they ALL tried to haggle us down to between 30 and 40 euro!!!

we now have a sign over our property which reads

WE ARE A BUSINESS.....NOT A CHARITY!!

at the risk of it sounding Fawlty-ish,we may have it translated into a few languages!!!

[Rocket Rab]

when we quoted them the b and b rate, 60euro for a room sleeping 2 adults and 2 children with breakfast, they ALL tried to haggle us down to between 30 and 40 euro!!!

we now have a sign over our property which reads

WE ARE A BUSINESS.....NOT A CHARITY!!

at the risk of it sounding Fawlty-ish,we may have it translated into a few languages!!!

Chris,

When doing business with the French, I think it helps to remember that 'negotiating' seems to be embedded deep in the French genes. It is a game that is to be enjoyed! Be prepared, people will ask - even if you already offer seriously good rates - and you need to find some way of saying no with a big smile and a big dusting of humour whilst still making them feel so welcome that they don't want to leave. Maybe rethink the wording on the sign?

[Giddy Goat]

Going by what you've said Jenny, maybe Chris needs to remove the sign altogether? I agree, humour helps when the question is asked; it's easy to let ones feathers get ruffled, but if it's only a 'try on' and you say no in the right way, no offence is likely to be taken.

I wish I'd known about this quaint French habit before I gave my only French guests the 5% discount last year - the complainers....we could have let that week in all probability, as they enquired uncharacteristically early for the French it would seem (the woman who booked was Brit married to a Frenchman) and the week they came was in early Sept.

Oh well, live and learn!

[chrismooney]

people
i will only give a discount if Krakatoa is not erupting so that clarifies that then!!
what would be the translation in french for

WE ARE A BUSINESS, NOT A CHARITY??