FOR SALE - successful mountain holiday accommodation in the French Pyrenees After 14 successful years as accommodation for Mountainbug Adventure Holidays, chalet “Les Cailloux” is now for sale as the owners are looking to spend more time with their young family.

The Pyrenees have been proven as the perfect base for a lifestyle business, the opportunity both to practice mountain activities including skiing, snowshoeing, cycling, hiking, climbing and adventure sports, and also to run a profitable enterprise with two busy seasons, both Winter and Summer. See the company website www.mountainbug.com for more information about the business opportunities, and a photo gallery of the chalet at: http://www.mountainbug.com/chalet-accommodation/ There is a Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Mountainbug/ and many TripAdvisor reviews at: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g635803-d641702-Reviews-Les_Cailloux_Mountainbug-Bareges_Hautes_Pyrenees_Occitanie.html Unlike most touristic destinations the Pyrenees are popular year-round, and offer two full trading seasons. This allows a very generous business turnover, roughly split 40:60 Winter to Summer. Profits margins are excellent for a live-in owner-operator. Please get in touch to request financial details. PROPERTY DETAILS: Mountainbug is based in the French "Hautes Pyrenees" in the mountain village of Barèges. The chalet, gite "les Cailloux", has six bedrooms plus a large one bedroom, en-suite owners apartment with independent access, six en-suite shower-rooms, seven WCs, sauna, equipment room, large dining room and guest lounge, all in very good order. There is a garden and a large wood decked terrace - perfect for evening barbecues in the summer and Igloo building in the winter. The accommodation sleeps up to 14 guests (however there is space for more beds if the new owner wanted to run a backpackers hostel or gite with a different accommodation classification). Approximate surface area of the house is 280 m2, and the plot size is 415 m2. The chalet is situated in the centre of Barèges village, with easy access to the free ski bus, shops, bars, restaurants and the thermal baths, but in a nice, quiet location just off the mainstreet.

BUSINESS INFORMATION: The property is currently operated as a catered mountain lodge in the Summer, with a long season running from the end of May through to the beginning of October. The main clientele are walkers and cyclists in June, July and September, plus active families during the school holidays. The popularity of multi activity holidays is increasing year-on-year, with the growth of adventure travel. Most current Summer guests are on guided walking holidays, which has been the main focus of Mountainbug, as the owners are qualified hiking guides. It should be noted that this activity could easily be continued through the use of the many local guides if the new owners were not guides themselves. There is also a good demand for accommodation for independent activities, or simply classic B&B - not something that has been targeted much up to this point. In the Winter, Les Cailloux is a catered ski chalet, accommodating downhill skiers in the popular Grand Tourmalet resort - the largest ski area in the French Pyrenees. Guided packages are also timetabled in the Winter, including snowshoeing, off-piste skiing and ski touring. The Winter season runs from December through to the first or second week of April. The Tourmalet resort has a long season and very reliable snow. It is one of the most modern ski resorts in the Pyrenees, with a smooth network of high-speed chairs and snow-cannons on all of the main axis pistes. There are two return pistes to Bareges village, at 1250m.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES to continue the business or make a complete change:

Work with local guides and continue offering guided activity holidays for French or English speakers.

Emphasise the B&B side of the business and operate as a classic “chambres d’hôtes. A listing on Booking.com would really open up the short-break market.

Extend both the Summer and Winter seasons even further – ideal for an owner-operator. The present owners employ staff (two live-in chalet hosts), and therefore focus only on the busy months.

Expand advertising into the French-market, which is currently not targeted at all.

Use the property as a luxury second home for family or group mountain holidays.

Rent as a self-catered holiday let, using a local management company to clean, meet & greet. SUMMARY: Gite "Les Cailloux" is the ideal base for either week-long guided packages, classic B&B accommodation, or for self-catered holiday letting in the heart of the high Pyrenees: SUMMER - walking and trekking (Néouvielle Nature Reserve and the Pyrenees National park). The GR10 long distance trail comes right through Barèges. Cycling (the chalet is on the route to the Col du Tourmalet, one of the most famous mountain road passes in Europe and featuring in the Tour de France almost every year). Mountain biking. Multi activity holidays (canyoning, paragliding, rafting, via ferrata, caving, treetop parks, rock climbing & abseiling, downhill scooters, zipline course etc. etc). Thermal spa holidays. WINTER - downhill skiing in the Grand Tourmalet resort, off-piste skiing (Pic du Midi freeride area), ski touring/back country skiing (Néouvielle Nature Reserve and the Pyrenees National Park). NOTE: Barèges has a new ski lift pending, due to open for the 2019/20 season. This will be a high-speed bubble lift direct from the village, which will also run in the Summer - great for the mountain biking market. Easy connections for the UK to the Pyrenees with Ryanair flying from London Stansted to Lourdes airport (50 minutes transfer, airport shuttle service in the Winter). Also a good selection of flights into Toulouse and Biarritz (2.5 hours drive) or Bordeaux (3 hours), and a regular train to Lourdes, then local bus to Barèges.

SALE DETAILS: Price - 585,000 EUR Including all contents, trading history, reviews etc. The owners intend to stay locally, and would be happy to be involved during the handover period. The guided holiday company, Mountainbug, may also be available by separate negotiation.