Rentals

[interiors66]

It seems clear that the people I know , owner renters , are not having such a good season with occupancy down from last year ,
Are others having similar results and your thoughts on why?
Personally I think the properties are or have become overpriced in comparison to package deals on offer for the average family.

[opas]

I was just about to ask if anyone has a villa with pool for a couple of weeks in August.

I have 2 high end villas fully booked from today till mid September, and 2 apartments in Perpignan full from about 3 weeks ago till sept.
This is to be my busiest season yet!!!

So if you have some thing in August with a pool, please send me details to pass on

[Pighunter]

Yes I am finding that to be the case this year. My girlfriend says that is also true in Andalusia where she lives.

Last year was exceptional for me - fully booked by the end of the November before and all but one repeat clients. This year I have two June bookings which I have never had before, but most of July is still free (actually suits me quite well) and I still have the last 2 weeks left in August, Opas.

Reasons why, I am not sure. I thought that with the strong pound maybe I was becoming uncompetitive with those priced in Euros, but with a quick scan of Owners Direct I am in line with similar properties. I think that in my case Owners Direct are not performing as they did before, they have always filled me up in the past.

Don't agree interiors66, I feel a price of under £200 a week per head for 10 people renting my place is actually very good value, but a large secluded farmhouse 15 minutes drive from amenities doesn't suit everyone.

Perhaps the good weather in the UK last year, coupled with the poor summer here has affected regular traffic?

[interiors66]

Yes I am finding that to be the case this year. My girlfriend says that is also true in Andalusia where she lives.

Last year was exceptional for me - fully booked by the end of the November before and all but one repeat clients. This year I have two June bookings which I have never had before, but most of July is still free (actually suits me quite well) and I still have the last 2 weeks left in August, Opas

Don't agree interiors66, I feel a price of under £200 a week per head for 10 people renting my place is actually very good value, but a large secluded farmhouse 15 minutes drive from amenities doesn't suit everyone.

Perhaps the good weather in the UK last year, coupled with the poor summer here has affected regular traffic?

200 pound per head based on 10 sharing is good value, how often is it booked on full occupancy ?
My cousin likes to visit with his wife and 3 boys but he cannot afford to pay 1200-1800 euros for a week in a villa with a pool plus travel , if they fly they still need to hire a car or to drive the cost of fuel, ferry, tolls and possibly an overnight stay soon starts adding up and that's without pocket money.
I can see why people may prefer an all inclusive deal with Thompsons which includes all onsite facilities transfers , food drink etc.

[Santiago]

Our gite was booked for the summer season quite a while ago with just one week in July free. I think that is similar or better than previous years.

It's probably true that gites priced in Sterling could appear expensive compared to those priced in Euros if the prices have not been altered to reflect currency changes.

It's true that package holidays are offering good bargains and there are often hotels on Booking.com that offer great deals. However, a package holiday in a hotel is a very different experience to renting a gite and self-catering. I don't think they really compete that much with each other.

I think problems occur when guests choose a holiday home instead of a hotel or B&B because it works out cheaper per head. The expectations one has of a hotel can often not be met by a self-catered rental and similarly you can't expect the space, freedom and privacy in a hotel that you can in a gite.

Looking at people visiting the winery, I think there are perhaps more tourists/visitors here at the moment than usual, although not so many from Britain. But that's very much a through-the-keyhole view of the tourist numbers.

There have been a few nice articles in the UK press about the region and that usually has a knock-on effect. Perhaps not immediately.

[Pighunter]

I am quite often booked to capacity or near capacity, although I have had families of 4 and a regular client who comes on her own with her dog.

I get some enquiries from people wanting a place for 4 or 6 asking for discounts - if you want somewhere smaller go and find it! Also people visiting Amelie Les Bains for cures who always ask for discounts up front, but frankly considering I have to move out, cleaning costs etc unless they are paying the asking price, especially out of season, it is just not worth it for me.

My prices have not been raised in 3 years and I have not had a problem filling the house until now. As most of my guests are from the UK I price in pounds, and as I said having looked at the competition I am not out of line.

The strong pound does give me the option of offering deals for last minute bookings which I have done in the past, but larger groups tend to book well in advance.

I saw someone involved in a number of properties here last night who said that July has been a quiet month for many.

[Owens88]

Package deals at a 'complex' will always be cheaper than a private villa.


Alas we do not have a private pool, though there is apool complex 5 mins walk away, but we have private terraces and stonking views.

J

[Prosserp]

we were fully booked last year and this year , we do our homework by comparing our prices with others, we cut the prices if a week isn't getting any enquiries and we offer a much higher quality of care for our guests ,,,
last year we had lots of german, danish , french ,, no english
this year its mainly german , french and english
we adapt to the changing market and people need to adopt this approach

[Santiago]

Can't disagree with that. Anyone remotely involved in tourism and hospitality has to think that way.

[Ariègeoise]

Indeed.

If only the departmental tourism development agency would!

[baz.teach]

Both of these companies provided excellent service to both owners and guests. Unfortunately, since Home-Away bought firstly Holiday Rentals and now, alas, Owners Direct, the service is dismal and bookings are being lost. Both websites crashed for most of yesterday. Home-Away are now killing the market for everyone.

[Santiago]

Has anyone tried putting their empty weeks on Air BnB?

I had a group of 8 people here on a tour last week who'd found a place in Thuir through AirB&B and said it was great. I always thought of it as a service for offering spare bedrooms etc. but it seems popular for all forms of private accommodation.

[ruby]

Hi

Airbnb is very good and the most popular one this year
no problems with its service or guests and have also used it myself for holiday bookings

[homemaker]

I discovered this year that my property in Le Barcares does not come up on HomeAway searches for coastal properties, which is very important for me. This is because the geographical listing is linked to the Perpignan area rather than the coastal area. I have been unable to get HomeAway to change this, but by agreeing to have my home listed in Port Barcares rather than Le Barcares I have been able to resolve the problem. It is worth checking how your HomeAway search is working and whether it is targeted to the correct market.

[baz.teach]

It's Saturday morning again, prime time for potential guests to check availability on holiday lets. Well, tough luck, HomeAway and Owners Direct websites are both unavailable again. Second weekend in a row that this has happened. They are probably blissfully unaware of the time differences accross the world and think no-one is going to be searching for holidays in the early hours so they can take the sites down for maintenance. I' m surprised they have any customers left.