A nice little earner !

If you're looking to supplement your income whilst living in this lovely area, then why not consider running gîtes or chambres d'hôte. As people look further afield from the traditional haunts of Brittany, the Dordogne and Provence, the South West of France has become increasingly popular over the last few years. It 's a very pleasant way of meeting a wide variety of people and we have found it really rewarding when you see them relaxing and enjoying themselves in an environment and accommodation you have created.

With gîtes, the main work is on changeover days (normally Saturday) when you have 5-6 hours to clean the gîtes between guests leaving and arriving. This sounds a lot, but you may find that you need help if you have more than two gîtes to manage. Advertising your property is clearly important and, with more and more people now booking their holidays online over the Internet, choosing between the plethora of available sites is tricky.

Chambres d'hôte (B&B) are obviously a lot more work as people tend to stay for less time and therefore there's a lot more cleaning and washing to be done, as well as providing breakfasts and possibly evening meals. The advantage is that you can advertise cheaply at the local Tourist Offices and get some passing trade throughout the season.

You may decide to go just for the British market, or look further afield to France, Holland, Spain and Germany for your bookings. Having a pool with your gîtes is really a must if you're trying to attract the British holidaymaker, perhaps less so for the French. As the French all go on holiday in July and August, it's a ready source of high season bookings.

We've found the hardest thing of all is setting your prices. Too high and you just don't get the bookings in what is now a very competitive marketplace, too low and you don't make enough to cover your costs and make it worthwhile. It's a delicate balance, but our yardstick has always been to try and give people good value for money.

The best advice we've been given was "Don't oversell what you're offering - let the guests be pleasantly surprised". So now the times when someone says "We've had a really fantastic holiday, it was better than we'd hoped and we'd love to come back again soon", then we know we're doing something right !