Anybody running gites?
Discussion
I used to own a campsite in the Pyrenees with some mobile homes and safari tents.We scrapped weekly Saturday-Saturday on 1 mobile home and let it by the night,even in peak season.It was our most popular and profitable because it fitted in with what people wanted but more importantly they were very flexible,changing their plans to suit our bookings.
Unfortunately we could only do 1 mobile home as the cleaning and change overs would have been impossible to manage over all rentals but it worked and worked very well.
Whether it would work for a gite,I don't know.
Unfortunately we could only do 1 mobile home as the cleaning and change overs would have been impossible to manage over all rentals but it worked and worked very well.
Whether it would work for a gite,I don't know.
I only have one gite running right now, but two more hopefully finished by the end of this year. Once we have three gites I'll be more flexible on start/end days on one of them and see how it goes, but it's an interesting option.... I still think we'll have to impose a minimum three night stay otherwise the overheads are too great.
Our take on this-
The French domestic market seem happy still with Saturday-Saturday in France, seems to be what they expect, However the UK guests (Who mainly fly to South of France) are limited by the flights they can get, (Ryanair mostly) so we offer pretty much any day changeover, add a small premium which covers the cost of the odd empty night. We do use airbnb with mixed success. Most business comes from private websites, recommendations etc. Most bookings through Airbnb are from 'foreign' guests.
In the UK, we tried one property as an anyday changeover last year and sales went through the roof. This year we are offering this on all 3 cottages in the Lake District and we are pretty much full most of the time so far. Airbnb has been a great way for getting new guests in the UK.
The UK working pattern has changed in such a way that there are many fewer people who work the traditional working week of Mon-Fri. (Think NHS, Police, Transport, Retail etc, many of whom work flexible days)
The French domestic market seem happy still with Saturday-Saturday in France, seems to be what they expect, However the UK guests (Who mainly fly to South of France) are limited by the flights they can get, (Ryanair mostly) so we offer pretty much any day changeover, add a small premium which covers the cost of the odd empty night. We do use airbnb with mixed success. Most business comes from private websites, recommendations etc. Most bookings through Airbnb are from 'foreign' guests.
In the UK, we tried one property as an anyday changeover last year and sales went through the roof. This year we are offering this on all 3 cottages in the Lake District and we are pretty much full most of the time so far. Airbnb has been a great way for getting new guests in the UK.
The UK working pattern has changed in such a way that there are many fewer people who work the traditional working week of Mon-Fri. (Think NHS, Police, Transport, Retail etc, many of whom work flexible days)
Minimum of 2 nights, though we seem to get a lot of 3 night stays. We do not do 1 night at all.
It does create a quite a few changeovers extra, but in France we put on a 30euro cleaning charge for each let which helps, in UK we just get on with the extra work. Depends what else you do with your time.
We have 4 UK properties, it was always difficult to do a full changeover in all 4 on a Friday, we now have more days with changeover, but it is generally only 2 maximum on a given day. I am fortunate that I can be flexible with work.
Same in France, our partner out there struggles with 4 in a day, but one each day for 4 days is easy.! (He 'semi retired' to France, so summer is work time and out of season for their holidays and days off.
It does create a quite a few changeovers extra, but in France we put on a 30euro cleaning charge for each let which helps, in UK we just get on with the extra work. Depends what else you do with your time.
We have 4 UK properties, it was always difficult to do a full changeover in all 4 on a Friday, we now have more days with changeover, but it is generally only 2 maximum on a given day. I am fortunate that I can be flexible with work.
Same in France, our partner out there struggles with 4 in a day, but one each day for 4 days is easy.! (He 'semi retired' to France, so summer is work time and out of season for their holidays and days off.
Back to the OP, and some of the debate since, I think it is a matter of confidence, and of economics. A lot of people haven't been doing so well since the crash of 2008, as even low inflation eats away at derisory or zero pay rises. Therefore gite lets, along with everything else, are likely to be highly price sensitive.
P.S. currently on a family holiday in the Charente, booked through Gites de France. Admittedly difficult to place a monetary value on such a great experience.
P.S. currently on a family holiday in the Charente, booked through Gites de France. Admittedly difficult to place a monetary value on such a great experience.
We have two but we are niche, adult only 1 bed cottages standing in their own grounds, this year has been different to the previous two in as far as every single booking was for two weeks, very strange but maybe the new star rating system on owners direct? All our reviews are 5 star plus we have a gym that has been far more popular than previous years, maybe a link to being booked
We were 1/2 booked by dec 2015 and fully booked by feb 2016, have seen on 'laymyhat' many many owners complaining of it being the wost year for a very very long time
We were 1/2 booked by dec 2015 and fully booked by feb 2016, have seen on 'laymyhat' many many owners complaining of it being the wost year for a very very long time
TBH I am not surprised you are booked up Nick,you have gites of exceptional quality and chose a niche rather than trying to be all things to all men.I'm not saying others on this thread have not but the biggest problem I see with gites is a lack of quality furnishings and little in the way of reinvestment when the going is good.Some owners are completely unrealistic regarding their pricing as well.
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