When I’m out and about I see a lot of other people’s gite and holiday rental properties, and I’m always curious to take a look.

Some owners seem to have almost no bookings, even in the summer, and others have no difficulty at all attracting lots of custom. Curiously it isn’t always the least attractive that are least booked. Often it is much more dependent on marketing abilities than the qualities of the rental property itself.

There are a couple of gites near here that do well despite themselves.

One that I pass quite often is presumably advertised as a ‘gite on a working farm’. Nice idea, the children can see the cows, have a real country experience etc and everyone is happy. Problem is the farm in question also has a large silage heap, several enormous piles of manure, and the cows are kept locked in sheds for much of the summer. Presumably very early each morning the holidaymakers are woken by the sound of tractors and milking parlours springing into action.

So anyone staying there had better have no sense of smell, no need of sleep, and enjoy sharing their lunch with flies. The reality is, there is more to farming than pretty blonde d’aquitaine cows munching grass in the meadows.

A second gite I pass is right next to a busy road. From the back of the property there will be magnificent views over a medieval village, and I imagine this features high in their publicity. Whether they mention that for 20 hours a day there will be cars passing the house at high speed is less clear. If you arrived there with your children you’d keep them locked inside all week.

A third property that springs to mind is a converted barn near here that has been converted to three gites. Fine, not uncommon, but each one sleeps 6-8 people and there isn’t much land around the property. So the entire garden gets handed over to parking (often six cars) and you’d need to set up your barbecue on the bonnet of the citroen wedged against your front door.

I should emphasise that the above are not typical – for every problem property I could list many beautiful gites. But you should be aware that they exist, and not every gite is an idyllic country retreat.

None of this is very helpful to you if you are booking a visit to France, since it is always the things that aren’t mentioned in the advert that concern you. Try and see as many photos as possible, or find a property with references from previous clients (yes, these can be faked also), or phone and speak to the owners, or at least email them and ask a few questions if you have any doubts.

No respectable gite owner will mind answering a few questions, and it can certainly make a very big difference to your holiday enjoyment.

I am occasionally asked for our exact location coordinates so that we can be found on google maps and inspected more closely. A great idea but I don’t know how many owners would be able to answer the question! Incidentally all the properties listed in our own French gites section have a google map showing their location – you can zoom in, switch to satellite view, and get a reasonable feel for the surroundings. Marketing over!

It’s a hassle booking a holiday given the hundreds of properties available, and lots of them looking so appealing, but an extra hour or two of investigation can make a world of difference.

You’ll know what I mean when you are sat there in the peace enjoying a glass of Bordeaux and watching the eagles circle overhead, and your next door neighbours have paid the same amount to stay on the edge of a motorway or next to the local foie-gras farm.

Last point to consider. Our own villereal gite already has several weeks booked and others provisionally booked for 2008. This will be true of many of the better properties. Don’t wait until the last minute if you want to find the perfect holiday!