In Brittany, seasonal workers rent rooms at low cost in empty boarding schools during the summer

The smell of toast and coffee fills the foyer of the Yvon-Bourges hotel school in Dinard (Ille-et-Vilaine). Suzon Moricard is the only one seated in this spacious place, at 10 o’clock. The holidays have just started, her day as an employee at the bakery starts early in the afternoon. “My best friend and I have wanted to work together in the summer for a long time,” explains the Rennes native, a costume design student in Paris. For 9 euros a day each, they found affordable happiness for the duration of a contract by the sea: a room to share in the school’s boarding school, with shared bathrooms, a common foyer and security service. “It’s a bit like a summer camp,” jokes the cheerful 20-year-old seasonal worker, who admits that she and her friend would not have been able to try the adventure without having found this accommodation solution. For the third consecutive year, the Dinard school is keeping its doors open in July and August to accommodate employees who come to reinforce this very touristy coastal area. Seasonal employment represents nearly 50,000 summer positions in Brittany*, and nearly 2,500 are concentrated around Saint-Malo and Dinard. 80% of Breton seasonal workers earned less than 1,060 euros per month in 2019*, while the very many rental offers that flood the summer market are inaccessible to them, their average price rising to 146 euros per night in Dinard in July 2024.

Summer rental shortage

“It is already difficult to find accommodation all year round, regardless of age and conditions, so in the middle of summer it becomes impossible,” notes Mathilde Lisnard in the boarding school foyer, where her colleague Soizic Lahaye has installed a games console for the occupants. During the holidays, the two women manage the Dinard high school and the Saint-Malo maritime high school on behalf of the Umih Logement association. The association won the call for tenders from the Brittany region, which wanted to make establishments available to counter the summer rental shortage, with help from the municipalities for the organizational aspect. “The idea is to provide a solution to the employers who are members of our association, who do not all have the possibility of offering accommodation for their employees during the season,” adds Mathilde Lisnard.

In Dinard, 47 single or shared non-mixed rooms are available, 27 in Saint-Malo. All that is required for employers and employees, who must be adults, is to have signed a contract together to submit an application to the organization. “We have four studios available, but that is not enough. (…) Conventional accommodation is overpriced, and we need seasonal workers to welcome our customers in high season,” emphasizes Bruno Vilt, director of the Emeria hotel-thalassotherapy center, which prepares its summer staff from the end of January. Nearly 2.5 million tourists flock to the Saint-Malo and Mont-Saint-Michel Bay area every summer, a sector that represents 10% of economic activity in the corsair city alone.

An opportunity for meetings

Far from the bathrobe-clad guests strolling through the thalassotherapy area with its breathtaking view of the sea, Luis Planchenault, 20, has joined the hotel kitchen as a cold and pantry employee. The Mayenne native comes to the “office” by scooter from the Dinard high school, where he lives for the summer. “The atmosphere is nice with the other seasonal workers. It will be an opportunity to meet people,” notes the boy in a hat and apron. This proximity has also allowed the Lidl store, located in a commercial area a few minutes from the city center, to welcome five employees for the summer, which the managers are delighted about: “Our needs are multiplied at this time of year, to the point that we bring in staff from other stores to complete our team in Dinard.”

Among them, Luna Maggio, who arrived from Rennes for a few weeks as reinforcement. “The boarding school only opened yesterday, until now I was driving back and forth every day from home,” says the communications student. The young woman enjoys walking to the supermarket, like her colleagues who live at the high school, even if she regrets the lack of a fitted kitchen and the impossibility of having family over. However, she puts things into perspective: “If the weather is nice, I’ll go for a walk to the beach!”

* Source: France Travail.