Alsace Housing Rentals

I always think there is better — and less picked over — selection on the Gîtes de France website. It is more for French people and people who have had their places on there for years haven’t moved to the other platforms, IMO.

Do be sure to check whether a Gites de France rental you are considering requires you to bring your own sheets and towels! Most do, although there are still plenty that provide them.

Thanks Kim. Bedding and towels would definitely be a problem if we had to provide them.

Yes, not exactly the type of things one wants to bring along!!

I'd also recommend Gites de France. We've used them 20 or so times all over France. As to sheets and towels, we've never had to supply sheets, and only once did we have to bring towels. You can always figure that out before you rent. Also, we almost always pick places that can be rented through Gites de France. It's much easier than having to deal with the owner directly, particularly with respect to payment.

Thanks for the suggestion to look at Gites de France. Sadly none of the offerings in the Alsace meets our needs. It's so much easier finding lodging for just myself and my hubby. Adding additional people to the mix and making sure everyone is happy is not an easy task.

This listing in Riquewihr seems nice but I don’t know your dates. https://www.gites-de-france.com/en/grand-est/haut-rhin/les-balcons-de-riquewihr-lhorizon-68g8075?travelers=4

Mona, that place is great! The only thing that's missing is a 2nd bathroom.

I think it has a second toilet room based on the description. We’ve been able to get away with only one tub or shower as long as there are 2 toilet rooms for 4 people. It’s our minimum standard though.

Andrea here’s one with 2 br and two bathrooms—see floor plan for layout. Sorry I just love looking at these gites. https://www.gites-de-france.com/fr/grand-est/haut-rhin/mirabelle-68g30154?travelers=4. It’s in Eguisheim.

Mona, that's a good one. It's hard to see what all of the amenities are. One shower is fine, but two toilets are a must. We also want a washer. This is a long trip and we want to pack as lightly as possible.

Here is maybe a dumb thought: what if you enlarge your search to include places with three bedrooms? Maybe three-bedroom places are more likely to have two bathrooms???

I don’t know, just a thought.

Kim, that's a good idea. I'll try it. That's one thing I prefer about searching on Airbnb. If 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms is selected it shows everything that meets that criteria or larger. It also lets you choose more filters and it's easy to translate things. I can get the gist of things when I'm reading French, but I was wanting to know exactly what was being said in reviews, etc. so I had to go back and forth between the Gites de France site and google translate. It's just more tedious.

Maybe three-bedroom places are more likely to have two bathrooms???

That's a good idea.

I'm looking at a rental for several reasons. This is part of a lengthy trip (8+ weeks for me and hubby, including 4 weeks with our friends) and I would like to have a washer handy so we can wash clothes when needed. We would also like a kitchen. Traveling for a long time we get tired of constantly having to eat out. We like to have the option to prepare something to eat if we want. We also like having a common area to spend time talking and planning. That's more difficult in separate hotel rooms. I appreciate your thoughts though.

I haven't ruled out any location.

If you see anything in Kientzheim, i can recommend that as a lovely village near Kaysersberg.

If you see anything in Kientzheim, i can recommend that as a lovely village near Kaysersberg.

Frankly, I've been through several dozen Alsatian villages, and I can't think of one that I WOULDN'T stay in.

So...I have looked at the listings on Airbnb, Home Away and Gites de France. My favorite, keeping in mind that we are two couples traveling together and I'm trying to find a place where our sleeping spaces are somewhat equal, is on the Gites site. I was thinking that a charming village was what I wanted, but this place is in Colmar. I've been to Colmar once. It was a very short day trip from the Black Forest and I didn't get to see much. I liked what I saw, but is it such a crowded place that we won't be happy spending 6 nights there? We will be doing day trips, so wouldn't be around during the day much. The reviews are really good for this place and people say it's quiet. We will be coming from Switzerland, where we are spending a week at a campground in Lauterbrunnen. Staying in Colmar might be a nice change. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks.

https://www.gites-de-france.com/en/grand-est/haut-rhin/villa-rosa-68g8110?from=2020-09-29&to=2020-10-05&travelers=4

It comes close to pretty much what you are looking for.

Not in the small village, but you're not far. Good reviews regardless of language. I'd wonder if the dining table is large enough for all meals for 4. Kitchen looks nice. If 3 people sit on the sofa for TV the fourth one has a hard chair?

As far as the two sleeping areas being relatively comparable I think they are. The smaller one actually has a seperate bathroom whereas part of the larger one is separate toilet and the sink in the room. I didn't match the plans to the (very nice) photos but that's how it looks on the plan. And the smaller room has two singles which makes into a larger double than the one in the other room.

Nigel I wouldn’t worry about the hard chair. I often travel with 2 very picky chair/sofa sitters and they wouldn’t be able to sit on a sofa that sits too far back, low or soft 😬. Usually one of them prefers a well contoured hard chair like this apartment has in the LR and table area. I’d go for it Andrea based on location in Colmar, rooms, furniture and amenities.

The place in Colmar looks great. The dining rook table looks sufficient for 4. And from what I remember, Colmar has good bus service to villages long the Route du Vin.

Andrea, it looks pretty nice for the 4 of you.
I don't see any mention of a cancellation policy, though.

Thanks Nigel, Mona, Robert and Sharyn. That is a good point about the cancellation policy. I tried to find it, but no luck. There also doesn't seem to be a way to send a message in order to ask questions, unless I'm missing something. Robert, we will have a car, so we won't need buses.

hey hey andrea
at the bottom of home page is "contact us",

mele kalikimaka & hau'oli makahiki hou
aloha

Hi Princess, thanks. I had tried that, but apparently didn't follow the instructions. I've now sent them a message and hope to hear back.

Colmar’s too big for me as a base with a car, but that’s me. Your main issue is the the two bathrooms. I’ve rented a couple of gites with two bedrooms (one was in Riquewihr), neither of them was comfortable enough for four people due to the size of the rooms (I spoil myself on holiday). If you can’t find a suitable three bedroom, try looking for a couple of one bedroom gites on the same premises.

These might help.

In Ribeauville:
https://www.vrbo.com/en-ca/cottage-rental/p1751415a?adultsCount=6&noDates=true

Outside of the big four villages - Riquewihr, Eguisheim, Ribeuaville and Kaysersberg - Hunawihr is a tiny, very pretty village with a couple of restaurants, one of which has very good food and is/was terribly attractive inside (I like all the stone/timber/yellow/maroon/hearts kind of stuff). From Hunawihr you can walk fairly comfortably through vineyards to Riquewihr and Ribeauvuille. This place is in Hunawihr:
https://www.alsace-gite-tonnelier.com

Bergheim is a fantastic village full of attractive buildings, a nice church, not many shops or tourists, and five or six restaurants. These places are in Bergheim:

https://www.vrbo.com/en-ca/cottage-rental/p10242347?adultsCount=6&noDates=true

https://www.vrbo.com/en-ca/cottage-rental/p10333378?adultsCount=6&noDates=true

More options to check out:

https://www.ribeauville-riquewihr.com

https://www.paysdebarr.fr/visiter/

Google map the area and zoom in. Some of the wine growers rent out gites but do not advertise widely.

If you have enough time, Gengenbach, Freiburg and Staufen on the Black Forest side.

Whatever you decide, look for free parking with easy access.

I don't see any mention of a cancellation policy, though.

I've rented dozens of gites from Gites de France, and I always assumed they don't have any cancellation policy; in other words, nothing is returned. But I checked my most recent contract, which does provide for some refund, depending on when you cancel:

Article 10 - annulation du fait du client : Toute annulation doit être notifiée par lettre recommandée
au service de réservation.
a/ Vous bénéficiez d'une assurance-annulation : reportez vous à la fiche assurance jointe.
b/ Vous ne bénéficiez pas d'une assurance-annulation : pour toute annulation du fait du client, le
remboursement par le service de réservation, à l'exception des frais de réservation, est effectué
comme suit :
- annulation jusqu’au 21ème jour inclus avant le début du séjour : il sera retenu le montant de
l’acompte tel que défini à l’article 4 et le solde sera remboursé s’il a été encaissé à la date d’annulation
;
- annulation entre le 20ème et le 8ème jour inclus avant le début du séjour : il sera retenu 50 % du
montant du loyer et du montant des prestations directement liées au séjour, si le client a choisi d’en
bénéficier ;
- annulation entre le 7ème et le 2ème jour inclus avant le début du séjour : il sera retenu 75 % du
montant du loyer et du montant des prestations directement liées au séjour, si le client a choisi d’en
bénéficier ;
- annulation la veille ou le jour d’arrivée initialement prévu au contrat ou non-présentation : il ne sera
procédé à aucun remboursement.

Those conditions can also be found - similar wording, only in French - by going to the bottom of the homepage, click "Conditions of Use and Sale", click on "Consult all the Gîtes de France's general sales conditions", paragraph 8.

The moral of that paragraph is consider the insurance.

Thanks for the cancellation information. I haven't gotten a reply to my message to the company, but considering the time of year I'm not surprised.

Gunderson, thank you to the links to those properties. I had actually been looking at one of them already.