Before you begin

Living in France has the following advantages for the British:

- The cuisine and lifestyle are highly regarded.
- It is our nearest foreign country.
- It is in the European Union.
- Property is cheaper.
- Best health service in the world.
- Less people per hectare and less vehicles per kilometre.
- Better climate (mostly).
- Many of us have already spent holidays there.

And disadvantages:

- Separation from family and friends.
- Life as an ex-pat can be difficult and frustrating at first.
- They speak French.
- Driving is a competitive sport.
- Baked beans/Cheddar cheese/Marmite are hard to find.

So much for living there. How about living there and running a B&B?
Advantages:

- No work permit needed (for EU residents).
- More tourist visitors than any other country in the world.

And disadvantages:

- Taxe d’Habitation, Taxe Foncière, Taxe Professionelle, Taxe sur le Valeur Ajouté, Contributions Sociales, Assurance Vieillesse, Mutuelle, Impôt sur le Revenu. (Each will be explained in Chapter 10.)

We found that the French were very reticent about giving out information. That is the opposite of the USA where they shower you with stuff. A French person explained that they think it impolite to give gratuitous information because it implies ignorance on the part of the listener. Of course they will always answer a direct question, but that supposes you know what questions to ask. So I shall be trying to forestall as many questions as possible.

LIVING THE DREAM

By now you will have made up your mind about living in France. Moving to another country after a career in the UK has become so popular it has even acquired the name ‘living the dream’. You come for the laid-back lifestyle in a better climate, the cheaper property, and to get away from the stress of the 12-hour a day job with suits, meetings and sales targets. Unfortunately, some people have to earn a living. The most popular choice for foreigners is the leisure industry because a formal training isn’t essential. However, you have got to cope with a new country, a new language and a new job, all at once; and it can be daunting.

If the choice is to run a Bed & Breakfast I will help you to:

- Choose the property.
- Adapt or restore it.
- Make the business profitable.
- Avoid the pitfalls.
- Cope with the formalities.
- Advertise effectively.
- Make your guests recommend you and come back again.

WHAT IS A BED & BREAKFAST?

The word ‘hotel’ is universal, but there are many names for staying as a paying guest in a private house or very small establishment. In English-speaking countries, it’s ‘bed and breakfast’ or ‘guest house’ or ‘inn’. In French-speaking countries, it’s chambres d’hôtes. Not only does the name differ, but the concept does too. Since so much of French life revolves around the table, it’s not surprising to find that many such establishments serve meals, and it is the only country with a name for this presentation, which is table d’hôte.

The well known formula of B&B was pioneered in Britain over 100 years ago, originally mostly in seaside resorts. France doesn’t have this tradition. For inexpensive lodgings there were only pensions or the cheaper hotels. Pensions were more than a B&B because they always served meals, but less than a hotel with its restaurant service, and they were always in noisy town centres. With their antiquated plumbing and rock-hard bolsters, they have gone now. In 1954, the organisation Gîtes de France was jointly founded by the ministries of tourism and agriculture to promote the use of farm dwellings as holiday gîtes because rural areas were losing their populations. This provided extra income to farmers and a boost to tourism. It was, in fact, a winner all round and the word gîte has subsequently entered the English language. In 1969 they also added the bed and breakfast concept to this established brand with a well-known logo. However, while the idea has taken off the term chambre d’hôte has not had the same success and the words ‘bed & breakfast’ are frequently used in France. A chambres d’hôtes can be as small as one bedroom and serving only breakfast, up to a château with every luxury and serving gourmet meals. The maximum number of guests is fifteen in five bedrooms, though some départements will allow a sixth if it is for the disabled. However, six bedrooms requires the premises to be classed as a hotel and subject to onerous planning, health and fire regulations which, mercifully, are much lighter for a B&B. Meals can only be served to resident guests. In the UK, the smaller of these establishments would be called a ‘B&B’, and the larger a ‘guest house’.

The B&B concept has increased enormously in the past few years; some departments have seen the number triple in the past decade. Fortunately, there are many more customers, both because we take more trips and because the big chain hotels become ever more bland. They have spread from small beginnings in the country to appearing in towns. Gîtes de France has stayed with its country roots, but there are other organisations to join; membership is entirely optional – see Chapter 12 for details. Most grade their members in some way, however hotel stars are not used. The Gîtes de France grades of one to four épis (ears of corn) are the most widely known grades and are used in this book.

QUALIFICATIONS

Although English is the international language of tourism (aren’t we lucky?) if you’re going to live in France you have got to learn French and should start now. You should try to start going to classes before leaving the UK and you’ll push yourself more if these lead to an exam; alternatively, enrol yourself on a total immersion course. Choose one that is professionally set up, not a holiday masquerading as lessons. Remember, it will be cheaper if you can attend as a day student. See ‘Useful Addresses’ or contact your local authority for what is available near you. For those whose O- and A-level French were a long time ago, it is a matter of recapturing that standard, and classes will be better than doing it alone. I’m not saying you have to be fluent, but you need to be able to cope with a wide variety of situations. My one caveat on language courses is: if you plan to do dinners, should one of you go to a short professional cookery course?

THE REWARDS

You’ll be working seven days a week in July and August, and long days at that if you do dinners. The 35-hour week does not apply to the self-employed. However, there is no travelling, and for most of the rest of the year you can work at your own pace. Even though you may drive yourself hard, it is still less stressful than working for someone else. It has to be said that you don’t make much money in the first few years, possibly even a loss at first. But by the third or fourth year the business should be established and you should be making some profit. Providing, that is, you haven’t taken on too much, have chosen the property carefully, and kept a tight control of the expenses.

ONE OR TWO BEDROOMS

The income will be small, so you must be doing it to supplement another source. Really it can hardly fail to pay provided you don’t spend too much on improvements or advertising. It will pay because otherwise the rooms will presumably just be standing empty except when there are friends or relatives visiting. When it’s paying guests the extra expenses will hardly be noticed.

Improvements

After adding a bathroom to each bedroom, do not spend too much. Since the bathrooms will increase the value of the house, you don’t need to attribute all the cost to the miniature B&B business. Though if it proves exceptionally expensive to add two bathrooms, and the rooms have to share, this may be the best option. In this case both rooms can only be let to one family at a time. The paying guests should not share a bathroom with the hosts. In a two-storey house you could devote the first floor to the guests, and if it’s empty in the winter there’s no need for heating. It will not pay to put a swimming pool in just for the visitors; but if you want one anyway, here is a wonderful chance to help pay for it.

Dinner

If you offer dinners at all, you could make it only once a week – say on arrival or Saturdays. You want to get to know people if they are staying en famille, as the French would say, but it would be very onerous to do it every night.

Advantages

- Low capital expenditure.
- Easy to discontinue the business.
- Can pick and choose the guests.
- Bedrooms available for own family and friends when required.
- Avoids the loneliness of living in an isolated property.

Disadvantages

- Low income.
- Loss of privacy.

THREE OR FOUR BEDROOMS

This number of rooms gives a great variety of establishments:

1. It could be a reasonable business in its own right.

2. It could be part of the development plan for something larger.

3. If some of the bedrooms are a suite of two rooms then it does form a larger enterprise and could hold 10–12 guests.

The chambres d’hôtes organisations class a suite as one room, and it is a very useful arrangement. A children’s room can be entered via the main bedroom (and locked when not in use), or it could be a mezzanine, and both share the bathroom. Three or four bedrooms will not produce a living but will be a substantial addition to another income.

Improvements

I assume you have a house with at least four or five bedrooms and two or three reception rooms. I trust the house and services are in reasonable condition, because the scale of the business will not pay for a major restoration. Maybe you wanted to restore the property anyway and are only looking to the B&B to help out. Otherwise, as before, adding extra bathrooms is the major expense.

Dinner

This can depend on how much you like cooking because it will not be on a scale to make a big difference to the income. If there are restaurants nearby it’s optional, but if you are isolated then it’s essential.

Advantages

- Moderate capital expenditure.
- Can be run by one person, or a retired couple.
- Doesn’t need too large a house.
- Justifies some cleaning help.

Disadvantages

- Does not produce enough income for a couple to live on.
- Loss of privacy.
- Needs to be well advertised, but cost not always justified by results.

FIVE OR SIX BEDROOMS

This is a serious business and to make a success of it you will need real business acumen. To make a reasonable living for two people, you will need one or more of the following:

1. Table d’hôte.
2. Open all year in a location where this will be effective.
3. Have some other activity such as self catering gîtes, or classes or a sport.

It will be a full time occupation and will need some paid help if there are only two of you and you do dinners. If more than two partners you will have to promote the business really extensively.

Advantages

- Can produce a good income.
- Justifies cleaning, or catering, or gardening help.
- Justifies the privacy of own separate accommodation.
- Good use for a large property.
- Great job satisfaction in having created a viable business.

Disadvantages

- Large capital expenditure.
- Long hours, seven days a week in high season.
- Dinner for more than ten every day difficult without experience.
- Six bedrooms incurs the expense of fire regulations.
- If you have a large garden with a pool and you offer a complete holiday experience with full board, then a couple cannot manage this on their own.

WHO RUNS A B&B?

Normally it is a couple or other family group. I assume you know each other well enough to assess whether you will make a good team. Setting up in business with friends is a different matter. Do be very cautious because there is a saying that it is easier to get divorced than to break a business partnership. At the very least take a holiday together to see if you get on. Before you even begin, make a formal agreement on the terms for breaking up. How many partners are there going to be in this enterprise? If it is more than two, then even a large B&B on its own is unlikely to produce enough income.

Since the cost of property and buying an existing business or setting up a new one is much less in France, it tempts people who would find a similar enterprise in the UK totally out of their reach. This makes it attractive for younger people, but they still need a steady income for many years yet. Either they must work very hard at the B&B business or must have another income.

For those at or near retirement age I must ask: how old are you? Sorry for such an impertinent question. Just letting a spare bedroom or two will be quite feasible into your eighties provided you can manage the stairs. But a serious business requires such a big capital investment that it really needs a ten-year run to get a return. Possibly you have taken early retirement, in which case project forward to see if you think you will still be fit enough or have the energy for the work. Older people do have one advantage: their pensions will soon arrive or perhaps already have. This will smooth over any rough patches.

Paradoxically running a B&B is ideal for shy people. You meet many guests you would be far too timid to approach socially.

A BALANCED BUSINESS

The most common cause of failure is taking on too much: too big a house or too grandiose a scheme. The French are amazed at the scale of some of the crazy ideas these foreigners have. They are grateful of course for the amount of money we lavish on some of their ruins. In fact do not do in France something you would not dream of doing at home. Be prudent, do not borrow too much, and always reckon that whatever you are doing will overspend. Budget that there will be no profit at all at first if you are doing building work and precious little in the early years if you are starting the business from scratch. It will take three to five years to build the business up and even then there can be bad years through no fault of your own. There are national and international events that seriously damage the tourist trade, or disaster can strike you personally. So always keep a reserve.

Starting right in with the maximum number of bedrooms intended is the truly commercial way. You build the business up quickly and get a proper return on the money spent as soon as possible. It is a great incentive to have to fill all those rooms. But if you lack experience, are short of funds, or are nervous about putting so much money into the venture; then you may prefer to proceed cautiously. You could start with two bedrooms, and add further facilities and another bedroom each year. In this case you must set a limit, say five years, by which to have finished the improvements and not spend any more. If you keep on dabbling right up to the time you give up or sell, you won’t have had a full return on the investment.

PLANNING THE MOVE

It is not the French way to buy and sell property on the same day, though it can be done. Nor would I like to be involved in the complexities of selling in one country and buying in another on the same day. Unless you have the capital, it is best to sell in the UK first. You then know exactly how much you have made, and, with it earning interest, you can afford to rent until you are established in France. The furniture can be stored with a firm that does international removals, and you can take your time for a thorough house search.

Possibly you are considering keeping your former home and letting it, or buying a smaller one as a pad. Realistically I do not think you will have the time, and you will lose bookings by being absent from the B&B for long periods. Also, whichever house you are not in needs looking after. It is much better to sell the UK house before the final search in France, so that you are a cash buyer and can negotiate from a strong position.

The property search can begin before you go to France:

1. Search the internet.
2. Go to a French property exhibition.
3. Read the ‘French Property News’.

For details of the last two see under ‘French Property News’ in ‘Addresses’. Then, for a serious search, the best way is to hire a gîte for a month or more in the winter. Find names in the holiday brochures and see what offers you can get for a long winter let, not forgetting to check that there is central heating. If the owners are British and resident on site, so much the better, as they will be a fund of local knowledge and can give tips on buying in France arising from their own recent experience.

Don’t despair if you can’t find anything suitable at a price you can afford. There are ways and means. Here’s one idea, but only for the expert DIYer or builder. Buy something small and needing renovation in your chosen area. Live in it while one person goes out to work and the other renovates it, then after a year search for what you really want and sell the first one.

You must also engage in some industrial espionage, by which I mean staying the night in at least six other B&Bs. You will learn a lot and begin to form your own opinions about how to run your own place. It will give a great feeling of superiority because of course you will also decide to do it better.

TIPS TO MAKE IT PAY

- Decide on the size of the business and do not take on too much.
- Do plenty of preliminary research.
- Be absolutely sure all the partners form a good team.

TIP FOR LEARNING FRENCH

- Classes with a formal exam produce the best result.