I thought curtains or a blind at a window was a given until a recent stay at a house found a bedroom window with nothing! I didn't have to sleep in that room thank goodness.
Guest expectations set to change?
I wouldn't let it irk you BD! Going on holiday can actually be quite a stressful business and there are things that you take for granted at home that we don't even think about until we haven't got them!
I thought curtains or a blind at a window was a given until a recent stay at a house found a bedroom window with nothing! I didn't have to sleep in that room thank goodness.
I thought curtains or a blind at a window was a given until a recent stay at a house found a bedroom window with nothing! I didn't have to sleep in that room thank goodness.
In peak season up until now we have hired a linen pack of sheets and towels (one hand , one bath) and off season we have included sheets in the price & hired the towels - & pool towels- separately. From next year we'll keep it all the same and include the sheets & hire the towels for everyone.
I now don't offer a change of linen/towels mid stay for various reasons.
1. I try to manage our bookings so I never end up with more than 3 gites to change over on the same day - if I offered an automatic change of linen for everyone the laundry (and my good self!!) would never cope. With a potential of 37 sets of sheets and 74 towels every week plus all the duvet covers, protective linen etc for the gites leaving I'd have to shut the laundry down for the weekend.
2. Our laundry has all the powders, stain removers ,softeners, etc etc all free of charge so people can wash their towels etc every day if they want to or as needed which to me in a self catering environment makes a lot more sense. We had an hotel before so I'm well used to this concept but if I were in a gite for a fortnight using it as my "home" & not just a base to come back to I'd feel a lot more comfortable just suiting myself as & when.
I often see sheets/mattress protectors on the line where children have obviously had "accidents" and always see people's towels there too often mid/ late in the week so not sure if it makes any sense to go round offering clean sets a day or two later. Never see any pillowcases though even for two week stays ,which would be easy enough to toss in the machine...
3. In 6 years of letting I have only ever had one woman who after she had left said a change of linen would have been appreciated (even after I had given her a complete new set of bedding & laundered the original stuff after her child was sick in the double bed)
That said, if I sense that someone would really appreciate a change or only wants to stick a couple of bathmats in the machine I happily oblige at no charge.
Not sure if this is the right way to go or not - I somehow feel we should be offering more & more but our guests are more than happy & keep coming back so it can't be that much of an issue.
Elena
Dordogne holiday cottages
Tales from our Dordogne gites
join Les Crouquets on Facebook – if you like us, please like us!!
I now don't offer a change of linen/towels mid stay for various reasons.
1. I try to manage our bookings so I never end up with more than 3 gites to change over on the same day - if I offered an automatic change of linen for everyone the laundry (and my good self!!) would never cope. With a potential of 37 sets of sheets and 74 towels every week plus all the duvet covers, protective linen etc for the gites leaving I'd have to shut the laundry down for the weekend.
2. Our laundry has all the powders, stain removers ,softeners, etc etc all free of charge so people can wash their towels etc every day if they want to or as needed which to me in a self catering environment makes a lot more sense. We had an hotel before so I'm well used to this concept but if I were in a gite for a fortnight using it as my "home" & not just a base to come back to I'd feel a lot more comfortable just suiting myself as & when.
I often see sheets/mattress protectors on the line where children have obviously had "accidents" and always see people's towels there too often mid/ late in the week so not sure if it makes any sense to go round offering clean sets a day or two later. Never see any pillowcases though even for two week stays ,which would be easy enough to toss in the machine...
3. In 6 years of letting I have only ever had one woman who after she had left said a change of linen would have been appreciated (even after I had given her a complete new set of bedding & laundered the original stuff after her child was sick in the double bed)
That said, if I sense that someone would really appreciate a change or only wants to stick a couple of bathmats in the machine I happily oblige at no charge.
Not sure if this is the right way to go or not - I somehow feel we should be offering more & more but our guests are more than happy & keep coming back so it can't be that much of an issue.
Elena
Dordogne holiday cottages
Tales from our Dordogne gites
join Les Crouquets on Facebook – if you like us, please like us!!