Lay My Hat

I do - I'd never seen them before coming to France, but the French use them a lot - although they seem to be moving towards white duvets and covers now, thank goodness.

The solution may be an American style comforter (I think that's what they call them) They are decorative like bedspreads and reach well over the side of the bed (even nearly to the floor), but are quilted.

The only problem is that you would probably have to add an optional blanket in the UK climate. We use them year round but even here in the dead of winter we have the option of a blanket just in case.

We buy them in the market here in Spain but I have bought them in UK as well, at Dunelm Mill if memory serves me correctly. Cotton ones are best because they wash like a dream: because they need to be washed occasionally I always buy cream but you can get all sorts of prettily embroidered ones. Some are thicker/warmer than others so you might be able to find something suitable for your climate.

I have tried to post a pic of one but have lost the knack of doing it! If you would like to see one send me a pm with your email address and I will send it. Alternatively you can trawl round my B&B site and find one on the Los Naranjos bed!

Thanks pepsipuss. I have been trawling the web and can only find patchwork quilts which are well over £100. As I want to buy 8 of them so I can have 4 on the beds while 4 are washing thats rather expensive. Mind you I have bought numerous duvet covers which are now useless as I bought cream and they show every mark, so the idea of patterned covers is preferred.
Im even considering making them myself!
Sarah

Just found this thread ( don't normally read the UK ones as we're in France )and have read through every post hoping to find some general concensus to help me make a final decision- of course there isn't one!

Up until now we've had fitted bottom sheet, top sheet, duvet + cover and bedspread. We've got 16 singles,5 dbls and 4 kings (the dbls all have king size duvets, so in effect 9 kings) and although we don't have to change that number every week, washing and ironing has become my "bête noire" during the season without even beginning to mention the amount of time it takes me to make the beds.

We hired the sheets & towels mainly to avoid all the extra laundering ( plus it brings in a bit extra too) but this has caused some confusion especially with the French who it would seem understand that hiring sheets equates to hiring linen and bring everything with them if they haven't hired the sheets!
This year for various reasons, we decided to stick with hiring sheets & towels for the peak Summer season when we are fully booked and off season we are trying hiring towels only but not including the top sheet in the linen. We have a clear link to what's included in the linen on our French site ( still working on the UK one ) to avoid the past confusion.

In spite of it all though I can't help thinking that by trying to ease the workload I'm making it too complicated.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Elena
Dordogne holiday cottages

The Stig wrote:have you ever seen a bedspread being removed from a room as you walk down corridors and the maids are changing the rooms?

Absolutely NEVER![/quote]

agree. the first thing i do when i check into hotel is pull off the cover and fold and put in wardrobe. even touching it (in the nicest hotels) makes me shudder after reading about the stains found on them when "forensically" inspected by a hotel inspector. *shudders*

re top sheets. i had considered these but after going against opinion re egyptian cotton (oh, the ironing they require ) i threw aside the idea of top sheets. and funnily enough the house we rented last weekend here had duvets and top sheets. the house was spotless as were the beds but when i turned down the duvet and saw the top sheet i had a momentary 'freak out' thinking perhaps the duvet cover wasn't washed each time. i am sure it was, but it still made me a bit nervous. (germ obsessed as i am).

All comments taken on board, but what is the alternative? There is an expectation from guests of some bed linen/blankets/duvets to be provided. Sheets or not debatable depending on where you are (in my neck of the woods 90% bring their own sheets) but they still use the bedspreads, blankets, pillows etc etc. Either a completely bare bed (bad news if flying because of what you would have to bring yourself) or trust the owner to wash stuff between users. The human nose is a sensitive instrument! I understand germphobes point of view, but what would make such a person happy? Would be delighted to be enlightened.

Last weekend I stayed overnight with friends in an apartment in an upmarket area.

The apartment was lovely and everything appeared to be spotless. Until that is, I saw the 2 spare pillows that had been left, without covers in the wardrobe. They were just covered in the dreaded yellow stains!

I then checked my bed and found that the bottom pillowcase was stained. It looked as if it could have been the discoloured water from a spitting iron, but I had no way of knowing.

Amazingly there was a drawer full of pristine linen!

Goodness knows why the owners let themselves down in this way.

Pillows are my bête noir. Even with protectos they get stained. I haven't yet found a pillow that washes well ( open to suggestions yet again though). I usually replace all the top pillows each season - move the tops to the bottom and the bottoms to our house or make them into cushions.

Hello

Very new to the holiday cottage market - quick question, do owners use valances on their single beds? Is this a standard requirement? Thank you.

Hi,
I dont use a valence. As a remote owner it is just one more thing that would need to be checked and washed. I also want to be sure that under beds are cleaned thoroughly.
It isn’t a requirement but I would imagine many owners do use them.

Welcome to the forum and apologies that you haven’t had a response sooner.

They are useful to keep the bases clean. Having said that I haven't bothered for a couple of years as honestly I just hate ironing the tie-around type, and the box pleat ones seem terribly expensive. I wouldn't say it was a requirement but also it depends what the actual bed base looks like.