Accomodations Guide
VACATION RENTALS
WHAT ARE VILLAGES CLUBS AND VACATION VILLAGES ?
Villages are holiday resorts which offer different packages to delight everyone.
Apartment, bungalow, chalet or cottage, whether you are in family, couple or friends, holiday villages will help you to get out of your routine and to find conviviality, authenticity and freedom.
Activities and animations are available on the spot, like at the swimming-pool, sport activities, animations for everyone and cohabitation places : BBQ area, playground, grocery, laundry …
WHAT IS A TOURISM RESIDENCE ?
Residences of tourism are one or several little buildings changed into a housing village. Those units sometimes combined the comfort of a home and hotel’s services. Units are generally formed of villas and/or functional and well equipped apartments.
Residences do not offer any services, animations nor activities except with optional extra. There is usually shared premises use, leisure equipments, varying according to the places (bars, pool, tennis court, lounge, spa …) and convenience services (kids clubs, grocery stores, laundries …)
WHAT IS A GITE/COTTAGE ?
A holiday cottage is an old housing transformed into tourist accommodation. Most of the time located in the countryside in old building (which have been renovated). They offer all the advantages of a local life in a natural setting to find relaxation and tranquility. Every single cottage is fully equipped to let you enjoy the charm of a traditional cottage with living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen.
It is not rare to mistake the word « cottage » with a Bed&Breakfast (or B&B), but it is actually two different types of accommodation. The B&B has to be at the local’s places and breakfast would be served every morning.
The cottage is a rental from a separate building. You would be able to cook your own meals, have breakfast or diner with the locals in a friendly and warm atmosphere.
ACCOMODATIONS GLOSSARY
The number of rooms indicated (except when it is about « unusual » cases. Mentioned below) is still out of kitchen, bathroom and toilet.
- A bathroom shall contain at least one bathtub and sink.
- A shower room shall contain a shower and a sink, toilet can be either in the same room or in a separate place.
- Kitchen might be open on the living room (the right term would be American kitchen in this case).
- A studio is a single room which is at the same time the living room, the bedroom, the kitchen, with a separated bathroom and separated or not toilet too.
You may see the word « studette » in French, it is sometimes used to describe a smaller superficies.
CODE AND LANGUAGE TO DESIGNATE AN APARTMENT
The letter
F (means Function) or T (means Type) it is almost the same thing, beside the fact that historically speaking the first one is always before the second, which gives it some subtlety.
The numbers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … : This is the number of rooms (which is not including the kitchen, the bathroom and the toilet in the apartment)
1bis : the room in the apartment (which is not including the kitchen, the bathroom and the toilet) is large enough to make two or has two rooms.
2bis : One of the apartment rooms (which are not including the kitchen, the bathroom and the toilet) is large enough to make two rooms or has third rooms.
3/4 : This is an apartment with four rooms at first (which is not including the kitchen, the bathroom and the toilet) but which has a partition wall less to make a room (most of the time it is the living room) or an three rooms apartment with one of them big enough to be compartmentalize to make two rooms.
PARKING, BOX, GARAGE
If a « parking space » indicates a delimited site where it is possible to park a car on the surface or in a basement, it can be a shared parking area – at the free disposal of the building local’s people – or « private », which means it is only reserved to the one owning it.
A box is usually a parking space located between two walls, closed or not, and a garage is a closed space.
HOUSES, VILLAS AND COTTAGES
Depending on the date of construction and their sizes, houses and villas can be considered the same way than apartments (letters and numbers) or in a more detailed way (number and function of the rooms)
LEVELS, FLOORS
It can be a street-level house (there is no floor), a several levels one (house, functional rooms, garage …), with or without packed, depending on their high and accessible ways.
GROUND
Most of the time, except if it is noticed, the surface indication of the ground includes the house.
COMMON OWNERSHIP
When it is adjacent to another one, we say « common ownership ». However the wall which split those two things can be owne by one of those properties or the two of them : don’t forget to check it !
View holiday houses and villas offers
PROPERTIES AND OTHER
Because of their old architecture or their « unusual » side, some house may not have a right description of their number of rooms. It is possible that some of them don’t fit with the usual rules. It can be because of their size (large kitchen in a manor for example) or because they never served as a place of habitation (such as barns, outbuilding, former business premises to be converted into a loft or a house),