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 Let’s cover off the basics first. Does your property have everything it needs to provide comfortable holiday accommodation? Here’s a tip: try living in it yourself, out of season, for a week. Ask yourself some searching questions, like:
- Is one piddley little plug-in heater enough to warm the house up on a wet weekend?
- Would an extra blanket or two not go amiss?
- Are there at least two decent cork screws? (I say this because last year we stayed in a gite where there was only one puny, cheap cork screw which snapped as soon as we pushed it into our bottle of plonk. This was at 11pm, after a long car journey. I was irritated beyond belief).
- Some decent, sharp kitchen knives?
- A big enough fridge? A good-sized kitchen rubbish bin, and plenty of bin bags to go with it?
Make sure your Languedoc property rental is properly kitted out if you want to get any repeat business.
Let’s assume your French holiday home has all the essentials. But does it have enough of everything? You need:
- Two sets of bedding for each bed
- Two sets of towels for the maximum number of guests you can accommodate
- Cutlery (and you can count on lots of it going missing, packed in your guests’ picnic baskets and never making it back to the kitchen)
- Crockery (get stuff you can replace easily – don’t go for cheap, end of line bargains)
- Pots and pans (with lids, please!)
- Plenty of tea towels (providing just one for a whole week’s rental is plain silly)
- LOTS of wine glasses
… the list goes on and on. The initial cash outlay to set up a gîte can be sizeable, but think of it as an investment. Scrimp on the detail now and you’ll regret it later.
OK, on to the extras. Those little things that make people plump for your Languedoc holiday home over someone else’s. Things like:
- Books and music
- Some rainy day toys for children.
- A television and VCR or DVD player are nice
- And how about a set of boules, playing cards, some badminton rackets
- And a proper BBQ set up?
- Think perfumed candles
- A bottle of good quality bubble bath
...or anything that gives your Languedoc vacation home the edge.
Finally, the finishing touches. These are things that are completely optional but so easy to do, and they’ll win you big Brownie points with your guests. You know what I mean:
- Fresh flowers
- A bottle of local wine
- Some bread and cheese
- A jar of olives
- Or homemade jam (OK, it’s not expensive but you do need to factor in the cost).
Feel like doing some homework? Survival Books publish Earning Money From Your French Home, by Jo Taylor, which is (in my humble opinion) a wonderful book crammed with facts and figures. You can order it at .
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