So you’ve bought your gite, done your advertising and now some people are going to stay at your gite, what do you need to do? Well first off, well done, it’s a big milestone getting your first guests.

The first thing to think of is who are you’re guests and what sort of market have you targeted? By our name, Brittany Family Gite, you can tell that we’re targeting the family market. This is more to do with the fact that we are a family and have set up the gite to be a great holiday  home for us and hopefuly if we love it, so will other people. We need certain equipment in the Gite to make our holiday simpler and a little easier for us and therefore we can make the same available to our guests. With small children simple things like blackout curtains can make the difference between a relaxing holiday and children waking up at some silly time in the morning and everyone being tired.

We want to minimise the amount we take on holiday and so we’ve catered to what we would like in a holiday home. As a family on holiday we also cook quite a lot which is also why we bought this gite, as the kitchen and living room are open plan. To that end we have also equipped the kitchen with the things that we think you need to fully self-cater for a family on holiday (like sharp knives!) and not just supplied a few pot’s and pans and basic utensils. We’ve also supplied various items of equipment for families with babies / toddlers. However we have made sure that this equipment isn’t so intrusive that those people without children feel that they’re surrounded by baby paraphernalia!

You need to make your holiday home feels comfortable and so you do need to dress each room in the style that suits your gite. However, you need to make sure that your guests can feel like it is their home for the time that they’re there, so try not to make it too personal or cluttered.

First impressions count, so think about how you’re gite will look when you’re guests first walk in the door. Maybe supply a little welcome pack, with croissants, drinks and a bottle of wine, all laid out on the dining table as a warm welcome. You’re guests have probably had a long journey so let them relax a little before they have to go off to the supermarket.

Then there’s a basic decision on bed linen and towels. We would never want to take this on holiday with us and so we decided to supply it, as other people like us wouldn’t want to take it either. This obviously increases your costs considerably, not just in buying several sets of bed linen and towels in the first place but most of the cost is actually in paying somebody to wash and change them after every guest, if you’re not around to do it yourself.

On a practical note, make sure that all of your bulbs work and supply some spares so that if a bulb goes your guests can change it if they want to, rather than call you or your management representative. Supply spare batteries for any remotes / smoke detectors and obviously supply a fire extinguisher / fire blanket in the kitchen, just in case. If you expect your guests to clean your gite before they leave, make sure you supply cleaning equipment / products for them. If you have any fireplaces make sure that you have them swept yearly and keep the receipt as you may need it for your insurance (check with your insurance company).

The best thing you can do is stay in your gite for a week or two before any of your guests, and at least once every other year after that. That way you’ll find out what’s missing and you can get to the supermarket to supply it. We stayed for two weeks prior to our first guests, to prepare everything and make sure everything was just right and we really needed it.

It’s obvious, but when buying plates, mugs, glasses etc buy more than you need and keep some stored away as spares so that they can replace any breakages that occur, things will break and you don’t want to end up with a mismatch of plates etc or trying to find the ones you have previously bought. A tip is to buy white crockery, as you can match it much easier and find replacements rather than trying to match a pattern which can go out of supply.

You’re guests will also need to know some basic information about the gite / local area before they get there and once they’re there.

Hopefully this gives you a few ideas on what you need to do to get your gite ready, think about your market and what people can reasonably expect to be supplied with for that market, make your gite homely but not too personal and try to create a great first impression with a small welcome pack so that you’re guests can relax a little when they first get to your gite. It’s a great way to start their holiday.

2 Bedroom Gite in Brittany, France

Buying, Owning and Running a Gite in Brittany Blog

©Derek Arkwright 2007