Little bit of help - please can you guys tell us what you typically do when rolling through France towards the South of France, Spain or Portugal ? (1 Viewer)

[jongood]

A+B
we travel through France pretty regularly, just have again actually, only 5 nights in France because of mixed weather we usually take 7-14. we're not scared of spending money but we tend to fond everything we need on the huge selection of aires and don't need the passport faff.

Imo the challenge will be getting the money for camping. the Dutch and the French tend to have short arms and long pockets, leaving us and the Germans, are there enough these days.

Property sounds lovely but I think you need to check what the LA and especially the local Mairie will allow you to do with it.

 

[steve69]

Does anyone know how to get terrible ugly render off beautiful 15th century sandstone stonework? Having said that, most seems to be falling off of its own accord, revealing the marvels (to me) beneath.

.

If it's falling of in big chunks, the rest should follow quite easy, I think. Just a little encouragement with a chisel should do it.

 

[GerTee]

A + B for us with a very rare C if we can't find a launderette close to an aire. Even when we use a campsite we tend not to use the facilities (pools etc.). We'll use the shower blocks if they're pristine, otherwise we'll use our vans facilities.

 

[Feltwell]

A and B.If just passing through, an Aire for a night is so convenient. Don't mind paying a few Euros. We just travel until we feel like stopping then look at the reviews for the nearest ones and pick one. Not had a bad night yet.

Only use sites if staying for a longer period, and then the location is paramount. The site you're describing doesn't sound great to me, even if renovated, sorry!

 

[gefsal]

A + B..

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Wildbill]

AB and sumtimes C.
Wildbill

 

[Tombola]

A+E to get to the warm

 

[Riverbankannie]

D for us. Every 4 days or so, we like a campsite with good toilet/shower block and a bit of green grass around us. If nice we would stay a couple of days, something to sketch, like a Chateau is a bonus if combined with good weather. Don’t like sites with lots of empty statics. Industrial building out of sight is no problem.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Does anyone know how to get terrible ugly render off beautiful 15th century sandstone stonework? Having said that, most seems to be falling off of its own accord, revealing the marvels (to me) beneath.

I spent a lot of time in a 14th century cumbrian peel tower growing up. I love the romance of really old buildings. The place has secret tunnels linking the old chapel and original castle, with bats hanging from every nook and cranny….

Hammer and chisel or lightweight pneumatic chisel.
There was a good TV program showing that on "Escape to the chateaux" towards the dndcof the last series. New roof and whist the scaffolding was up decided to re render the existing crumbly wall render. Ch4.

 

[Peter_Cooke]

a and b, plus c every five to six days to recharge.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Brains]

Does anyone know how to get terrible ugly render off beautiful 15th century sandstone stonework? Having said that, most seems to be falling off of its own accord, revealing the marvels (to me) beneath.

I spent a lot of time in a 14th century cumbrian peel tower growing up. I love the romance of really old buildings. The place has secret tunnels linking the old chapel and original castle, with bats hanging from every nook and cranny….

Removing render is a bugger of a job.
The only solution I found was to employ a couple of young Polish lads for an entire summer.
The damage after the render has been removed then needs to be repaired (the stonework was rendered for a reason ...)
With the benefit of hindsight I'd have left it in place, and either repaired it, or covered it up

 

[Just smiffy]

A and B for me, I would stay at a site if there is something there to attract me like a local event or the history of the place, I certainly wouldn’t want to be near an industrial area…

 

[Wildbill]

Many many years ago we had a sandstone cottage the render was coming away I drilled holes at 45% and poerd a raw cement liquid in to the holes this went between the render and the wall securing the render back to the wall I topped up every day for about a week it still looked uneven but it's still thare till this day
As far as I know
It had rustic charm my mum said it was one of our first houses
We only had a bedroom box room living room toilet no bathroom.
Till I built a small stone extension to the back of the property sold it six weeks after
As the wife didn't like being three miles from the nearest nabors with a small baby
Whe I was offshore
Wildbill

 

[Reallyretired]

A or B.
We are actually on a site near the south west coast. This is a one off though as we are with tent camping relatives for a week.. its a nice enough site but only 3 vans here though its practically Easter and school holidays.
Normally we do not come down the western side of France.
We would not normally consider spending more than £10 a night.

 

[Tea Bag]

Hold on guys. I spent a career in asset management, don’t worry! Our eyes are fully open. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so frivolous, negative in my description, it was a slightly jokey and not meant to be a completely accurate outline of either risk or opportunity…

It makes 40-50%. The land is 10 hectares and features an 18th century chateau, a ruined medieval church and parts of a 14th century castle including 3 towers. The chateau is the possible money pit, if one elects to put money in to do it up, which is an option for any owner. Previous owners have not, they have soaked the asset, and now it’s cheap, but critically most of the roofs have been done. Land and building value is about €800k. Fonds are 1.5 x CA which is unusual even for France - it is absolutely recognised it needs investment. New swim pool for one and that’s 250k alone…

Hi.
Stayed at a " Les Castel's" ? site in France,with a Chateau in the grounds , when we c/vanned. They did meals in the chateau,if you went in the morning and said what you would like to eat that night,the Chef would get all the stuff needed and your meal would be ready at the said time wanted,so there is a plus.It also had BIG pitches,really liked their sites, all we stayed at were very high quality..
Tea Bag

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Diabalo]

Unlike many Funsters, we prefer C.

The main things for us are an easy walk to a town center with shops, and very importantly, the toilets mustn't be "a la Turk" type. We don't like coin-operated or token-operated showers, or having to keep pressing the push-button tap although that is just about tolerable. Some facilities blocks can be too open-air and windy.

There needs to be a drive-over grey water disposal point.

A pitch near a lake or riverbank is a bonus. So is a Bar at reception. We can do without a swimming pool.

We like pitches with dividing hedges for privacy, and to stop others using our pitch as a shortcut. A bit of shade too, if possible. Although trees need to be trimmed now and then to stop branches falling onto the MH roof, as has happened twice to us, thankfully without damage.

A visiting boulangerie van in the morning is a plus point. Or, ordering bread at reception the afternoon before.

I don't mind if the EHU is limited to 6 amps.

Exactly the same for us

 

[Solwaybuggier]

We're D - but only likely to stop on sites during ACSI validity (although we don't generally go high season anyway.). Quite happy to pay for aires, and often use Camping Car Park network. Not worried about site being "Brit-friendly", in fact tend to avoid those sites!

 

[gus-lopez]

a) wildcamp,

Aire de repos for me

for us its just a route to other countries.

This ^^^^ No offence but spain & the Uk are the same for me.
E as well except i refuse to pay tolls so will not use them.

 

[chaser]

Very interesting thread this, I am sure under different circumstances a lot of folks would be looking to do the same.
Hope you keep us informed.

Not yet, soon. The thinking has not yet concluded on going for it, I still see a lot of risk with getting into euro debt, which I really really didn’t want to do, another pandemic for one (unlikely but catastrophic), fx risk another (more likely, but smaller)

Apologies for the language, I spent many years analysing risk….

 

[peterc10]

D, but rarely using all singing and dancing sites, unless it is near where we want to be.

The weather also plays a large part on where we go to.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[PhilandMena]

It isn’t on its knees, it’s turning over 400k a year. Both Bea and I can see genuine potential for €600k, but the borrowing and work required is a bit scary…

Something wrong in that statement !! In your opening post you said it had been run into the ground and now you say it isn't on its knees. With such a big business risk, involving huge sums of money, you need to consult, IMO people who have the right expertise to advise you. For what its worth, the majority on here think its a bad idea. I have a gut feeling a financial expert would give you similar advice. A huge gamble for sure.

 

[nicholsong]

My answer to your OP question is almost exclusively A, but I am happy to pay the Mairie €5 for B.

But how could we know if we want to stop there if you will not show us the site?

We have used 6 campsites in 12 years and never used the facilities(we have our own). If a campsite has a pool I would avoid it - it attracts children

I know you said you do not want business advice, but I am going to give it anyway - I would only pay what the land and buildings are worth 'as is'. If there is income from the campsite use it to refurbish the buildings. If the owner will not sell on that basis , then walk.

Have you costed divorce on top of €1.7m?


[EDIT: I assume your research is including caravans, but you might also look at some of the threads commenting on reasons for leaving membership of the UK clubs, which include site fees and electricity charges - preferring to upgrade their generation and storage capacity to go off-grid. That could be a trend worth watching.]

 

[chaser]

Something wrong in that statement !! In your opening post you said it had been run into the ground and now you say it isn't on its knees. With such a big business risk, involving huge sums of money, you need to consult, IMO people who have the right expertise to advise you. For what its worth, the majority on here think its a bad idea. I have a gut feeling a financial expert would give you similar advice. A huge gamble for sure.

I don't like to make negative comments but I also have severe doubts about the figures, since this thread started I have googled campsites for sale, and I can't find any at anywhere near that price apart from one near cahors although now it has come out that the one he his looking at has also got a chateau and other buildings so we can't really tell if it's right or not.

 

[dawsey]

My answer to your OP question is almost exclusively A, but I am happy to pay the Mairie €5 for B.

But how could we know if we want to stop there if you will not show us the site?

We have used 6 campsites in 12 years and never used the facilities(we have our own). If a campsite has a pool I would avoid it - it attracts children

I know you said you do not want business advice, but I am going to give it anyway - I would only pay what the land and buildings are worth 'as is'. If there is income from the campsite use it to refurbish the buildings. If the owner will not sell on that basis , then walk.

Have you costed divorce on top of €1.7m?

That’s not how it works I’m afraid. It is being sold as a business, in fact two businesses as this is how the majority of larger sites are set up for tax reasons. Thus there are always two elements to it, the land and fixed buildings (the ‘murs’ or ‘walls’) and the fonds d’commerce, or the business and all assets accociated. Valuation, as with any business, follows accountancy rules and is based on revenue, profit and depreciated assets.

In this case the value of the walls is roughly what something with this land in this condition in this area would sell for (often to a hopeful Brit). The fonds or business value reflects that the asset is run down, depreciated, and is thus just 1.5 x CA or revenue/turnover, values of between 4 and 6 times revenue or more are the norm in France - this is already rock bottom. A business with no land or buildings to speak of, but turning over 400k would normally sell for in excess of €2m.

The old chateau and all the old walls, and the fact that half the statics need scrapping and the swim pool needs rebuilding (the investment required) are seen very much as a liability, that’s the rub.

 

[dawsey]

And one more time, while I recognise that many of you have long experience in business, know your way around a campsite, and are more than happy to proffer free sage advice, it’s not what we were after. We just wanted to know, very simply, what proportion of your demographic (apologies to those who aren’t, but in general I assume members of MHF to be seniors, semi or fully retired Brits) who often roll down through western france, regularly or indeed even ever stay on a campsite.

I have enough answers now to form a view, it’s about 10-20% of you, and of that group, you prefer a site to be well located, interesting, clean, tidy and good value.

Thanks to all those who answered

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[SpeedyDux]

One risk factor to consider - a convoy of gens de voyage decide to break the entry barrier and take over a large part of the campsite. The paying guests will leave in droves.

Will the local Maire and Municipal Police come to the aid of a Brit-owned campsite, or expect you to deal with it by yourself?

 

[Viennese]

We ocasionally use aires, but prefer campsites so I vote d).

Whatever you decide good luck - if you buy you might consider being an ACSI site - we tend to use those more. Let us know what you decide so we can all come and stay with you!

 

[chaser]

One risk factor to consider - a convoy of gens de voyage decide to break the entry barrier and take over a large part of the campsite. The paying guests will leave in droves.

Will the local Maire and Municipal Police come to the aid of a Brit-owned campsite, or expect you to deal with it by yourself?

He does have a french wife which must help with those sort of things.

 

[monzer]

Good luck with where ever your venture takes you. Unfortunately a thread of this kind always attracts the negative nancies and know-it-alls

Just as well it attracts some useful replies at the same time.

 

[Tombola]

but perhaps not in an ideal location

A+E
just be careful dawsey keep the head balanced with the heart, but you seem switched on

Good luck

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}