Gîtes or bed and breakfast, what's the difference?
To go on vacation, you have an infinite choice of possibilities. But often, in France, the terms “gîtes” and “chambres d’hôtes” come up. They are often confused, yet each has its own characteristics. Discover them here.
1. The cottages
A gite is a house (or an apartment) of which you will have full disposal. It is also called furnished tourism or seasonal rental.
It must be :
- Furnished
- Equipped
- Rented for a week or a weekend but never for a night
You can find several types of lodgings: the rural lodgings, or the ecogites. The latter appeared with the advent of sustainable development and enjoy a very high demand.
Among the best known in France, we find the Gîtes de France, with more than 56,000 lodgings classified from 1 to 5 “épis” (equivalent to stars).
2. The guest rooms
A bed and breakfast, on the other hand, is an accommodation in the home of the host. Also known as a B&B, the guest room is a private room with bathroom, in the home of your hosts. You do not have full use of the place.
Here are the characteristics:
- Rental per night
- Breakfast always included
- Maximum of 5 rooms per house and 15 people in total (we talk about a guest house)
- Hotel service: bed and cleaning done
- The living rooms are shared
It is an excellent way to discover the local culture, the homemade food and to meet new people!
Be careful though, one of the main rules is the respect of the owners. If in a gite, you can arrive and come back whenever you want, it is better to warn the owners if you come back late and be careful not to make noise in a guest house.
That’s it! You now know all about the difference between gites and bed and breakfasts. And if you are interested in the subject, you can also learn more about the Gîtes de France label.
Children : welcome them in the best way in your rental
A new challenge for your location, welcoming children. How can you make sure that the experience of parents and children goes as smoothly as possible? We give you all our advice!
1. In your home
We don’t always think about this but can you imagine yourself in the shoes of a 4 year old when it’s raining outside and you have nothing to do? When we are grown up, we always find something to do but for them, it’s more complicated. So for everyone to enjoy and for parents to release a little pressure, take the lead!
You can propose a small chest filled with treasures for the children! Parents will be delighted and we’re not talking about the children.
To fill it, no need to ruin yourself, here is what we suggest:
- Books for all ages at Boulinier or Recyclivre
- Some board games: at the flea market, on Vinted, Leboncoin, those of your children that they do not use anymore…
- Small and easy recipes to make with your parents: you can print out recipes for Marmiton or Aufeminin
- DVDs or restricted Netflix or Amazon access (which parents can monitor)
Finally, think about the garden as well. Indeed, if the parents don’t want to go out, what could the child do in your garden? Don’t hesitate to specify if you have farm animals, a vegetable garden, a swing, anything that could interest the parents!
2. Around you
Having what you need in your rental is really important. But now you have to think about the outside. What is interesting for them around you?
You can leave a small notebook, or even better, your welcome booklet StyQR with all the information you find important.
For example:
- Child-friendly walks
- Play parks
- Gardens, zoos…
- Restaurants offering activities for them
This list will make life easier for parents and will be an additional plus for you when scoring!
If you apply all these little tips, everyone’s vacation will go smoothly! And your grade will stay on top because you’ve thought of everything for the parents!
Steps to follow to open your first hotel
Opening a small hotel is a dream for those who like to interact with people and want to run their own business. Unfortunately, opening your doors is not enough to succeed on your first try. It will take careful research, management and financial planning to make a hotel successful. Keep all this in mind and follow our advice!
The market
study
A market study is a work of collection and analysis of information with the aim of identifying the market and its characteristics. This work is necessary to ask the right questions. Thanks to this study, you will be able to identify your competitors, suppliers, customers and the different expectations. You can also position yourself on the price and fix your strategy to attract a maximum of customers. This way you can check if your project is viable.
Strategic
location
Your location must be able to meet the needs of your target. Your catchment area must be sufficient, the proximity of shops, places of life and tourist places must be important. You should also have a parking lot. Being located near an airport or a train station is a real bonus, not to mention public transportation. Your hotel must be well served.
Don’t be too hasty when choosing a location. This decision is crucial. Indeed, choosing a place in good condition, respecting perfectly the rules of hygiene and safety can avoid you to spend months to invest in renovations.
The creation of
your website
For your launch strategy to work in a sector as competitive as the hotel industry, you must absolutely promote your establishment through a website. It will also facilitate the search for your future customers, and will allow you a good referencing.
It is the ideal occasion to define your graphic charter. Put also beautiful pictures of the rooms and suites you have. And propose an online reservation system.
Communication
and marketing
To make your hotel known and to keep your customers loyal, you need an effective marketing strategy.
Therefore, rely first on network marketing or what is commonly called “word of mouth”.
Don’t forget to master your digital reputation knowing that all bookings are now made online. Manage your social networks by doing community management.
You can promote your establishment by developing partnerships with other tourism actors: travel agencies, tourist offices, guides.
Customers
service
The reception of your travelers is very decisive on how the rest of their stay will be. A friendly and smiling welcome is necessary. Register the arrival of your clients and take care of the administrative formalities. When they leave, prepare the invoices and collect their payment.
Furthermore, for a very successful welcome, inform the guests about the services offered by the hotel, the cultural and gastronomic activities in your city, give them the wifi code and the useful numbers. Variation: go digital! Let them scan the QR code they will find in their room, they will have access to your digital welcome booklet on their mobile. Simple and effective!
Is it worth having a chatbot on your hotel website?
In a digitalized world, the customer experience has become the nerve of the war: a key element of your strategy. The chatbot is a software robot that can dialogue with an individual or consumer through an automated conversation service. This mechanized communication makes an interactive icon appear on your website opening a live chat window. The chatbot allows you to save time and increase the knowledge you have of your customers.
A tool for
additional sale
Chatbots can encourage your customers to buy additional services through various suggestions. Indeed, by inquiring about your offers and additional services on the chat, they receive an instant response that pushes them directly to purchase.
You can also use chatbots for your live reservations (as the SNCF does very well!). This way, you reduce the management work of receptionists and provide immediate answers by being available 24 hours a day.
A hunt
for information
Customers often have many questions to ask you. A chatbot allows you to compile all the questions that come up often.
“What time is breakfast served?”
“What are the rates for your Spa / Massage? “
On the technical side, these questions will allow you to take stock of your site’s malfunctions. Don’t forget that you should always propose solutions to problems raised by your customers.
An accompaniment
personalized
The chatbot of your hotel will also allow you to have a personalized relationship with your customers before, during and after their stay. You will be able to propose to your customers the most adapted offers to their needs, but also suggest them activities or tourist places not to be missed.
Zoé, the hotel chatbot
equipped with artificial intelligence
“Zoe, the 24/7 hotel artificial intelligence, is capable of handling up to 80% of customer interactions. Zoe saves you time and allows you to focus on complex, high-value conversations. “
Through this software you will be able to manage your customer communications efficiently and save time by centralizing all your messaging on a single platform (SMS, Live chat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp (beta) Viber, Twitter, Telegram, Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb…). Moreover, Zoe allows you to communicate in 8 languages with your customers!
Specialized in the hotel industry, Quicktext connects to your PMS to allow you to view and schedule customer messages in an instant to suggest the right service to the right customer at the right time. This chatbot will also allow you to convert many conversations into reservations!
As you can see, the chatbot will soon revolutionize the customer experience on your website.
Your customers’ satisfaction will increase when they have the right information at the right time!