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Beds in Gites


Sashabel
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It appears that a lot of gite owners are missing the bigger picture here.

I think most people would pay a little more for better quality facilities, but I also think that the gite owners would benefit by having a fuller booking schedule each season because their gite would more in demand.

When searching on the internet for accmmodation, you see photos of 30 year old sofas with throws over them to make them look cleaner (they never stay on when in use), tatty old furniture with a 12" tv in the corner etc., and then you look at the availability section of the site and see that there's hardly any bookings.

A lot of holidaymakers save all year for their two week break, so why should they have to put up with worse conditions than they have at home AND pay for it?

One of the gites we use regularly, although not luxurious, has every facility one could wish for and is booked solid every season from early may to the end of September. It even has 7 weeks already booked in for 2012.
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Sashabel, How many gites have you stayed in?

I can remember a time when gites were a form of cheap accommodation, that farmers and the like could let out to holiday makers, there were definitely no frills in those days.

"When searching on the internet for accmmodation, you see photos of 30

year old sofas with throws over them to make them look cleaner (they

never stay on when in use), tatty old furniture with a 12" tv in the

corner etc., and then you look at the availability section of the site

and see that there's hardly any bookings.

"

This is sometimes true and of course these owners are less likely to get many bookings but I think in this day and age there are those who expect luxury hotel accommodation in a gite and have forgotten the idea of simple holiday dwelling. In the end you pay your money and you take your choice.

That said I do like a big, comfortable bed however we return every year for a few nights, to a little studio in St Malo that only has a small double, why, because we like the place very much and we like the owners. This place has a charm of its own.

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[quote user="Sashabel"]A lot of holidaymakers save all year for their two week break, so why should they have to put up with worse conditions than they have at home AND pay for it?.[/quote]

On that basis, why do people go camping or stay in mobile homes? Because they want a different experience to what they have at home. Saying that, I try to provide as much as possible, and my gites are booked from start April through to end October, I've got bookings for 2012 and 2013, but I'm finding that generally these days people want more and more and want to pay less.

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they want a different experience to what they have at home.

But that does not include sleeping on a bed with a mattress as hard as a ships biscuit and waking up with backache . Some people may be proud to own a bed they think Napoleon may have slept in ... but for comfort more like the three musketeers and their horses .

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Of course they do and thats the challenge! However, turn the situation ariound and put yourself in their shoes, what would you expect? Expectation has changed, renters are demanding more, owners need to understand and manage the expectation! And of course the owner sees the profit reducing. Perhaps the challenge to this is to find a way to add value to the property rather than whinge about it?

Just my view!

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Out of my last four holidays (two a year) in France (and staying, it has to be said in 'pricey' English/expat owned gîtes) with only one exception, the mattresses/beds have been of poor quality (resulting in back ache, poor sleep, not to mention creaks and groans from the actual apparatus!), while almost everything else has been exemplary... Surely it is not beyond the wit of gîte owners to understand that one of the main causes (confirmed by conversations with fellow 'gîters') for not re-booking is the standard of night's sleep? I am not too fussy, and I am not too large a frame (wife would argue otherwise), but a Kingsize is minimum now. Failing that, twins that can be zipped together...

A good mattress, -  a happy compromise between soft and hard (like a plank of wood!) - a minimum if 5' width and a non-creaking frame... is it really too much to ask? Times is hard, I know, but I am not alone in reluctantly choosing to not re-book this year ONLY because the beds are rubbish...

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[quote user="Citroënesque"]Out of my last four holidays (two a year) in France (and staying, it has to be said in 'pricey' English/expat owned gîtes) with only one exception, the mattresses/beds have been of poor quality (resulting in back ache, poor sleep, not to mention creaks and groans from the actual apparatus!), while almost everything else has been exemplary... Surely it is not beyond the wit of gîte owners to understand that one of the main causes (confirmed by conversations with fellow 'gîters') for not re-booking is the standard of night's sleep? I am not too fussy, and I am not too large a frame (wife would argue otherwise), but a Kingsize is minimum now. Failing that, twins that can be zipped together...

A good mattress, -  a happy compromise between soft and hard (like a plank of wood!) - a minimum if 5' width and a non-creaking frame... is it really too much to ask? Times is hard, I know, but I am not alone in reluctantly choosing to not re-book this year ONLY because the beds are rubbish...

[/quote]

I do hope that everyone who has had bad experiences re. the beds (and other problems) has passed on their comments to the owners concerned. It's all very well to grumble on here but that won't get rid of the problems that have been experienced.

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Do the owners of gites actually stay in their own gites, especially sleep. I do, and throw out the mattress whenever it becomes uncomfortable 3-4 years seems to be about it. I did notice the bed beginning to creak so I will look into that when I am next there. No complaints or mentions from any guests but I would act before that happens.
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Oh come on guys - many married couples can't agree on what constitutes a 'good' mattress, that's why you can buy mattresses with a hard side and a soft side - in other words one mans comfortable mattress is anothers nightmare, quality has nothing to do with it either, I think you may be expecting gite owners to be mind readers......
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If I were staying for one night, I'd hope for the best.  However, if I was going to stay for a week, well I just might check in advance as to whether the bed is hard, soft or medium but that's quite subjective. I alway take my own down filled, mega expensive pillow with me. I once left it in a hotel in Spain, returned after about four hours only to find that it had been put in a skip at the end of the road.  I retrieved it, washed it and it remains my most faithful travelling companion. 
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[quote user="Russethouse"]Oh come on guys - many married couples can't agree on what constitutes a 'good' mattress, that's why you can buy mattresses with a hard side and a soft side - in other words one mans comfortable mattress is anothers nightmare, quality has nothing to do with it either, I think you may be expecting gite owners to be mind readers......[/quote]

Not at all, I think that quite rightly gite users just ask  that the facilities and comfort match the price

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[quote user="Citroënesque"] I am not too fussy, and I am not too large a frame (wife would argue otherwise), but a Kingsize is minimum now. Failing that, twins that can be zipped together...

[/quote]

Not too fussy?

Not so many years ago a standard double bed in France was 1.3 metres and 4 foot in the UK, surely a kingsize is being indulgent to sleep 2 people?

Granted if owners fit king size beds and advertise them as such it is a bonus to many but as a minimum?

Methinks your minimum is actually the maximum available.

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[quote user="Chancer"]

[quote user="Citroënesque"] I am not too fussy, and I am not too large a frame (wife would argue otherwise), but a Kingsize is minimum now. Failing that, twins that can be zipped together...

[/quote]

Not too fussy?

Not so many years ago a standard double bed in France was 1.3 metres and 4 foot in the UK, surely a kingsize is being indulgent to sleep 2 people?

Granted if owners fit king size beds and advertise them as such it is a bonus to many but as a minimum?

Methinks your minimum is actually the maximum available.

[/quote]

DSK wouldn't stop in a gite that didn't have a Caesar...  'Caesar' (96 in (240 cm) wide.[:-))]

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[quote user="Gemonimo"]If I were staying for one night, I'd hope for the best.  However, if I was going to stay for a week, well I just might check in advance as to whether the bed is hard, soft or medium but that's quite subjective. I alway take my own down filled, mega expensive pillow with me. I once left it in a hotel in Spain, returned after about four hours only to find that it had been put in a skip at the end of the road.  I retrieved it, washed it and it remains my most faithful travelling companion. [/quote]

Sensible reply Gem.

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[quote user="Théière"]Do the owners of gites actually stay in their own gites, especially sleep. I do, and throw out the mattress whenever it becomes uncomfortable 3-4 years seems to be about it. I did notice the bed beginning to creak so I will look into that when I am next there. No complaints or mentions from any guests but I would act before that happens.[/quote]

Totally agree Théière. Ours is our second home so we do like it to be comfortable for our own use. We only let out the house to others for a few weeks. We have just ordered a 160cm  bed for our new little gite next door and we'll stay in there in the autumn to make sure everything functions a planned before we ever let it.

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[quote user="Chancer"]

[quote user="Citroënesque"] I am not too fussy, and I am not too large a frame (wife would argue otherwise), but a Kingsize is minimum now. Failing that, twins that can be zipped together...

[/quote]

Not too fussy?

Not so many years ago a standard double bed in France was 1.3 metres and 4 foot in the UK, surely a kingsize is being indulgent to sleep 2 people?

Granted if owners fit king size beds and advertise them as such it is a bonus to many but as a minimum?

Methinks your minimum is actually the maximum available.

[/quote]

Chancer, people are bigger now than they were in the olden days[Www]

Perhaps they shouldn't be but sadly they are!

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Totally agree with your view Cendrillon! All owners should stay in their gite(s) for a couple of nights to see what is missing and what might not work layout wise etc....

Re those replies who have said "guests haven't told us", you shouldn't rely on being told, not everyone will tell you, my view is that you should be proactive and find things before they become issues and put the necessary corrective measures in place...

None so blind as owners who don't want to know!

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As I said, I am not small, although there are a lot bigger people around too and I am not bothered about just a double. We have always had a 150cm/5' bed though, but on holiday the comfort is always the thing.

And frankly you cannot tell if any bed suits until you sleep in it. We once stayed at an hotel in the centre of Ernee (sp) and the bed was very soft and we sunk into it and I slept well.

In a very good hotel in Berne there were feather and down mattresses and certainly at that time I would always have said I prefered a hard mattress, but I sank into a cloud and the down quilt embraced me and I was off into the land of nod in an instant.

When on holiday, we cannot expect the same bed as at home. If we wanted that, we shouldn't ever leave our own beds.

What I never want is something rock hard, although for those that do, maybe a board should be available. A bed with a little give to it is fine with me, no springs or lumps to gene and clean bedding (if provided) and enough bedding to be warm enough and I'll sleep well enough.

No gite owner will please everyone, as long as you have used some thought and common sense to cater for 'everyone' with quality beds, then gite owners what else can you do.  You'll never please people who think that they are being exclusively catered for and they will rarely be happy anywhere anyway.

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It's bedding that gets my goat.

I am a terrible sleeper, I find it so difficult to get the right temperature to the point when I just won't sleep anywhere other than home.  We stayed in a B&B in France last year, it was a little room in a loft with a tiny window that wouldn't open and the temperature outside was in the 30's.  We had a 6" thick duvet to keep us warm!  I had 4 cold showers that night and barely slept a wink.  Is it too much to provide a few options for people that like it hot with duvets or a single woollen blanket?

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[quote user="Sashabel"]I think most people would pay a little more for better quality facilities, but I also think that the gite owners would benefit by having a fuller booking schedule each season because their gite would more in demand. [/quote]

Totally the opposite Sashabel.  Outside the peak six / seven week summer letting period the weekly rental rates drop by 50% plus.  Add to that the weather becomes more inclement so the heating bills go up, renters spend more time indoors (and so more wear and tear on the furniture / furnishings).  As the weather becomes wetter there is also more chance of the muddy boots not being removed at the door and so trailed across the rugs.

We consciously do not offer our gite for rental outside the peak weeks as the rental income doesn't cover the increased costs incurred - it simply isn't worth it.

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