Please tell me exactly what a gite is and the difference in that and a B&B? If a Gite sleeps 12, does that mean only a party of 12 can rent it. I'm sure this is simple, but I've never been to France, therefore, IGNORANCE! Thanks, Sharon

We stayed at a Gite in France and it was just like a B&B, it was a small Gite and there were 2 other parties staying at the same time we were there.

As I understand it, a gite is a self-catering accommodation located in the French countryside. It may be on its own or may be part of a complex with/without a pool. You rent this accommodation in periods of a week or two or more. You take care of your own breakfast arrangements.

If a gite sleeps 12, you can stay there even if there are only 2 of you, but the price will most likely be the same however many stay.

(I often rent a holiday house in the UK that sleeps 'up to 10' but there are rarely more than 6 of us there - we just like the extra space.)

A B&B (bed and breakfast)is privately owned accommodation where you can stay in the owners spare room, flat, cottage or similar for as little as one night (or much longer) and the rate will always include breakfast provided by the owner.

Google will come up with masses of info if you enter the word 'gite' or 'gites'. Or look at...

http://www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/index.htm

I think more of cottages or farmhouses w/B & B type amenities. But they run tha gamut. Check out www.gites-de-france.fr.

A Gite is a self-catering "house". We've rented over 25 different Gites through the French Gites-de-France program. They have all had multiple bedrooms, kitchens with dishwashers (all but 1), stoves, ovens, refrig, microwaves, dining/living rooms (sometimes multiple living rooms), 1 or 2 baths, gardens, and several have had private or shared pools. Most of the Gites we've stayed in have sheets & linens you can rent - a few "come with", or you can provide your own. You are responsible for the cleaning of the Gite when you leave - you can either do it yourself or hire the proprietor to do it (usually around 35 to 60E). A few had cleaning included. You may have to pay for a little electricity or heat. None have had air conditioners. Many are independent houses on very private grounds. The two of us have stayed in Gites that sleep 10 - the price is the same. Gites are independently rated from 1 to 5 "wheaties". We've only stayed in "higher end" gites & they rent for about 550E (average) per week in June & Sept and are rented from Sat to Sat. Prices go up 50 to 100% in July & August in popular vacation areas. Very few are in cities or villages - but they may be only a 10 walk away from a village.

Like I stated earlier, we've only rented through the Gites-de-France program. For about 70& of the places we've stayed in, you can reserve & pay (via Visa/MC) on-line. For the remaining 30%, we've have had to contact the proprietor directly & rented from them (more difficult - all but 1 have only spoken French). We've seen some of "our" gites offered by middle-men at 50% higher rents.

I've never stayed in a B&B, but I assume it's one or two rooms, and the owner provides the breakfast & there are rarely cooking facilities.

Stu Dudley

You beat me to it Julie.

Julia has it right, just want to add that a gîte in a town is called "un meublé de tourisme" and gets stars not wheaties. They are not allowed to advertise on gitedefrance website, but are registred on departement websites (like www.cotedor-tourisme.com) and they are usually more flexible with lenght of stay (min 2 or 3 nights). They are usually apartments.
Chambre d'hôte (B&B) can be both in the countryside or in towns.
coco

Just to add, I don't believe all in- town, self-catering logings are registered and officially rated. In fact, I suspect the majority aren't. We've offered lodging in Normandy that isn't, and for a couple of years it was listed (read advertised) by the Honfleur tourist office without rating through the department. Coco: Your view on this appreciated.

Also, I would be cautious about the "sleeps 12," or however many, advice in gite advertising. If the lodging is a Gite de France, periodically inspected and rated, you can be sure there are 12 places for people to sleep. But that doesn't guarantee that the total space of the lodging is sufficient to prevent 12 people who "come from a home where the buffalo roam" to run screaming out of the place. If you aren't accustomed to close quarters, ask about the square meters, convert if neeeded, and see if it suits.

Dave, you're right about rating.
Not every self catering acc is rated, it is too much restraint(?) I mean if you want to have your apartment rated at least 3 stars there must be a real bath and not a shower even a very nice one. Owners don't want to do works some time... I was glad to know what to do for the rating BEFORE we started the works!
The superficy is important too, the list of obligations is quite long. And the owner has to pay a visitor tax (like a hotel)according to the rating (1€ per pers per day for me as a 4*).
It is a good thing to do, to make the guest secured about what he/she will find, but the system for the owner is not that good. Tourist offices advertise and suggest hotels much more often than meublés de tourisme and there is only a small brochure people have to ask. Fortunately there is internet!
But on Dijon tourist office website they advertise hotels only, what a shame!

A self catering ac. which is not rated would be called "location de vacances" or "location saisonnière" and a "meublé de tourisme" when it is rated.

Gite is usually used to refer to a small cottage - often family-owned - which they rent out to others when they're not using it. Some are run by management companies in places where they cluster together. My understanding is that you rent the gite as a whole by the week - just like with a villa. Otherwise it would be called a B&B.

As far as I can tell a gite differs from a villa in being simpler and usually smaller (most gites I have seen are for no more than 6 or 8 people). Many seem to resember my parents garage (the parents have an old house with a large separate double garage with loft at the back of the property - although I'm sure the inside of the gite is different.)

B&B is frequently used in France, although the more usual term is chambre d'hote. Interestingly, in Québec, B&B's are known as gites du passant.

You can get the best idea if you view the website, but I'd say the main difference is that a gite is self-catering and a B&B obviously is not. In a B&B you get breakfast, and room cleaning. Gites are mainly rural (at least not in real urban centers), also, but they are not just separate cottages or houses. In France, B&Bs are mainly rural, also, though. Lots of them are just apts. or suites of rooms within a building, you can see that on the official website. They don't have any criteria that they be separate houses or cottages, just what they call separate units in some way.

Another web site which doesnt appear very often on this board, but which we find very good (I should mention up front that we advertise on it - but we also use it when looking for somewhere to stay) is www.gite.com. All self-catering, as opposed to B&B, or Chambres d'hotes as they are called in France. But a good selection of places to stay all over the country. We like the web site because, unlike some, there is some control over quality, description, and number.

These are 'gites' or houses which usually come with linens, cleaning etc.

And as for the difference between ' 'gite', 'cottage' and 'villa', I think there should be some, but often it depends on the owner - or the user. We have had guests refer to our houses as villas, which always surprises me, because I think of them as houses.

So, basically you need to know, if you are coming to France, do you want self-catering or not. We do, because it usually gives more space, the possiblity of making some meals chez nous, rather than looking for restaurants for every meal, and the chance to stay in the same place for at least a week.

Thanks everybody! What great answers. Smiles, Sharon