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Towel charges


Clair
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we have owned 3 gites now for over 7 years.next year we will be putting in place an optional towel and linen hire.last year replacement pool and personal towels cost us 300 euros.bear in mind thats 12 people using towels on each change.we charge a damage deposit,but have found that in some cases that the damage and breakages cost is taken in full.

we have just had people stay for 2 weeks.and the damage deposit has only just covered the ruined towells.without being too graphic they had used them as toilet paper.

sorry folks this is the real world,its not their home they have paid for it for their holiday and they will do what they like with it.

respect happens,but sadly not for all guests.if youthink the english treat Gites like Hotels or expect them to be so then you have to pay for it-the end!
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We have a price that includes towels and bed linen but offer a discount if you bring your own.  Pretty much all of our visitors are French / Belgium and don't expect towels and linen to be included.  Some pay the full price but a lot opt for the discount.  Wording it this way may allow you to deal with the proclivities and demands of the English (which, we have discovered, are many!) whilst reducing your overheads for those French / Belgians etc who prefer to bring their own.

Mrs R51

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[quote user="hollies"]sorry folks this is the real world,its not their home they have paid for it for their holiday and they will do what they like with it.

respect happens,but sadly not for all guests.if youthink the english treat Gites like Hotels or expect them to be so then you have to pay for it-the end![/quote]

One of the reasons we don't advertise on English rental websites.  We prefer the French....

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i would be interested to know what websites you get your french clients from.we have tried many and still find we have to rely on the british guests to make the figures.

last year we went on homelidays,clevances ects and hardly any takers.we have had some french,and Belgium and they have been fantastic,thanks for your comments.

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[quote user="hollies"]i would be interested to know what websites you get your french clients from.we have tried many and still find we have to rely on the british guests to make the figures.

last year we went on homelidays,clevances ects and hardly any takers.we have had some french,and Belgium and they have been fantastic,thanks for your comments.[/quote]

Sorry for going off-topic!  Have you tried 1000gites.com - quite cheap and has produced a fair few bookings, and pour-les-vacances.com (which is not a listing a la Abritel, but simply a picture, a very brief description of the property, and contact details (inc link to website) - again cheap but effective for me. Both of these are French in French sites.   For the Dutch and dutch-speaking Belgians - had some success with gites.nl who will translate your English into Dutch if you don't have a Dutch friend handy! (Wouldn't bother with their English language gites.eu (I think it is) - very small and I think English speakers more likely to go to Abritel or GdF ....

Hope this helps!  We have only had 2 sets of Brit guests since we started in Feb 2009, so something must be working OK....[:)]

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  • 7 months later...
I would not dream of charging for towels or bedding. I provide a face cloth, hand towel, bath towel and bath sheet per couple. A beach towel upon request. Sheets are changed every week with the mattress and pillow protectors changed every change over.
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As others have said before, there are many factors:

where do you place yourself in the market - luxury, basic, somewhere in between?

how much do you charge?  If I was to include linen etc in my 'headline' price, I would be way out of line pricewise compared to other similar properties in the area.  Then I wouldn't get any bookings, because nobody ever reads the fine print .....

how do your guests get there? - there is a difference between what a self-driver will cram into their car, compared to someone who is flying

who are your guests? - French and Belgian guests expect to bring their own linen and have absolutely no problem with it, Brits expect everything to be provided

I scared myself early on with how much it actually costs to provide linen, so chose early on to have it as an optional extra.

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I still think charging for bedding and towels is just plain mean. If the guests have brought their own they won't be using yours. We have basins in every room and I always leave handtowels and soap. In the toilets it is for hygene, and in the bedrooms I don't want people wandering round dripping on the carpets. Likewise I always make up all the beds even though there might only be a couple staying. I would rather that people didn't just sleep on the beds without covers.
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[quote user="Claude"]... If the guests have brought their own they won't be using yours...[/quote]

I wish that were true![:D]

When I provided towels, they would be used as well as those brought by the guests.

I could see their own drying outside and I would find mine dirty and wet at the end of the stay.

This coming summer, I have actually offered the "free" towels as a thank-you freebie for two sets of guests who have each booked a fortnight.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If we had taken our own towels, then we may have used yours, maybe only a couple and we would have taken our towels home with us.

Sometimes when we have been travelling we have stayed in various places, ie we have camped, and then gone onto a gite and then a few nights in hotels. We have been well equipped and would use our own stuff if it was there.

I am funny with towels. I don't like some of the thicker towels or new ones. I like 'my' towels and my favourites are those that are well used and dry me quickly and that is another reason why 'I' would use mine if they were there. Surely I am not alone in this.[:D]

I realise that if I was running a b&b or gite that I would need to buy good quality towels for clients, but I wouldn't have to like them.[:-))]

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I have been using the same light quick drying trekking towel since I travelled in 2004, it had definitely become my favorite.

It is now relegated, actually no, promoted to being used twice a week at the piscine, I now use standard terry type towels in the bathroom but I miss my old favorite like crazy.

I know it probably sounds like a smelly old rag but in fact it is as clean and dries even better than when it was new, it also dries out very quickly and hence doesnt get the pong that normal towels can get (it also has an anti-baterial compound)  once out of the washing machine in the morning it has spun dry enough to be used immediately.

My first one was nicked together with my diving gear in Venezuela and I was not a happy bunny, travelling with a normal towel is a very smelly affair [:(], in fact it was what tipped the balance for me to blow 500 dollars to return from Ecuador for my nieces wedding.

Hope she isnt reading this!!

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