When managing a gîte or a guest room through Gîtes de France, the first experience with the ITEA owner’s office often feels like diving into an oversized dashboard. You click, search for the schedule, and stumble upon a “Gestrel” tab without knowing what it corresponds to. This guide details the sections that raise the most questions, with a reading order designed for those discovering the interface or migrating from the old version.
Migration to email login on ITEA: what changes concretely
Since the removal of login by owner number, access to the owner’s office is now exclusively through an email and password combination. For long-time members used to entering their departmental number, this means they must have linked a valid email address to their account.
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If an email has never been provided, the procedure goes through the departmental relay. You contact your local federation to associate the address with the existing account. Without this step, it is impossible to log in, even with the old password.
Once logged in, the “keep my session active” box prevents having to re-enter credentials with each visit. On a shared computer (group reception, communal office), it’s better to uncheck it for security reasons. While navigating in the ITEA owner’s office, you can then access all sections without needing to authenticate again during the session.
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ITEA v5 Schedule: reading and managing multi-accommodation availability
The v5 version of the owner’s office has revamped the scheduling interface around a dedicated page (multi_plannings.php) designed to manage multiple accommodations from a single screen. Before this update, each gîte had a separate schedule. You switched from one to another via a dropdown menu, which increased the risk of errors.
Now, the view overlays the calendars. You can spot date overlaps and available slots at a glance across your entire portfolio. The color code remains simple: open, closed, reserved. Each cell in the calendar is clickable to change a status.
A common pitfall concerns the temporary closure of an accommodation. Closing a slot on the ITEA schedule is not always sufficient if a channel manager is connected simultaneously. Synchronization can reopen the slot if the closure was not done correctly (we’ll revisit this in the next section).
Tip for owners with a single accommodation
The multi-scheduling interface still displays a single calendar view. The ergonomics remain the same, but you won’t see the toggle tabs. If the display seems empty or buggy, reloading the page resolves the issue in most cases.
iCal synchronization and channel manager: who controls the schedule
Connecting ITEA to a third-party tool like elloha raises a question of schedule governance. Two configurations exist, and the choice has direct consequences on overbookings.
- ITEA as the master schedule: all openings and closures are done in the owner’s office. The channel manager reads the data and redistributes it on the booking platforms. This is the configuration recommended by most departmental relays.
- Channel manager as the master schedule: everything is managed from elloha (or equivalent), and ITEA receives updates in read-only mode. This option suits owners who already use a multi-platform channel manager and do not want to enter the same information twice.
- Mixed configuration (not recommended): modifying the schedule from both sides creates synchronization conflicts. A slot closed on ITEA can be reopened by the channel manager, or vice versa, leading to double bookings.
Before activating iCal synchronization, you must obtain the approval of your departmental center. Some federations require ITEA as the master schedule to maintain the consistency of their internal booking system.
Gestloc, Gestheb, and Gestrel sections in the ITEA owner’s office
These three modules have somewhat unclear names, but they cover distinct functions used at different times of the season.
Gestloc manages the tenant relationship: contracts, booking confirmations, traveler contact details. This is where you find the administrative documents related to each stay.
Gestheb pertains to the accommodation itself: description, photos, amenities, classification. When renovating a kitchen or adding a spa, it’s in Gestheb that you update the listing. The photos uploaded here directly feed into the advertisement visible on the Gîtes de France site for the department.
Gestrel handles the relationship with the departmental relay: network news, shared documents, internal communications. You can also find the attendance statistics provided by the local federation.
Modifying your rates and promotions
Price adjustments are made in Gestheb, not in Gestloc. This is a common source of confusion. You access the price grids by accommodation, with the possibility of creating one-time promotions (last minute, long-term offer).
Feedback varies on the speed of publication: some owners see the update within a few hours, while others report a longer delay depending on the relay.
Resolving common blocks on the ITEA interface
Some situations frequently arise during the first weeks of use.
- Blank page after login: often related to JavaScript being disabled in the browser. ITEA requires active JavaScript to display the dashboard.
- Schedule not updating: clear the browser cache or test with another browser. The v5 works better on recent versions of Firefox and Chrome.
- Forgotten password: the reset link sends an email to the address linked to the account. If you don’t receive anything, check the spam folder before contacting the departmental relay.
Getting accustomed to the ITEA owner’s office takes a few sessions before it becomes smooth. By starting with the schedule and then exploring Gestloc and Gestheb as the first bookings come in, you can cover daily needs without getting lost in secondary menus. Keeping ITEA as the central management point remains the most reliable way to avoid inconsistencies between platforms.