Laundry change for long stays

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
LotBoy47
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:40 pm
Location: SW France

Laundry change for long stays

Post by LotBoy47 »

We are still in our first year of operations and coming into our busy time - fully booked for 7/8 of August (yay!)

Do we offer guests clean laundry for stays over 5-7 nights?
Do we take them a bundle of clean laundry and expect them to strip beds?
Do we offer to come in and change the beds for them?
Do we do the same for towels?

When we have stayed in gites around France ourselves, there was never anyone on site and never a change of laundry. My wife just used to bung it all in the washing machine and it was dry before bedtime!

Would really appreciate feedback on this and thank you in advance for your time.
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Cymraes
Posts: 519
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:31 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Laundry change for long stays

Post by Cymraes »

LotBoy47 wrote:We are still in our first year of operations and coming into our busy time - fully booked for 7/8 of August (yay!)

Do we offer guests clean laundry for stays over 5-7 nights?
Do we take them a bundle of clean laundry and expect them to strip beds?
Do we offer to come in and change the beds for them?
Do we do the same for towels?

When we have stayed in gites around France ourselves, there was never anyone on site and never a change of laundry. My wife just used to bung it all in the washing machine and it was dry before bedtime!

Would really appreciate feedback on this and thank you in advance for your time.
I just ask the guests!

Some want a change, some don't. Some want to be left the linen to do it themselves and some want us to do it. There is no one size fits all. I try to offer excellent customer service so do what they want.
chipiechoo
Posts: 155
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 7:07 pm
Location: SW France

Post by chipiechoo »

Hello Lotboy47
We advise our guests to leave anything they would like replaced in a laundry basket we have in the gite (outside) after 7 days of stay and we will bring around replacements, they do there own changing. Works well.
Initially we used to replace everything 13 years ago and it proved far more work than has ever been necessary since, we went to this method and have never had a complaint, they do have their own washing machine if they need to do anything more often but have never seen anybody take advantage in that respect.
Make it easy on yourself is the answer and far less wear and tear on the linen.
GillianF
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Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:06 pm
Location: Dordogne

Post by GillianF »

I ask my guests NOT to wash the bedding or towels for risk of them boil washing everything, mixing colours with the potential for disaster etc.

For a booking of a week or more I offer a change after seven nights (usually a Saturday). We arrange a time to suit them and I deliver the clean linen and they give me the dirty. Some have everything, some just bedding, some just towels, some take nothing - their choice.

Over the years I have had guests who have boil washed everything regularly during a week's stay and one woman who had me help her change her bed but then gaily dismissed me saying "they can do their own." !!
farley
Posts: 169
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 11:14 am
Location: Poitou Charentes

Post by farley »

Just a few pointers:-
Our guests tend to wash linen and towels as and when they wish to. I do wince when I see them all creased on the line ( probably due to hot wash/high spin or being left in the machine too long).
This can lead to permanent creasing which makes my ironing more challenging &#128577;

People have ‘accidents’ and they often like to sort this out themselves to avoid embarrassment. So I fully understand this and accept the inevitable creased linen.

In the past I have offered to go in and change linen but feel I’m intruding so don’t do this anymore.

We do offer linen change to guests but they have to request this and change the beds themselves.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Anyone staying for two weeks gets the offer of a change of linen and towels over the middle weekend. I offer to do it for them and to do a quick clean round the cottage. In fact only one family accepted my doing it and that was because they went away the middle weekend.

Otherwise, some say no (climate change / energy saving has been mentioned as a reason for NOT doing it). Others happily do it themselves. I give them the clean linen, take away the dirty and leave them to sort out their own towels as I keep our spare towels in the cottage.
KathyG
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Location: Le Faou, Brittany
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Post by KathyG »

In the last 13 years of letting, only 1 set of guests have agreed to a mid-stay bedding/towel change and she was there for 3 weeks. She was asked to strip all the beds and the dirty bedding/towels were collected and the clean bedding/towels delivered. They had to put it on the beds themselves. Not one of them wanted a mid-stay clean, all of them were asked.

It's all negotiable, ask them what they want.
Kathy
Waterfront location in Le Faou
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Running Chrissy
Posts: 75
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2016 8:33 am
Location: Cornwall

Post by Running Chrissy »

We've just taken our first 2-week booking so I had the same question. We're with an agency so I asked what they recommend and the answer was to offer a change of linen and towels which the guest can choose to take or not. And that if they do choose it they can decide whether to have it changed by the housekeeper or do it themselves.

A couple of years ago we stayed in a cottage for two weeks and weren't offered a change. I wasn't bothered about the sheets but was annoyed not to have been offered fresh towels.
Making a start in North Cornwall &#127754;
LotBoy47
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:40 pm
Location: SW France

Post by LotBoy47 »

So far, it’s been a 50/50 split between guests accepting/declining the offer of clean towels and bed linen

All appeared to be pleased to receive the offer even if they declined it.
Running Chrissy
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Location: Cornwall

Post by Running Chrissy »

Great &#128077;
Making a start in North Cornwall &#127754;
Sam V
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Post by Sam V »

I have a mid week towel chenge and weekly towel and bedding change. So 7 nights is just fresh towels, two weeks is 3x fresh towels and 1x bedding changed (and a clean around)
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