The French countryside used to be peppered with small, cosy hotels with uncomfortable beds but serving copious cheap homemade meals.
Health and Safety regulations, cheap hotel chains and labour costs have now swept away 80% of these establishments. Some have gone upmarket and are posing as ’boutique hotels’ while others have morphed into what were always known as ‘auberges’ or inns. While technically no longer ‘hotels’ they trade under the much more vague term ‘Chambres d’hôtes’ or B&B. Hotel rules do not apply to these places: they are run as simple Bed and Breakfasts, usually with a restaurant attached.
GITESforSaleFrance has a number of auberges on its books. They tend to be located deep in the countryside, operate some sort of restaurant or café facility and offer up to 5 bedrooms as accommodation. Some also have gites to let too. For buyers who have a bit of experience in the hospitality trade (pubs, cafés, B&Bs) these properties offer a number of advantages:
– they are often much cheaper than a comparable residential property (per m²)
– they are located in time-tested places which have a passing trade or are known beauty spots
– they come with a built-in income-producing potential: fully-equipped kitchen, restaurant fittings, ensuite bedrooms and service accommodation.
– they are MUCH cheaper than hotels of similar size
Here’s a selection of what we have on offer:
- Corbières - Auberge de Campagne with villa and gites
- A country auberge complete with 40/80 cover restaurant, villa with 2 gites and 3 B&B rooms, big pool and a plot of building land. Right in the heart of the Corbières wine region between Carcassonne and the Med.
- Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, Occitanie