My first guests for this year - due in two weeks - have just emailed to say they are (very reluctantly) cancelling and postponing to next year. Not because of any concerns regarding when they are here (rural SW France) but because they feel that the flight down will be too risky. They feel that the airlines are not doing enough to protect their passengers and also cancelling flights at the last minute. So my guests just don’t want the stress - can’t say I blame them.
Having spent weeks thinking about what I need to do to keep them safe, I now feel quite bereft! Even stripped back, the cottage will look lovely.
So I’m opening up my calendar.
Mind you, I’m hoping if anyone does book that they will be driving down!
Is anyone else finding that, now flights have resumed, their guests are still cancelling because of health risks associated with the travelling itself?
No, but then we don’t have British clients. Couldn’t they drive to you instead?
Yes someone has just cancelled a 4 week booking for September same sort of concerns although they usually have a cabin on the st Malo ferry. That leaves me with just some French clients for this year.
Our phone has been ringing non-stop with French people seeking to book. So you shouldn’t have a problem filling empty weeks?
We currently have two sets of French guests who both drove down, the first Brits are due in two weeks and as they’ve only just booked (and paid in full) they’re unlikely to cancel especially as they’ve been to this particular house before. After a flood of bookings and some cancellations enquiries seem to have dried up as I guess most people will have sorted their holidays by now.
The local gîte had a family of 6 for a week… they left Saturday morning and a family of 4 moved in on the same Saturday afternoon…
the cleaner was there (in between) for 2 hours…
We are all hoping that sufficient was done in those 2 hours… 
and we are intending to be friendly… from a distance.
Both sets are French folk.
You are so right Jane, I can’t believe it!
Absolute madness here! I have had FOUR inquiries within the space of an hour for the first weeks of August - a dutch woman via Holiday France Direct, wanting a week. Two French people wanting the same week (one via HomeAway and the other via an agent) and an English family wanting 2 weeks coming over via the tunnel (via my website). OH and I have opened a book on the number of inquiries by the end of the day!
Not sure they have sorted things out Tim. The agent (who phoned) said he’s really struggling to find somewhere for his client.
Some gite owners require the renter to clean the house and strip all the beds before they leave, it was certainly the norm in the Gites de France properties we’ve stayed at. If that was the case then re-making the beds and a bit more cleaning wouldn’t have taken longer than 2 hours.
Could well be that they’ve got something different sorted out, since the cleaner is usually there nearer 4 hours between tenants.
Whatever, we all wave/chat … from a distance… which I think is fair enough.
That is so NOT the protocol that is being advocated by the French tourist boards in a 14 page detailed instruction booklet.
At least a week between bookings.
Clear distinction between cleaning - done first - and disinfection over the same surfaces afterwards.
Training of cleaners and appropriate clothing
Every single item in the kitchen put through a hot dishwasher wash - I couldn’t do that in less than two days, even with our stripped down cutlery/crockery etc
Strict protocol with bedding - left for 2-3 days and then on highest wash.
And so on, and so on … no way is it just “a bit more cleaning”
Not least, the gite owners are putting the cleaner’s health at risk AND putting their next guests’ health at risk. Yes, they might get away with it, but what if they don’t?
I’m with Stella on this, stay well clear!
Not seen this anywhere Sue.
Yes I usually do the cleaning myself but have just employed 2 cleaners so one is always available. Will be leaving gaps between bookings as well.
Keep it simple but do it well.
We are having many people wanting to book but we are offering to take bookings for next year on a temporary basis, with no deposit, just to see how things play out.
We do not want folk from UK here at the moment and if we took all the bookings we would be full week on week.
Do you have a link to the booklet, or the name of it so we can track it down. We are presently using the W.H.O. guidelines. We are charging slightly more for a clean that we were but two of our English owners have objected on the grounds that a) everyone is just over-reacting about the whole thing and b) my guests don’t expect all that extra stuff to be done, just do a standard turnround.
The best guidance is the link on this thread - the ADN one.
We have given our clients an instruction sheet, that so far they seem happy with. So sheets and towels placed in a big washing bag, things like books and CD that they’ve used in final 3 days of their stay placed in a basket, requesting hand-washing before putting away crockery and cutlery and hot not eco cycle on dishwasher, open windows etc before they leave. Beyond that it’s a choice, and people who have wanted to cancel have been given full refunds instantly.
This is my English translation of the ADN booklet…
Hi Tim, too tired to find it at the moment - but there has been a discussion about not entering the property for 3 days then cleaning and leaving the property for 3 days afterwards. On another forum I follow several gite owners are leaving a week between bookings in order to make sure they can clean adequately. Maybe it’s not in a protocol - in which case sorry for misleading - but just a view that only by doing so can we do a thorough job for our guests and also keep ourselves and our cleaners safe.
Not the same as a gîte, but there was a baptism yesterday and the church will not be entered for 3 days (and then it will be cleaned in the usual way and left ready for the next … whatever.)
seems to take 2 cleaners four hrs each in normal times
we have very large rooms all ensuite,
I imagine that I could add at least 2 hrs more
But we are closed until next year
Blimey! 8 hours! How many bedrooms for heaven’s sake as I can normally do 200m2 house with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living rooms, kitchen etc etc plus garden basics in 4 hours. And with extra disinfecting it’s now taking 6 hours.
Without going into any detail we are currently locked in battle with two clients over the cleaning protocols and disappointingly neither of them have grasped that these procedures are there to protect their guests (and us). If we can’t resolve things in the next couple of days then we will have no choice other than to walk away.