Gites 2009

With the New Year just a couple of days away it’s time to sort out the advertising for the coming season. With the major advertising having already been commissioned and sorted out it’s time to re-tune the website and tinker with the smaller external sites that we use, which includes PPC (pay per click-adwords) and free websites. On our www.gites-with-pools.co.uk website we are going to try to improve the general first impression and usability, the most important change will be an improvement in the number and the quality of the videos available on the site, to this end we intend to host them all on an external server. One of the problems this year has been that some of the videos have not always run when requested. This has been partly due to our own inability to set the videos up properly and partly because of the different ways that the browsers are set up on customers’ computers. I have just returned from a short break, but while I was away I used a cyber cafe to check my email, and any problems with the website. I tried 8 different computers and virtually every one showed me something slightly different on the screen, sometimes it was the spacing, sometimes it was the fonts, sometimes the videos opened and at other times they didn’t. It would be possible to host the videos on "Youtube" (check out our video http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WXf-I7Wi6pM ) but the quality is often poor and the loading slow) this is especially true if you don’t provide it in a format that is really compatible with their system.
It will take time to re-make my existing videos suitable for the new hosting system but when completed at least they will open every time and in a good quality.
When these improvements are complete I will notify you, in the mean time have a Happy New Year.

Gite update

With the autumn now well into its stride and my short break down to the family apartment in Spain quickly becoming a faded memory its time to restart the winter work. When the weather is good then outside work in the garden is a major priority, it's the time to remove the last of the summer bedding plants, to collect up those fallen leaves even though they have not all fallen yet as they stain the light coloured patio slabs and generally make the garden look untidy. It is surprising how one can get depressed when the skies are grey and the paving is dull and one starts to wish that spring would hurry up and come, yet just the brightening up of patios and the tidying of garden in general can lift the spirit.
There is of course other work needed to be done, the general maintenance of the buildings, treating all the outside timbers, filling those bits of jointing in the stone walling that have worked loose, those bits of damage the guests have caused in the garden and around the buildings, on a vast site like ours there is always something needed to be done.
When the weather takes a turn for the worst or when a change of work is required to ease those aching bones then inside there is endless work awaiting. The Tournesol gite is nearing completion of its make over, the new laminate floors are down in the bedrooms, it just needs the skirting boards to be put in place and we will be there. Then it’s on to the Frene Gite with a new tilled kitchen and upstairs bathroom.
Over in the games hall the new toilet block is all but finished and a start on the new storage rooms is under way. We try to keep at least one spare of everything from complete toilets to curtain poles for during those hectic summer months you know someone will have an accident, something will break and as Murphy is alive and well in the Vendee you know it will happen at an inconvenient moment, the week end, bank holiday or what ever when getting a replacement is impossible, so having a spare is not only convenient but saves money and frustration and usually leaves the guest well impressed at your efficiency. The main problem in the past is having all those spares where I can find them. We have precious little storage space except for the large barn, but that needed compartmenting so that it can be easily found and out of the way from the guests, so new rooms have been formed for specialist things like, furniture with racks for new mattress's, chairs, bedside tables etc., another for everything for the kitchen, one for sanitary and plumbing and one for electrical.
The draw back to all this new organisation is that now many of my competitors with gites will now know that i have that convenience store that they can tap into in their hour of need and as I never refuse I may just have to add a few extra items to the store.
The other major job for the winter ahead is to review the websites, perhaps take a course in how to get better exposure for them and plan the campaign for new pages of information for the visitors to the site; this is of course hampered by not knowing exactly what information they would like. This years offerings on Restaurants especially around Fontenay le Comte was well received as was the pages on the beaches of the Vendee, which though finished in general is still being added to by the addition of image galleries as and when I get round to resizing and reviewing the hundreds of photos I took of all the beaches in the Vendee during the summer and Autumn.
Well the sun looks like I may come out so I best off out and start the work instead of writing about it.

Gites in the Vendee

Another fabulous week of weather here in the Vendee has somewhat lifted the gloom of the economic news that has yet again swamped our screens throughout the week. I have taken advantage of it and continued getting the garden ready for the winter, and have made some changes to the planting to make next year’s maintenance easier.
The upgrade of the Tournesol Gite has continued with the fitting of new double glazed patio doors in the lounge and the replacement of the window in the double bedroom. I have also laid laminate flooring in both of the bedrooms and have applied a fresh coat of paint throughout.
I’m hoping to start the upgrade on the Frene Gite this week by retiling the upstairs bathroom and by doing some remedial work on the kitchen before undertaking a complete redecoration of the Gîte.
There has also been a flurry of activity on the website to finish the pages on the beaches of the Vendée; this must now be the most comprehensive review of Vendéen beaches on the net. I completed the last two pages yesterday with articles on the beaches of the island of Noirmoutier and the coasts Naturist beaches. No matter how much I think I know about the Vendee, it never ceases to amaze me that whenever I carry out research for the pages that I’m writing I find so much more information, it does in fact just goes to show that so far as the Vendée is concerned, I’m really still quite ignorant.



My latest project is research into walking and cycling in the Vendee, writing these articles could be an even bigger challenge than writing those on the beaches, and my immediate thoughts are that I am going to have some problems with the images for these pages. So far as the beaches are concerned my library of images is fairly extensive, but not being an active walker or cyclist there are precious few photos in the collection appertaining to either. Perhaps this is a sign that I need to get more pro-active and take more exercise, especially after reviewing so many restaurants this summer, however with all of the work needed to keep the properties up to scratch and with my bad back, this may not be altogether practical.

New gite pages

New gite pages
What a glorious week of weather we’ve just had for mid October. Notwithstanding the doom and gloom of the world’s economic problems, which must cause all us Gîtes owners concern over the future of our industry, here in the Vendée a week of sunshine with temperatures reaching the high 20s lifts the spirits and makes us all more positive. So with the old saying, or slightly newer song by Billy Ocean, "when the going gets tough the tough get going", I set aside the temptation to just lie in the sun and relax, and got on with some of the autumn work, not only in the garden and around the Gîtes, but also on the website.
On the website the sunshine inspired me to put up a page on the Vendéen weather, the page has the usual links for the forecast; but it also has the reason why the Vendée has its remarkable micro-climate. The page can be accessed from most pages on the site this includes the pages on beaches, including the 2 more that I have just added. The two beaches that I have added are the beaches of des Granges, to the north of Olonne and the beaches of Bem-sur-Mer, which include des Dunes and la Normandelliere.
Hopefully I will add more pages on beaches this week which like the rest will be full of photos. Another significant page I am working on is about driving in France. I was awakened to the fact that I didn't fully understand the significance of the Priorité a Droit law. This bizare law is the controlling law of the road throughout France and yet the French spend billions of euros telling us that most of the time it doesn't apply. Do YOU know what the law is? If so you could help us compile the facts, and just think of the lives that you could be saving.
Lastly this week on a slightly sadder note my mate Tate, who spends his summers in the Vendée and his winters in Devon, is just about to leave for another year. Tate is the website’s resident “Critique Gastronomique” and writes most of the reviews on the restaurants. We wish him “Bon Voyage”, a fond farewell and look forward to seeing him again in May 2009.

Credit Crunch and Gites

Credit Crunch and Gites
The credit crunch brings with it a pervasively depressing scenario, and it is natural when one reads about the collapse of the banking sector, the turmoil in the stock market not to mention the sudden drop in house prices to feel overwhelmed by the doom and gloom that seems to infiltrate all levels of society. As gîte owners we have just seen possibly 20% wiped off the value of our properties. Add to that the fact that if we price our holidays in pounds sterling, taking into account the fall in the value of the pound against the Euro, we have seen a reduction in our income for the last year of almost 20%. Further add to that the fact that our visitors for next year will also be feeling the same doom and gloom and therefore may not be booking, and you may feel that we have a right to pessimistic or even suicidal.

But history has shown us that more millionaires are made during recessions and depressions than at any other time, as fortune favours the brave. There is also the fact that people will cut back on everyday items, put off buying that new TV or washing machine as the old one still works, they may cut out those short breaks but the annual holiday will still be taken. Of course they may look for a slightly cheaper version but they will holiday, they need it, they feel that they need a break from reality and drudgery of every day living.
To all this you can add that there will be cheaper deals offered by the ferries and airlines in a bid to encourage more vacationers to their services. You will find that visitors will spend more time at their gîte rather than take an expensive day trip, so things will change but the savvy owner will see an opportunity to expand rather than contract.

For those that have liquid capital there is the chance to buy up property at a greatly reduced price, many items needed like domestic appliances, furniture and garden equipment will be offered at a much higher discount rate.

Now is the time to expand your advertising and attract the undecided, not cut back to save money. Now is the time to emphasise the quality of your on site facilities or better still expand them. Look to see what new Niche markets you can open up, walking tours, cooking or gardening courses, the list could be endless. Yes of course you must check that your prices are keen, but there again, many out there still think that the more they pay the better will be their experience.

The main thing is not to panic especially when dealing with customers, they can smell defeatism and fear and will try to take advantage of it by looking for you to lower the price further. So rather than pandering to them or worse still avoiding them altogether, think positively and act bravely, things will improve and you could end up making a fortune.

Why Gites

Why Gites?


Through the years one of the questions I am most often asked is “why gîtes?” With a background in horticulture, boat building and luxury yacht chartering, why spend the last 17 years running a gîte complex? The answer is simple I didn't choose it, it chose me.
In the mid-1980's when the world was plunged into the deepening gloom of the last real recession I was building and chartering luxury, ocean going catamarans. Now as I’m sure you’re aware, luxury and recession do not make good bedfellows, and I decided it was time to make a quick exit from the business and try my hand at something else. I sold my last two charter boats in America and returned to the UK to plan my next move. There was however a slight hitch, having spent the previous 15 years or so sailing, sometimes in stormy waters, sometimes becalmed, but always at a tempo I could handle, I found the pace of life in England too hectic. I had no idea what I wanted to do next, and England wasn’t helping me decide. My life had been extremely varied; I’d been through my Fred Wedlock and Adge Cutler phases and had carried on through my days of fishy tales and sea shanties. I had accumulated a wealth of stories, anecdotes, songs, sea shanties and comic verse and I thought it might be a good plan to buy a house in France where, the pace of life was notoriously slow, and write my memoirs lest these gems should be lost to humanity. Consequently in order to contemplate my next move, I decided on the spur of the moment to investigate potential properties in France and I asked my friend Tim if he fancied a holiday in on the other side of the Channel.
With Tim's and his 4 year old daughter in tow I set off. It was the second week in August, not the best time to take an impromptu trip to France, and all we could find with only a weeks notice was a campsite near Royan in the Charente-Maritime. I didn’t know much about where I wanted to be but I thought that this was as far South as I wanted to go. We had been told by everyone that everywhere would be closed as it was “The French Holiday”, of course true to form it was.

I had managed, through John Evans an estate agent in Bournemouth who specialised in French property, to get three appointments with French Estate Agents, and he assured me that they were interrupting their holidays especially to see me. True to their word they did interrupt their holidays, not only that but their attitude was totally different to my experience of English Estate Agents. The refreshing thing was that unlike their English counterparts who only ever seem to be interested in rushing you through the viewings and selling you anything as long as they sell you something. These Estate Agents took the whole day, not to sell me a property, but to sell me their part of France. Henry Prouteau the agent whom I eventually bought from explained to me that it really didn't matter if I didn't buy from him, as long as I bought in the area. The reason was, he explained, that all of the other agents in the area operated in the same way, so he might not sell to me loosing out to a competitor, but on another occasions he would pick up buyers from other agent’s sales pitches. To be honest in the Fontenay le Comte area there were only two agents and they were both part time, how things have changed. Today in Fontenay le Comte there are thirteen Estate Agents.
There was in those days such a huge selection I could have picked several houses in the three areas that I looked, but having spent three days looking at houses, I eventually bought La Grange, the first house that I had seen on the first day of looking.

It was my intention to renovate the house while I waited for idea that would make the change of direction that my life needed, and I thought that I would be able to live off the interest from the sale of my boats. My immediate priority was to build a swimming pool as this part of France can get mighty hot in the summer and having spent so long on and in the water I couldn’t leave it behind altogether. I was also renovating the house with a view to having family and friends over to visit and, if necessary, doing a little bit of B&B to supplement my income. Circumstances however have a way of laying waste to the best laid plans and changing the way we live, and this time was no exception. The bottom fell out of the money market with the crash of the ERM and I was no longer able to survive on the interest generated by my savings. It was a case of either use up my capital or procure gainful employment. I hadn’t worked for anyone for longer than I could remember and I wasn’t really keen on starting now. Looking at the property I had bought and the work I had started the answer to my dilemma was clear, convert La Grange and start renting out gîtes. In consequence I drew up plans for the conversion of the two farmhouses at La Grange into 6 gîtes, and the rest, as they say, is history.