REAL LIFE
“It’s a lifestyle that's deeply rewarding, ever changing, ever challenging, and ever fulfilling”
customers a genuinely modern, contemporary, yet still warm and inviting ambience. And now that the business side of the hotel is complete, we’ve finally rewarded ourselves these past 12 months by overhauling our own on-site three-bedroom apartment into a home we truly love. To date, we’re looking at just under €200,000 of investment in our now ‘boutique’ hotel.
One of the Chabanettes’ luxury rooms, The Studio, which includes a lounge area
Life – the hard way. And the bank, although not being able to actually do anything about this not insignificant fee, took some deserved pity on us and hastily arranged another loan, at virtually zero interest. But the administrative headache was now done. We could finally start doing what we do. Albeit with a total of four loans and a rather ‘fractious’ relationship that one shouldn’t really have with one’s bank.
MAKING A START Now we could get on with running a hotel and executing that well-researched, lengthily constructed business plan. And it was going to work because that’s what I do and have been doing well ever since I left full- time education. But I’m in no doubt now that I wouldn’t have managed to get over that first hurdle without Ingrid. The rest, as they say, is
history. The plan didn’t just work, it exceeded well beyond our and our bank’s expectations. At the end of every financial year, we found ourselves with a larger-than- expected excess of cash in our account having already paid ourselves, the bank and all the usual hotel bills. So we
just kept re-investing, taking this charming, rustic little auberge to new levels of quality and expansion that we never envisaged possible in such a short business time scale. We adapted the room types
to suit the genuine demands of a fast-moving, ever-changing market. Added a spa, a riverside terrace, and ultimately upgraded every last inch of the business. Since my last article, we’ve converted another family room into a second luxury double, which has far more year-round appeal. We’ve overhauled the dining room to give our
YEAR-ROUND APPEAL Chabanettes is shining again. Enjoying an enviable position just like it was 170 years ago when it first opened. A true year-round business with guests coming and going, always with contented smiles on their faces. So, it’s a better time than ever to put the hotel on the market and pursue another challenge. To mark this chapter in the
hotel’s and our own lives, we agreed to take part in a new TV documentary series, which will be aired in the UK this spring. For four months last year we had camera crews following our every move. Not easy when your mind is 100% focused on the customer. But we thought it would be a great way to have a permanent media ‘souvenir’ of our time in the Auvergne. We haven’t seen the editor’s
cut yet, but we’re hoping – as will all the other businesses that have taken part in
this new show – that it will shine a positive light on this wonderful industry. It’s not a sector in which you can get rich overnight, it’s a lifestyle. But it’s deeply rewarding, ever changing, ever challenging, and ever fulfilling. It has been a wonderful environment in which to raise our son – one of our primary objectives for the move to France. I couldn’t have seen myself happier doing anything else other than welcoming guests through my doors in the knowledge that I was creating happy memories for them to cherish. While we’re proud of what
we’ve achieved in this beautiful part of central France, and will no doubt shed many tears when we finally hand over the keys, we will be starting a new hospitality project – something quite different. But it will still carry our ethos that ‘total quality in hospitality always works’. Watch this space!
ON THE MARKET The hotel is now officially on the market. We feel confident we can say to the next owners that everything is in place to allow them to enjoy a rewarding and fruitful life. They won’t just be buying a small, historic hotel. They’ll be taking on a presence coveted by its customers, community and competitors alike. It’s a small hotel that makes a big impact but is no more demanding to run than a B&B or a gîte complex. And, in a post-Brexit world, it far exceeds the minimum income requirements – in case you were wondering. Time to close this chapter
in our own and the hotel’s life. And what a chapter it has been. But the book has certainly not finished yet. ■
Formerly a family room, The Studio is the latest luxury double to be updated 66 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: May/June 2024
Chabanettes Hotel & Spa (Auzelles, Puy-de-Dôme, France) is for sale at €585,000, all equipment, furnishings etc for the business included (CIMM Immobilier Ambert)
chabanettes.com
© CHABANETTES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
