Renting your Morzine apartment:
what nobody tells you beforehand

🏔️ The context: lifestyle asset vs pure investment

Buying an apartment in Morzine to rent it out is rarely a purely financial decision — and that's fine. Most owners I meet are in the same position: they want to use the apartment with the family a few weeks a year, and seasonal rental significantly offsets the mortgage repayments.

That's exactly my logic. My apartment isn't a yield-optimised investment product — it's a property I enjoy, that builds equity, and whose rental income covers a good share of the monthly payments. That clarity of objective changes everything about how you manage the letting: you don't sacrifice all your favourite weeks on the altar of occupancy rate.

💰 What does a Morzine apartment actually earn?

The question everyone asks — and nobody answers honestly. Here are my real numbers after a first year.

Average nightly rate: ~€167 (first full season)

Across all my 2026 bookings, the average net nightly rate comes out at €167, across all seasons and all platforms. This is consistent with the Morzine market for a well-equipped 4–6 person apartment — and it's a first year, with the imperfections that come with a new listing, which I detail below.

This figure hides an important reality: the cleaning fee (€120) artificially inflates the apparent nightly rate on short stays. A 2-night stay at €117/night actually represents €57/night of real accommodation + €120 cleaning spread over 2 nights. It's that net €57 you should compare against the competition — not the €117 displayed.

Winter vs summer: the gap is smaller than you'd think

Winter comes out at ~€181/night net and summer at ~€145/night net across my first year. The gap is smaller than expected: in Morzine, the summer season is consistently underestimated by owners, which leaves real pricing opportunities. The winter 2027 bookings already on the books (at ~€225/night) suggest a progressive increase as the listing gains traction and reviews.

Gross yield: ~4%

Relative to the acquisition price, the gross yield sits around 4% — reasonable for an Alpine resort of this standing. This is comparable to yields observed on similar properties in Megève or Chamonix. The real net yield will depend heavily on your tax situation — and that's where the LMNP regime changes everything (see dedicated section below).

⚔️ Airbnb vs Booking: my verdict from the field

The question every owner asks. My short answer: both, but not in the same way. Here's what I've observed.

The Booking Boost: an unmatched lever

This is the advantage I hadn't anticipated. Booking lets you temporarily increase your commission to rise in search results — during a quiet period, an unfilled weekend, a slot that's lingering. Airbnb offers nothing comparable. This lever alone justifies being on Booking.

Guest quality: advantage Airbnb

On Airbnb, every guest has a profile with past ratings. You can see their history, comments left by other hosts. On Booking, it's complete unknown — no guest history, no prior rating system. In my experience, this shows: Booking guests are on average less careful with the property. Nothing dramatic, but a real difference.

Cancellation rate: Booking's weak point

Booking structurally has a higher cancellation rate than Airbnb. Cancellation policies are more lenient by default, and Booking guests are used to cancelling for free (hotel logic). Set strict cancellation conditions from the start.

🏛️ The French LMNP tax regime: the advantage everyone underestimates

This is probably the most powerful argument for seasonal rental of a property like Morzine — and the least well understood. The LMNP (Loueur Meublé Non Professionnel) régime réel allows you to deduct all costs related to the property from your rental income, including accounting depreciation.

Note: the LMNP is a French tax regime specific to furnished rental properties. If you're a non-French tax resident, consult a specialist adviser on how this interacts with your own tax situation.

What you can deduct

• Mortgage interest — potentially thousands of euros per year in the early years
• Loan insurance (DC/PTIA) — often underestimated but fully deductible
• Service charges (copropriété) — in full if the property is rented
• Property tax (taxe foncière)
• Platform commissions (Airbnb, Booking)
• Property depreciation — this is where the magic happens: you deduct the accounting depreciation of the property (2–3% per year) without it being an actual cash expense
• Furniture depreciation (over 5–10 years)

Administrative obligations not to overlook

The LMNP régime réel requires maintaining accounts (balance sheet, depreciation schedules) — use a specialist accountant, it's a few hundred euros well spent. Seasonal rental also involves other obligations:

• Registration with the local authority (mairie): mandatory for all furnished tourist rentals. The Morzine mairie issues a registration number to include on your listings.
• Tourist tax (taxe de séjour): platforms (Airbnb, Booking) collect it automatically. For direct bookings, you collect and remit it to the commune yourself. Forgetting this is an expensive mistake.
• PNO insurance (non-occupying owner cover): essential, often forgotten.

⚠️ Mistakes I made (so you don't have to)

📈 Occupancy doesn't happen by itself: my 3 performance levers

A beautiful, well-located Morzine apartment is the foundation — but it's no longer enough to maximise returns in a competitive market. To reach these figures, you need to stop passively "suffering" your listing and become proactive. Here are the 3 strategies that drive results:

✅ What I'd do differently from day one

• Block family dates first — before anything else Before creating the listings. Once a date is booked, you can't reverse it without risking a bad review.
• Launch Booking alongside Airbnb from day one Submit the Booking application on the day of purchase, with a walkthrough video + title deed. Objective: go live on both platforms simultaneously before the first season.
• Set Booking prices commission-inclusive immediately Before the first booking. Create a simple table: Airbnb rate × 1.18 = Booking rate (for a 15% commission). Review every time you change your pricing.
• Open the calendar 12 months ahead As soon as the listing is live, open the calendar for the full year. The best guests book early. Competition is lower out of season.
• Engage a specialist LMNP accountant from year one Don't wait for your tax return to discover the regime. Property depreciation is calculated from the date of acquisition — a missed year can't be recovered.
• Register with the mairie and set up tourist tax for direct bookings Especially if you have direct bookings (personal network, returning guests). Platforms collect automatically — you don't. Don't forget this.
• Check your pin position on the Booking map By default, Booking places the pin at the building entrance — not at your specific apartment. Depending on the layout and neighbouring competitors, an imprecise location can penalise you in map search results. I learnt the hard way how to fix this.