How to use the French Holiday Directory

We have strived to bring both holiday makers and property owners a simple to use website. If you have not used this site before or are new to renting holiday homes directly from owners then please read these helpful pointers!

Finding a holiday home to rent:

Holiday homes are categorised by a number of criteria such as the region in France they are situated to the number of people they sleep. You can browse homes by region using the menu on the left or do an advanced search for any number of extras.
Remember: Some advertisers use an availability calendar in their listing to give you a quick and easy idea of their holiday home being rentable at any given time.

Short listing holidays you like:

Whilst browsing through our listings, you will see a property ID number for each advertisement at the top of the page. For example: 223. Make a note of these reference numbers and you can easily re-visit the pages by typing your favourite property ID numbers into the search box at the top of the left column on any page. You will be taken directly to the rental holiday listing.

Contacting the holiday property owner:

Property owners are sometimes referred to as "Agents". You can find owners contact details (telephone, fax, email contact box) at the bottom of each holiday listing. Please use our e-mailing forms at the bottom of each advertisement to contact the owners by email. Give your name, e-mail address, telephone number and state the number of people plus the dates that you are interested in. If you have any particular requirements or questions to ask, there is room on the form to do this.
Remember: that these are private owners and that they may possibly be away from their email for a few days. Most will respond immediately but if you do not get a response within a couple of days, we would recommend that you telephone them.

Making a booking:

Each property owner will have their own way of processing a booking but, as a general guideline, you should expect to pay a deposit to secure the booking of between 10% - 50% of the total rental. This is normally paid either by cheque or by bank transfer and the owner should confirm the booking and receipt of your payment by letter or by e-mail. The balance is normally paid around 8 weeks before the start of the holiday. Often a breakage deposit is required with the balance, and this is refundable at the end of the holiday less the cost of any breakages and metered charges for gas/electricity/telephone if they are not included in the rental rate. Please check the cancellation terms with the owner at the time of booking - deposits are often non-refundable and they may have a sliding scale of charges for last minute cancellations after the balance has been paid. We recommend that you ask for any terms and conditions in writing.

Arriving at the property:

Make sure that you have the address and directions to the property (our map feature is not 100% reliable). These are normally sent to you on payment of the balance. Some owners will send you a key in advance, some may live on site and be there to welcome you, whilst others may have a local representative or neighbour who will meet you (in this case please make sure that you have the telephone number of the owner or their representative so that you can call to let them know if your arrival time is delayed).

Problems:

All owners should leave instructions at the property for contacting either themselves or their local representative. If you find that you have a problem or an item of equipment breaks down, please call them straight away. Either they or their representative will have the local knowledge to put things right. It is essential to air any difficulties on the spot as this gives the owner the chance to ensure your holiday is not spoilt.