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Hello,
I will be soon a Airbnb host. I am buying a flat in Nice and I wanted to know if anyone knew whether it is good to rent out my flat on Airbnb in winter as well as in summer?
Is it going to be busy enough or it would be better to rent out my flat to a student during the winter months?
Thanks,
Laura
I have two rental apartments in South Florida and rent them year round. In the winter (the tourist season) I donât really have to work at getting guests but in the summer (rainy season, tropical storms, hurricanes) I had to work a little harder at first. But now I get repeat and referral business, plus business from contacts. Youâll build those up in time.
Nice is lovely and you should be able to get back to back bookings year round. Bear in mind that youâre pretty close to Monte Carlo which is in huge demand especially at Grand Prix times. 
Iâm at the Jersey Shore in New Jersey and when I first started my Airbnb, I expected bookings only in the summer. To my surprise, it books year round. Try doing Airbnb even in the winter your first year to see if you get bookings. I suspect you will be able to get bookings year round.
Thank you so much for your answers.
I guess that Iâll have to try and see what happens.
Nice is a university city, so I know that I could rent the flat out from September to June to students. July and August I could rent on Airbnb. But, of course, renting a flat out to a student for 9 months is going to be less remunerative (500/600euros a months max) than renting on Airbnb.
It is a good idea to try renting on Airbnb all year around for the first year and see what happens.
I just hope that I wonât have to stay for many winter months without guests as keeping a flat abroad is very expensive.
The best way to find out is to ask other AirBnB hosts in your area, IF they will talk to you.
I would think that the south of France in the winter would be fairly busy, as long as it wasnât really rainy. These days, folks arenât booking as far in advance as they used to, because there are no more free COVID cancellations.
This is also one of the reasons I joined this forum. I was hoping that someone on here had a flat in the south of France and could enlighten me. 
I actually live in England.
But all your comments have been very helpful anyway.
Is there a way I could contact a Airbnb host in Nice? Sorry for these questions , which may seem obvious for you, but I am new to Airbnb and I am still trying to understand how it works.
So the parents of the students, the friends of the students, the researchers, the fill-in professores, the university guests who come to give a presentation, the students coming to tour the university, the people coming for an event at the university, the students who donât leave when the university housing closes, the parents to pick up students for holiday breaks, and then everyone and their godmother for graduation. We have real winter in my city and we donât slow down much in the winter because we have a university.
We also get people coming to see Christmas shows, do shopping, visit local family, some winter weddings and, perhaps it sounds morbid, but we get quite a lot of people coming for funerals in the winter as well.
Yes, all good points. Iâll have to try and see.
It all depends on the location.
My Cousin has a Villa with a Pool in st Isidore just outside Nice, he just closes for the winter.
If you are near the center or close to the sea all year rental might be possible.
can you be sure that the condition of the apartment will be suitable after renting to students (or anyone) for the majority of the year? it might take a week or two, possibly more, to get it back up to the standard you might want for airbnb? if it takes longer then you may âmissâ the summer season market
but i also understand that having occupancy for the majority of the year might cover all your expenses and costs and any airbnb bookings might be the icing on the cake you desire.
I used to travel there for business the week of Carnival (sp?). I know the hotels were busy at least that week in Feb.
I think Nice in the winter time is beautiful, and if there wasnât that pesky ocean in the way Iâd head there for getaways in the winter.
I will buy the small flat by the sea near the centre of Nice , thatâs for sure.
I have sent a message to a Airbnb host in Nice . Weâll see if he is going to answer me.
Check on Airdna for comparable properties.
Remember you need to estimate how many days a year you need to rent out to cover the core costs of running your place if you are going to be o be dependant on the STR income to maintain your place in Nice.
What is STR? and Iâd like to rent all year round apart from a couple of months maybe.
Short term rental (STR).
Ok, Thank you. 
You have all been so helpful. I am so glad that I have found this site
Thanks Helsi,
I have had a look at Airdna . It is useful. Also the airbnb host in Nice has answered me.
She said that the busiest months are the summer months ( as predicted), but that there are still quite a lot of requests all year round. So, it is good news.
Thanks again
@Larapal - I wasnât kidding when I mentioned the Monaco Grand Prix. Nice is only a 20-minute train ride away from Monte Carlo. During race weekend (usually the last weekend in May) people can pay âŹ18,000 for a room in Monte Carlo itself. The cheapest I can find is a Holiday Inn for over âŹ1000 per room. And that room is probably only âŹ100 at normal times.
People from the UK and all over Europe travel to Monaco that weekend sharing a rental car and are perfectly willing to take a 20-minute train ride rather than pay the crazy prices in Monte Carlo.
Thereâs also the Monte Carlo Rally (end of January).
Itâs not just spectators who need accommodation but there are many journalists, photographers, etc. - ordinary people who canât afford those crazy prices.
There is one event here (in South Florida) where I quadruple my prices that weekend. Itâs just a case of supply and demand.
Hi Jacquo,
Sure, I believe that you are right. Anyway, From April onwards Nice should be in demand anyway. Monte Carlo Rally at the of January would be good.
Thanks again for all your information
My advice is for you to use your web browser in âanonymousâ or âprivateâ mode and start checking both prices and whether existing hosts are booked or not, comparing the photos to what your place should look like.
You will have to enter dates to see whoâs got openings and what their prices. If you use the map you can get a good idea of who your closest competitors are and compare their listing with yours.
I would try to check pricing on some days over the next several months, as well as checking that Grand Prix weekend. Remember that Air will discount your first 3 bookings and bump new listings higher on the list.
When you start, donât let bookings open more than 60 (or 90 at the most) days ahead until you see how your pricing is working out. Folks have told tales of setting prices too low and not limiting booking dates when they opened and having guests book a year ahead at what they realize a month later are ridiculously low prices.
Most folks here turn off Airâs âpricing tipsâ which are always way too low because they donât care whether we make money, they just want the booking fees.
Iâve only been in southern France during the 2004 Tour, which skipped from Nimes to Avignon and on to Alpe dâHuez, so I didnât get to the Mediterranean. Hoping to bike along the Canal Du Midi one of these years.
Meilleurs voeux pour une entreprise prospère!