Gite and Chambre d'hote Owners chat

Hi there, last minute descision to take next week off. Does anyone have a gites with swimming pool for rent this coming week. I know its a long shot but rather give you thebusiness before I start searching the internet. Two adults two children

Seems to me as if there's a whole new group here Catharine! The Gite Exchange Group???? I have two gites that I'd be happy to put up for a swap, the Cottage (2 x double bedrooms, lounge, kitchen/diner) and L'Olivier which is a ground floor one double bedroomed appartment. Both are totally self contained but within the grounds of the main house offering gym, yoga space, gardens, bbq space and enclosed off street parking. www.haute-pyrenees-holidays.com We are close enough to a 11C Church to be a listed building in a small rural town (2,500 inhabitants) so rural countryside but with all the amentiies.

We have done a gite exchange several years running and its always worked very well.

This year for some reason we could not get it organised so we are renting on the Med for our little break this September.

If anyone is interested for the future our details are on the web site: www.chabrisloirevalley.com

I too have thought about a gite exchange. We are not quite ready for this year, but will be up and running for next year.

We are in the South of Burgundy in the Clunysois. Our gite is equipped to a very high standard and has two en-suite bedrooms and a heated pool.

If anyone is interested I can provide more information.

Is anyone interested in a gite exchange? We are looking for an exchange sometime in September or mid-october anywhere in the south for our gite in Auvergne. Dates don't have to be simultaneous for us. We are needing a break and thought this might be a good idea?

If interested let me know and we can exchange details. details of our gite/cottage are on our website www.laplatriere.co.uk

:-)

Has anybody in the Dordogne area got a vacancy in their gite from this Saturday 4th August for one week for friends of mine please? It would be for two adults.

Thank you.

Barbara

If you pay your cotisations on line it does the calculation for you. The 71% abattement isn't deducted as that's to do with tax. On chambre d'hôtes you pay 12.1%, so on 6000 it would be 726 €.

Jan

I KNOW of a designer who is based in 24

She is very reasonable and easy to deal with.

Drop me a personal mail and I will find her contact details for you.

Can someone kindly reminde me how to work out the cotistation return for RSI

AE on chambre d hote?

On lets say 6.000 EUROS what will the payement be?

Do you calculate the 71% abatement from the gross and then pay 20%

Thanks .

we had the first two weeks of July empty...now full till 3rd week of September for one week...though normally fully booked for summer and last year fully booked up to and including October...

Suprised that we have nothing for the last 2 weeks in Aug...

Anyone else finding it a slow then?

We send out terms and conditions with the booking form; 25% non-refundable deposit secures the booking with the remainder payable 8 weeks before commencement. Clients should have in place holiday insurance so that if anything happens and they can't come we do not loose out. Payment can be by bank transfer in England or France or by Paypal if they have an account or using a credit card on PayPal. €250 damage deposit in cash plus they can pay an additional €50 cleaning fee if they don't want to clean before they leave.

I think you're into an entirely different ball game with a painting course. If I ran them (well,in fact I did in another life!) I'd expect money up front to ensure some commitment to arriving and participating. After all, you may have turned others down and may need a minimum number to run a course anyway. I'd have a look about and search for courses in France and see what sort of commitment and payment upfront others expect.

Jan

sheila we had our first year last year... we have just the two bedrooms - but everyone who booked turned up... we had very few english - but of them i used paypal for a £20 deposit for anything over one night, which did the trick.

Like Jan says french guests seem to like sending a cheque upfront - particularly locals...

anyone 'unusual' i push through booking.com - i have a button on my website - it costs a couple of euro's but makes everything VERY official!

x teresa

I think you should think about what you are going to do if they don't turn up and you haven't time to relet. If you take an almost immediate booking it is quite ususal to ask for a much larger deposit, or the whole amount.

Thanks for that Jan. Like you, I haven't put terms and conditions on either of our two websites, and probably should set out a reasonable notice period for refunding deposits. I had hoped our main income stream would be from the painting courses, (and less likely from offering English courses with accommodation), but in fact I've received one email this morning confirming B&B for week in August, and one for painting course in September. I guess 10% up front would be reasonable?

The French like to pay a deposit, whether you've asked or not. I think it makes them feel safer! With the French, cheques are fine and easy, and I ask when they phone or email a reservation request. When I received the deposit the booking's confirmed.

I didn't use to ask from UK guests but having been let down a couple of times, I now get a deposit that at least covers the cost of the evening meal if they don't arrive and we've cooked for them. If it's a large group of people using several rooms for several nights I request a larger amount. I don't have, but know I ought, have T&Cs on our website. We have a French contract from GdF, which we rarely send out, but that does state stuff about deposits etc.If you'd like me to scan it I will. Deposits from the UK are trickier but I've started using PayPal this year and it seems to work OK.

Not had very much experience with refunds as by and large our guests have arrived once they've booked!

Hope this helps,

Jan

We are newbies in the world of Chambres d'Hotes. Can anyone help me with suggestions as to requesting deposits - ie., how much and when, and what is a reasonable refund policy? Thanks. Sheila.

@ Danny Kibbey Hi Danny, thank you so much. I was doing quite well helping Tarah out, although a little concerned that she was not responing nor 'proofing' my efforts, and low and behold, a friend has just informed me that she has flown back to Madagasca because her Mum has been taken ill... I have a slight dilemma now..in that should there be any enquiries I will have to field them myself... I am quite aware of the exacting nature of letting in my own area, Cap D'Agde..and I am slightly concerned that assuming her Mum will be alright my friend is not up to speed on the ins and outs. Time will tell.