I'm hoping to gather together all the free B&B and Self-Catering listing sites here so if there are any that you know of which aren't here, drop me a line and I'll add them on: web@ourinns.org will get me; it will be helpful if you can tell me if the site you're suggesting is:

• totally free, just free for some months or is commission based;
• whether it is limited to a geographic region or is worldwide;
• if you've had any bookings from them (don't worry if you haven't - somebody probably has);
• if it lists B&B or self-catering or both.

Don't be thinking that you can forget about spending money on advertising because all these sites are free. Those highlighted are known to have brought in bookings for people, so it would be best to add yourself to the highlighted ones first if your time is short. On the other hand, few people tell me if they've received a booking from a site so it's as well to work through the rest in due course.

For the free initial period ones, my view is that it's best to apply for the listing for them about a month before your high season so that a) you get maximum benefit from any "free" bookings and b) you give the sites themselves a decent run. It's important to keep track of which of these produce bookings (and I do stress bookings as opposed to just enquiries as some sites may attract "serial enquirers") so that you can decide if it's worthwhile to pay up when the free period runs out.

 

Site	Coverage	Property types
chambre-dhote.org	France	B&B
ourinns.org	Worldwide	B&B
gabinohome.com	Worldwide	sc
ourinns.org	Worldwide	sc
PerfectPlaces.com	Worldwide (90 day trial)	both
rent-holiday-homes.com	Worldwide	sc
self-catering-breaks.com	Worldwide	sc
2000villas.com	Worldwide; free in some countries	sc
a1vacationproperties.com	Worldwide	sc
algarve4me.com	Algarve	sc
allrural.com	Worldwide	both
bandbclub.com	Worldwide	B&B
Bed-and-breakfast.la-france.org	France; reciprocal link required	B&B
bedhunt.com	Worldwide	both
bnb-directory.com	Worldwide	B&B
bulgarianaccommodation.biz	Bulgaria	sc
cap-location.com	Worldwide; reciprocal link required	both
chambre-hote.com	France; reciprocal link required	B&B
e-selfcatering.com	Worldwide	sc
euaccommodation.info	European; some countries free	sc
europa-hollidays.com	Worldwide; reciprocal link required	both
free-vacation-rentals.com	Worldwide	sc
france4families.com	France	sc
greekaccommodation.info	Greece	sc
gulivers.com	Worldwide (90 day trial)	sc
holidayadvertising.com	Worldwide (6 months free)	sc
holidayhomeads.com	Worldwide; free to list 0.10€ per enquiry	both
holiday-home-pages.co.uk	Worldwide	sc
holidaylease.com	Worldwide	sc
holidayplace.net	Worldwide	sc
holidayrentals.org	Worldwide	sc
holidaytruths.co.uk	Worldwide	both
inndirectory.com	Worldwide	B&B
inthemed.com	Worldwide	sc
lodgingchannel.com	Worldwide	both
maisoneurope.com	Worldwide (6 month trial)	sc
maison-hote.fr	France	B&B
ourfrenchchateau.com	France	both
pinson.nl	Worldwide	both
portugalaccommodation.info	Portugal	sc
privatevilla.co.uk	Worldwide	sc
rentahomeabroad.com	Worldwide	sc
travel-library.com	Worldwide	both
worldlodge.com	Worldwide	sc

You'll also note after a while that these sites come and go. Sadly, on our latest review there were quite a number of dropouts. There didn't seem to be any common theme to them: some had excellent domain names, some had rubbish ones. Most kept on the free option to the end, one started charging. Some were worldwide, others stuck to a single country.

bedandbreakfastdirectory.co.uk

1-2-c.com, accommodation4holidays.com, eurolidays.com, algarvewebsite.com, forfrance.co.uk, france-pittoresque.com, frenchaccommodation.co.uk, gghif.com, holiday-rentals-world.com, inetgiant.com, italianaccommodation.biz, ovrentals.com, planetearthvacations.com, primorentals.com, rentalbot.com, renting-abroad.com, selfrentals.com, spanishaccommodation.biz, usfreeads.com, villaexplorer.co.uk, villas-france.com.

me other sites that may be of interest to you: