Search found 532 matches

by Ecosse
Tue Jun 13, 2023 12:09 pm
Forum: France
Topic: Argh - stink bugs!
Replies: 3
Views: 1723

Re: Argh - stink bugs!

Thanks for your response, CSE, I appreciate it, but unfortunately, sealing up the holes would be impossible. The building is a large, 12 bedroom, 100 year old chalet with wood lambris eveywhere, and, on top of that, the stink bugs are perfectly capable of wriggling in between the numerous window and...
by Ecosse
Sat Jun 10, 2023 10:45 pm
Forum: France
Topic: Argh - stink bugs!
Replies: 3
Views: 1723

Argh - stink bugs!

Anybody got experience of getting rid of 'punaise de bois' aka stink bugs? They've been gradually increasing in numbers in our gite over the last couple of years but this year, they're impossible! Has anyone any ideas on how to get rid of them? We've tried deterring them with a mix of clove, thyme a...
by Ecosse
Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:50 am
Forum: Just starting out
Topic: Gites connected to main house
Replies: 4
Views: 973

Out of necessity, we lived in our building for the first few years - to give you an idea of size, we were in 45m2 out of the total 300m2, or 3 rooms ('pieces', i.e. not bedrooms) at the back of the house, out of a total of 15. Most of the year we're a b&b, during the winter, we rent the whole ch...
by Ecosse
Sat Mar 07, 2020 11:01 pm
Forum: Just starting out
Topic: Do guests ever arrive on time?
Replies: 24
Views: 6709

Ecosse, that was not the case. Days before we was due we were asked for when we would arrive. We would rather have been non-committal because of things like traffic delays, maybe weather conditions. In the end we gave mid afternoon, just because she insisted on a time. Our arrival was within the ti...
by Ecosse
Sat Mar 07, 2020 4:34 pm
Forum: Just starting out
Topic: Do guests ever arrive on time?
Replies: 24
Views: 6709

Has to be said, why hospitality wants to control aspects of persons vacation as in this discussion? Once arrived at a B&B in the Lakes only to be told we was too early. We knew that, but it was only 45mins, which is not bad having come all the way from Spain. We certainly was not going to hang ...
by Ecosse
Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:28 am
Forum: France
Topic: Disabled access for gites
Replies: 10
Views: 3268

A gite taking more than 15 people is classed as an ERP so has to comply. That may officially be the case, however I know of examples here in Haute Savoie where, because the building wasn't suitable in any way for disabled access, the authorities have applied common sense. One particular example whi...
by Ecosse
Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:50 am
Forum: Scam email enquiries
Topic: Mark Cooker
Replies: 5
Views: 2954

The language and format say scam to me. Any clues in the from and reply email addresses? Nothing obvious... It's a Gmail address and is something like 55'name'1955 so again, not as obvious as most but I'm pretty convinced now that it's a scam. These sort of enquiries, if they're genuine, usually co...
by Ecosse
Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:19 pm
Forum: Scam email enquiries
Topic: Mark Cooker
Replies: 5
Views: 2954

Mark Cooker

Anyone else received something similar? Despite the good English, I'm suspicious (use of the word, 'establishment', '7 nights' when the dates are a Monday until a Sunday, no introduction as to who he is and, most telling, trying to book an expensive ski package when all we provide is self catering a...
by Ecosse
Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:27 pm
Forum: The Cafe
Topic: We've done it!
Replies: 32
Views: 8908

Really pleased for you, Mouse! Wishing you a very happy next chapter. So are you staying south or heading north?
by Ecosse
Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:23 am
Forum: Managing your property
Topic: Two problems: Cleaning advice please
Replies: 27
Views: 7798

If you're unable to get the mattress stain out with the stain remover, you could try bleach spray - I've had success with (some) mattress stains with bleach... it also has the added benefit of killing off any pathogens.
by Ecosse
Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:57 am
Forum: Managing your guests
Topic: We have a situation
Replies: 24
Views: 11185

An alternative reading of the situation: guest arrives, for whatever reason, have changed their mind about their last minute holiday and don't want to stay (argument en route, sick kids, etc.), and either deliberately or perhaps accidentally (it's the final straw) break the lock. Have justified that...
by Ecosse
Sun Jul 21, 2019 7:41 pm
Forum: France
Topic: Advise please B and B related.
Replies: 4
Views: 2680

We were approached by them last year, so I spoke to a fellow B&B owner who was signed up with them. She told me they wanted to ditch Expedia: only 10 bookings in 2 years, a lot of commission (she didn't say how much but more than bc) and a very clunky, difficult to use system. We decided not to ...
by Ecosse
Fri Jun 07, 2019 6:48 am
Forum: Managing your guests
Topic: Avoiding Bookings from Deviants
Replies: 8
Views: 4529

Even with the link, I'm not sure what you mean, either - do you mean swingers, or prostitution, or something else entirely? Either way, it seems you have the law on your side, how willing are your local law enforcers to act if you were to contact them concerning a let that makes you unconfortable? I...
by Ecosse
Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:24 am
Forum: Managing your property
Topic: Private Water Supply, Drought & Testing !
Replies: 2
Views: 1034

I'm not up to speed with legislation regarding private water supplies, but having lived in a number of houses in the Highlands with them, I understand the problem during a drought. What type of source do you have? Is it an underground one with a pump or is it straight off the mountain via a stream? ...
by Ecosse
Mon May 20, 2019 6:55 pm
Forum: Bookings
Topic: Does anyone use Eviivo?
Replies: 6
Views: 5501

Re: Post Truth

Stewart wrote:I suspect the previous contributor (just one post in your puff?) works for them. Could be wrong and don't throw milkshake over me
:lol: