So our project for the house in the Aude is coming along nicely and we are now getting to the point of looking for financing from the Consiel General etc for creating rooms and gîtes. We've done quite a bit of looking on the intertubes and it seems to be eligible for various aide etc you have to belong to one of the 4 nationally recognised labels. These are
Gîte de France
Clévacance
Fleur de Soliel
Accuile paysans
So any advise, opinions etc on which one to go with? We were thinking either Gîte de France or Clévacance as they have the most members. We know that we don't have to belong to any of these to actually run the B&B or the gîtes but to get things like 0% loans we do. Also we will be selling to the French market as well as to visiting tourists.
thanks
Margo
If you get a subsidy or loan from Gîtes de France, then of course they "lock you in" for a period of time. However, you are not forced to use their booking administration. We are GdF, but we handle all our bookings ourselves.
You don’t have to go with any of these. You can advertise with your local tourist office and go into their annual brochure (too late for this year). We have found we get most interest from Le Bon Coin … Free unless you want more than 3 photos, 5 euros for up to 10. The advert lasts for. 3 months but then you just repost your ad, and it goes back to the top of the list. It’s very useful to make alterations, such as last minute reductions.
It all depends on your circumstances and what works best for you, Margo. We decided against any of the above because we didn't want to be locked in to any particular network for a long period of time. The costs associated with having Gitesd e France doing your booking administration can be quite high, so take a look at the ongoing costs and the duration you have to be committed to them (or the others) which is part of the "deal" for getting the grants. It may work to your advantage, but check before signing up.