Washing Machine

[djw]

We have just had a family of four for a week there have used the washing machine every day at least once sometimes twice is that normal.

Dave

www.letemple.co.uk

[Miki]

Maybe they own a launderette and are having a busmans holiday

No it's not "normal" but now and again it is not so rare !

[Opel Fruit<P><BR>Opel Fruit, Dept. 53<P>]

We have had our share of obsessives, be afraid!

We put a coin slot meter on ours. Most people seem to use between 4 and 6 Euros worth at 2 Euros a go. Except one, 24 Euros! In a week. POOH!

[Eslier]

Yes, fairly normal I'm afraid. The other week we had some guests arrive at 7pm on Saturday evening and by 10am the following morning they were in the laundry room putting a load on to wash and subsequently did at least one wash per day for two weeks. To be fair, when they left, they left the house cleaner and tidier than anyone else has this year!

We're on TEMPO electricty so the cost is fairly minimal at this time of year. I can't say that our electricity bills are a problem - in fact they're less for four houses than we paid for just one in the UK !

[Penny29]

My hands are up - it would be quite normal for us to do this. When back in the UK we had several cottage type holidays per year, and with 4 of us including 2 kiddies the washing machine often went on just as much as it would have done at home.

I, personally, hate to take home a caseful of dirty laundry. I also like to wash out the travelling clothes as soon as poss after arrival so I can empathise with the guest who had the machine on by 10am the next day.

I would never rent a place without a washing machine and I wouldn't stay anywhere where they charged extra for the use of a machine - I would expect this to be included in the price of the rental.

We've stayed in many cottages over the years with no problems, and in our favourite cottage (in Cornwall) the owners welcomed us back as repeat guests year after year after year and always complimented us on the care we took of their property and the work we put into cleaning it before we left. Never a word about washing machine usage...........................then we came to France!......................................... We stayed in a gite whilst our house purchase was going through and all the owners (next door) ever did was crib and carp and make sarky comments about how often we had the washing machine on. At times this made our stay there quite uncomfortable as we would rush around trying to do the washing when they were out!!!!

Sorry, I'm going to be unpopular and say why are some of you in this business when you seem to dislike people and resent everything your visitors do! Can it be that you just want the income without the bother of dealing with the people. I'm with Teamed Up on this one & endorse everything she has previously said on a different thread about over-regulated "stalegs".

 

[Miki]

No personally I don't hate anyone for what they want to say but get things in perspective here Penny, only two of these postings on this thread have even slightly said anything about guests just whinging about how many times the gite washing machine was being used.

On the last place we had, we had a laundry room for all the folks, the gites were very well priced and not expensive for families, large (no huge)4 hectares to runaround with the campers and caravanners, swimming pool, well all the usual add ons to make a good holiday and more.

The 3 gites had to use the laundry room like everyone else. It is all a matter of costs. Now here in Brittany we are £475 in peak season and the guests have D/W, W/M, M/W top quality cooker from DeDietrich, F/F in other words, a genuinely fully fitted kitchen like at home. All new good quality beds, excellent showers and toilet rooms to both bedrooms, well you get my drift and we couldn't give two hoots how many times they use the W/M, as I said it's all relative. Now charge just £275 and your sums are miles out and yes, I would worry about the W/M being on all the time but...............

What is extremely relative though, is that any potential guests read up on the gite they like the look of and see what is in the rules and regs, anything one doesn't like, give the place a swerve and go somewhere else that suits.

It is, I am fairly sure, only seasonal grumbling, it's the time of year look around, grumbles are everywhere,....what about bluddy Newcastle Penny !! Yet I love them.............Mmmm well maybe a little bit but my forecasts are looking gloomier each year !!

[Owens88]

I seem to recall our washing machine being on at least every day when out kids were young as well.

 I wouldn't dream of limiting use of our washing machine in our Gite.

John

[KathyC]

There's a tv programme started recently in the UK where families' energy consumption is being monitored and they are then being encouraged  (made) to be more "green". The people so far have been running 4 loads of washing a day and have the central heating on 24/7 at 28%.I wonder if they take gite holidays in France!

[Deby]

Washing machine usage - never gave it a thought to be honest.  If the guests need to continuously use it then fine.  I would hate to stay in a place that took an interest in my energy consumption.  I put a note in our welcome guide asking our guests to be considerate about switching the lights off - easily left on in a place of our size. However, I do not get me knickers in a twist over it. 

The tumble dryer is not freely available though, I would be very uncomfortable if it was used during the warm months as opposed to hanging out washing.  Guests are informed if they need access to it then that is fine.  Has not happened yet though.

Deby

[Penny29]

Hi Miki,

You are probably right! The subject just caused a knee kerk reaction with me and I remembered how miserable it the whole washing machine debacle made me when we were living in the gite (we paid for our own leccy by the way), if they weren't moaning about the water usage they were moaning about the wear and tear factor!

Seasonal grumbles? Yes, probably. We start letting next year and I'll probably start having the same moans myself!

 

[Lizzie15]

I have never given a thought to washing machine usage either.People use it as they need to.I use a machine every day and would carry on that way on holiday too.I would never consider limiting it's use! Some people really get a kick out of seeing clean washing hanging out ( and the actual hanging it out too!) and it makes them happy.That's good enough for me

 

[GRT17]

I have never given a thought to washing machine usage either.People use it as they need to

I agree. However there are currently severe water shortages in many parts of France and perhaps we should all consider this and try to use the machine a little less often.

Gill

[Maddie]

[quote]I have never given a thought to washing machine usage either.People use it as they need to I agree. However there are currently severe water shortages in many parts of France and perhaps we should ...[/quote]

I KNOW that people take liberties with washing machines - I used to do so myself often enough!

I'm with Gill on this one.  I try to encourage folk (who are free to use my own machine in a shared laundry room, BTW) to be more economical with the use of the washing machine, especially in this water shortage.  I only ever do one wash a week for clothes and maybe a couple of extras on linen/towel days. I can't understand people who wash EVERY day - you guys must be mugs or I am a dirty pup!  Okay, so there's only two of us and I have a Dyson which takes a massive load. 

I've just had people staying with me who knew all this (Dyson and water shortage) this yet still wanted to wash 6 or 7 small items virtually every day and wanted it splitting into TWO loads!  THAT is ridiculous and taking a liberty!  Fortunately, I had washing to do and we were both more than happy to share a load so it worked out perfectly.

What would you prefer to have in a gite - a washing machine or a dish washer? 

I charge quite a lot more than some of you in peak season, have been fully booked from the end of June to mid December (in my first year) and have repeat bookings already so I reckon there's certainly more to a enjoyable holiday for guests than the presence or not of a washing machine!

[Russethouse]

I would prefer a dish washer - I could just dabble out a few smalls as far as washing goes, although a washing machine is nice its not essential for us now --when we had small children it would have been a different story .

[Debra]

With three small children we have to wash at least every other day otherwise we end up spending days at a time doing nothing but washing and drying.  However, I have to say that I wouldn't want to waste time on holiday doing washing - or washing up; so I would much prefer to have a dishwasher than a washing machine.  We habitually take enough clothes for everyone to last the holiday - including extra for the children in case they get muddied up, and accept that when we get home we'll have to spend a few days doing washing, but that is preferable to us than spending time on holiday doing it.

[Kas33]

At least half of our guests this summer have bragged about doing their washing on the last afternnon of the holiday so they wouldn't have to use their machine when they got home.....

[Lizzie15]

Yes,this seems to be a trend! Our personal visitors (as opposed to the ones in the property we rent out) have all said that they don't want to take any dirty laundry home and so have washed for England on the last couple of days,and used the tumble drier- totally un-green-the weather has been fantastic!

 

[GRT17]

I must admit I too like to get the washing up to date before we leave for home.

Re. the drier:

Maybe you could put a notice on the tumble drier saying this is only  to be used when the weather is not suitable for drying the washing outside .

Gill

[stevemaison]

When you go on holidays you do not take as many clothes as you have at home so you have to wash more often but with less clothes in the machine than you do at home .As a guest in a gite you do not really think about the owners a lot they are just there in the background as long as the kids behave and use the right manners I would not even give the idea of how many times I (did I say I, when I meant the wife) use the washing machine you just get on with your holiday and enjoy it the best you can knowing there will not be another one for a year

[Alan]

If we rent a gite or apartment, yes we too tend to do all our washing before going home. If you as owner do not want people to use your facilities then to be quite honest you should not put them in your property. Unless I were paying a very low rent there is no way I would pay extra to use the machine, just would not rent the place in the first place.

 

On a different note we had guests in the summer who took a shower 3 times a day, but no way would I think of charging them extra for doing so.

Also another point o take into account if the family use a cheap airline to come on holiday the baggage allowance in many cases has been greatly reduced

[GRT17]

"If you as owner do not want people to use your facilities then to be quite honest you should not put them in your property. Unless I were paying a very low rent there is no way I would pay extra to use the machine, just would not rent the place in the first place."

 

I think some of us here are thinking of the planet (not our pockets) and global warming.

 

Come to think of it, a lot of the hotels nowadays encourage their  guests to use bath towels etc. for more than one day if possible, suggesting that guests put the towels that need to be changed in the bath ready for collection..

 

Gill

[Eslier]

Gill, I respect your views regarding "saving the planet" and I am sure there are many others who share those views.

My view, however, is that most people come away on holiday to get away from the pressures of being made to feel they should lead their lives in a certain way. I really don't beieve it is my place to dictate to, or attempt to coerce people to behave in any way other than in a way that they feel is comfortable. As long as any guest's behaviour doesn't impair the pleasure of any other guest then we are happy to live and let live.

On the specific subject of washing machines etc., I know what my average usage of electricity is, I know roughly how many weeks I will let each gite so it's down to me to make sure I charge the right rental prices to cover the use of electricity and all other utilities. It is a simple matter of budgeting properly. If our guests choose to use the washing machine three times each day and put their clothes in the tumble drier when the sun is shining outside, I might think they are mad but that's their choice and why shouldn't they. Whatever they do they'll still get a welcome smile and cheery conversation from me.

Perhaps, Gill, you've hit on an excellent idea. Why not market your gite(s) specifically as being pro enviromentalism and conservation. There are probably people who would happily pay lots to stay somewhere that took this seriously enough.

[P]

Gill

Call me sceptical but I believe that the move by the hotels is not one of thinking of the planet but of thinking of their bottom line figure - less laundry, less cost, more profit.

Paul

[GRT17]

Eslier and co.

We don't 'ave all these machines at our gaff!

Our guests experience a taste of real French country life in an old fashioned gite. In best rural, gite tradition they bring their own sheets to go with the rough blankets and lumpy mattresses. We expect our clients go to the local lavoir to do their washing, except there ain't much water left in there due to the drought; water for the house comes from the well but that's also running dry, something to do with the water tables being a bit low. As for the privvy down the garden, well don't ask! Lots of oil lamps and candles to cover for frequent power cuts, so all in all, well catered for

Forgot to mention the "welcome pack" complete with some cheap, red plonk of course and a string of organic onions but they are a bit shrivelled (lack of rain)

G

[Grays]

Someone earlier mentioned that family that had the heating on full 24/7 and were, if i remember rightly, using something like 7 times more energy than the average for a family of their size during the course of a year.

well I think we had them stay here the other year in May.

It was not the hottest, but certainly not what you'd call cold weather. Yet the father of this family came round to ask if the heating could be turned up as they were "quite cold" !!

I said had they altered the radiators, because it was possible to turn them up individually....we had ours all turned to frost setting at this time,we are not lovers of over warm conditions,and this on the same CH system. The reply was their radiators were all turned to full and it was still "quite chilly" in the gite.

And so...I turned up the main boiler a way and thought not too much more of it.

A few days later the gas bottle on their oven ran out, and I took a replacement round to the gite, only a few yards stroll...so no need to put on any outdoor clothes. On entering the hall and going into the kitchen, i found i was suddenly fast forwarded to August temperatures and was very quickly sweating with the simple task of exchanging the gas bottles.

 Not only was it uncomfortably warm for me ....but I found our guests walking around in T-shirts and light summer clothing. While i was dressed in what i considered to be the norm for the time of year...jeans, shirt and even a t-shirt beneath.

Have to say, we never actually said anything, just turned the heating back down to a reasonable level and counted the days before they left.

Maybe i am petty, but i think that is an example of empty headed behaviour.

Again my problem is not with the cost to me, it is the continual cost to OUR WORLD!!!, and it is people who give no thought to the waste of the energy/fuel reserves that the planet has, the selfish use of these reserves...that they may not suffer the change of the seasons..(like the rest of us mugs)...but want to waltz around in t-shirts all year round in temperatures that create high summer in winter/spring and autumn.

and i probably am used to the colder weather, but I was just brought up to put a jumper on when it got cold, and then perhaps turn the heating up if that didn't work.