Operating a gîte in France is a implausible means of producing revenue, whether or not you simply need to high up your pension, make your second house pay its payments, or run a critical enterprise to stay from. While there’s a basic description of what a gîte is, there are numerous variations and goal teams to match. What decisions are you going to make in making a gîte? Rupert Springfield from Gîte Guru walks us by way of among the decisions on this important Information to making a gîte in France.
Gîtes or chambre d’hôtes, that’s the query?
Which fits you and your property higher? Each supply lodging to vacationers, however that’s the place the similarities finish. A chambres d’hôtes is a B&B providing a bed room within the proprietor’s house, bedding, breakfast and every day cleansing. A bunch is required to be current for checking-in and caring for visitors.
A gîte is a self-contained unit with its personal entrance the place visitors can cook dinner for themselves. A gîte doesn’t have to supply bedding, breakfast, or every day cleansing. You possibly can stay away from the gîte, even abroad, with a 3rd get together appearing as a contact individual to your visitors. So the property already determines which sort of lodging you’ll supply – is it an unbiased dwelling, or rooms in your personal home?
A single chambre d’hôtes is restricted to providing a most of 5 rooms and accommodating a most of 15 individuals. A gîte is limitless, however like a chambres d’hôtes, if it accommodates greater than 15 individuals, it’s thought of an ERP (Etablissement Recevant du Public) and should adjust to excessive security requirements, reminiscent of fireplace doorways, emergency exit indicators, automated security lighting, and many others.
Desk d’hôtes
B&B visitors prefer to find a way dine close by, so in case your location is sort of remoted, providing desk d’hôtes will assist improve your B&B bookings, your revenue and naturally, your workload. Desk d’hôtes signifies that you welcome your visitors to your desk for a night meal. A single alternative of three programs is obtainable (maybe with a vegetarian choice) in contrast to a restaurant menu with assorted dishes.
Solely visitors of the chambres d’hôtes are allowed to affix you on the desk—passers-by or native residents will not be allowed, in any other case you’ll have to adjust to restaurant laws. In case you plan to serve alcohol, it’s essential to apply for a liquor license referred to as a petite licence de restaurant and full a obligatory coaching course referred to as a permis d’exploitation.
Take into account the rental choices
A gîte is commonly rented out for per week, particularly in the summertime months, and also you’ll maybe get twenty to forty bookings a yr. A chambres d’hôtes room is rented out per evening, so would require many extra bookings to make a great quantity of revenue. If there are a number of B&B rooms, it’s possible you’ll want a whole bunch of bookings per yr.
Every reserving requires communication together with your visitor earlier than they arrive, arranging funds, making ready the room or home, welcoming your visitors, answering their questions, and at last checking them out. And all this normally as soon as per week for a gîte, however a number of instances for a chambres d’hôtes. As well as, a chambres d’hôtes proprietor might supply desk d’hôtes and positively breakfast (which implies an early begin!) and every day cleansing of the room. So working a B&B requires a a lot better funding of your time than a gîte.
Hospitality is a high quality for each kinds of proprietor – being heat, pleasant, useful and respectful to all of your completely different visitors. However an proprietor of a chambres d’hôtes is required to be on website to welcome visitors and allow them to share their house, while a gîte proprietor by no means even has to satisfy them. Are you the kind of host who relishes sharing your house and being available to your visitors, or would you view that as an invasion of your privateness?!
What’s your buyer base
Will the amenities and the variety of bedrooms and loos in your gîte entice {couples}, households or intergenerational households? We have now a 5-bedroom gîte and a 1-bedroom cottage subsequent door; the cottage is ideal for grandparents who need to vacation with their kids and grandchildren however need to have the ability to retreat to their very own house once they need to!
What nationalities will your visitors be? It will partly be decided by the benefit of journey to your space from different international locations; the Dordogne has quite a lot of Brits, Dutch and Belgians (all served by Bergerac airport) while Provence has higher flight connections with a wider vary of nationalities.
You may additionally resolve to acquire labels to your gîte to have the ability to welcome particular teams, such because the Tourisme et Handicap label (adapting your gîte in order that it’s accessible to visitors in wheelchairs, or visually impaired individuals) or an Eco label. There are a variety of those, reminiscent of Gîtes de France’s personal Ecogîte label, or Clef Verte or the EU Ecolabel. These labels allow you to promote your gîte’s environmental efficiency, as an example specializing in diminished power/water use, sustainable supplies, and waste administration,
Does VAT form what you supply?
Most gîtes are (fortuitously) exempt from charging 10% VAT to their visitors. In case your gîte enterprise earns beneath €85,000 p.a. (2026), you might be exempt. In case you earn over this, then it’s essential to not settle for stays of over 30 nights, and never supply 3 or 4 of the next 4 para-hotelier providers:
- Breakfast – most gîtes don’t supply this
- Mattress linen – most gîtes do supply this
- Reception – all gîtes supply this, as both a welcome in individual or a key left in a keybox meets this criterion
- Common cleansing – there was a lot debate by the Conseil d’Etat in regards to the definition of this. The 2026 definition is that one clear per week (which is the changeover clear) is just not thought of common cleansing.
In case you earn over €85,000 p.a., don’t supply midweek cleansing, and don’t take bookings over 30 nights, you’ll be able to stay exempt from charging VAT.
Gîte Guru
Rupert recognises how sophisticated the foundations and laws for fellow gîte house owners are, and the way staying updated with the continuous modifications is troublesome. He posts usually on Instagram @gite.guru with updates and essential information that can assist you, and in The Gîte Podcast (on YouTube youtube.com/@TheGitePodcast and all good podcast platforms) he discusses the ups and downs or registration and working gîtes with different house owners. All this data and inspiration is free!
Nonetheless, for recommendation tailored to your gîte and plans, you will discover out extra or e-book a session with him at giteguru.com
