Costs for rental of sheets and linen

[Fourwinds]

We have just completed our first season in our French House and with cleaning lady. We have been renting out property for years in Portugal so weren't expecting any surprises - well apart from the amazing things people do to your property and think you won't notice.

Anyway I was a bit taken aback to discover that the laundry/ironing will work out at 60 - 80 euros per week.

Does this seem ok to others? This is in addition to the cleaning which is perfectly acceptable and within what I had budgeted when pricing up the property.

I say will cost because the actual cost we've paid has been over 100 euros per week. Despite specifically asking people to respect the fact that the laundry cupboard was open they just helped themselves - we arrived at the house lat week to half the cupboard's contents in the laundry bags awaiting collection! I knew people would abuse this but expected them to cover their tracks by washing the extra towels and returning them to the cupboard! Needless to say the cupboard now has a lock on it and the thinner towels are to be used for guests!

My intention was to rent the property on a bring your own basis. However, everyone asked for sheets and towels and so I offered them at £25 on the flimsy basis that last time we rented (years ago) we paid £6 per bed. I can't see how I can charge the 'true' cost of the washing as people would think I was marking it up so:

1) What do other people do - provide linen or charge extra and if so how much

2) What percentage of people are happy to turn up with their own linen?

3) Any other suggestions?

(Can I just say that I don't grudge the money to the cleaning lady. She is charging 10 euros per hour for the laundry and estimates that each machine load costs her in time/electricty/powder/ironing etc 2 hours. Having just ironed 4 sets of bedding it felt worth every penny!)

[GRT17]

[quote]We have just completed our first season in our French House and with cleaning lady. We have been renting out property for years in Portugal so weren't expecting any surprises - well apart from the am...[/quote]

We include the sheets in the rental price and leave one spare set per bed for the guests that stay for two weeks.

"Turn up with own linen" There has been a lot of discussion about this before and I think most members said they would prefer to arrive at the Gite and find the beds made up. If the guests travel by air or train then bringing own sheets is a big No, No. the other problems could be with size of beds and shapes of pillows (i.e. square or rectangular)

Friends of ours don't include the sheets in the rental for their Gite and I think they charge 10 Euros per bed.

Good luck

Gill

p.s. still can't manage to include the right bit of original text in the message

[Russethouse]

Could you give your renters the choice ?

Charge them what it is costing you if they take up the option, presumably you have accounted for wear and tear plus a profit in your basic rental price.

There was a discussion earlier in the year about fitted sheets from Redoute that are like T shirt fabric, no ironing !

Still haven't ordered mine, but have heard good reports

[zeb]

We offer a gite changeover service as an add-on to our main business and charge 8 euros per bedset which includes towels. The owners just price this into their rental charge as no-one wants to be bothered with bringing their own bedlinen.

This has worked very well for all concerned until this year when one of the owners changed all the towels to Ikea bath sheet size (very thick). I can only get 3 or 4 at a time into my washing machine so looks like I may have to charge extra next season!

So, all you gite owners, please have a thought for the cleaning person and how much time and electricity is used laundering. Stick to ordinary bath and hand towels, and preferably poly cotton bed-linen (Tesco do a super range of easy care stuff at very low prices). Sorry Gay, don't know about the stretchy sheets - aren't they too hot??

 

regards.......helen

[Russethouse]

>>Sorry Gay, don't know about the stretchy sheets - aren't they too hot??<<<

Well they are cotton, like a T shirt, which is what most of wear in hot weather I guess, so I hope they are not hot ( I hate being hot in bed LOl).....but one forum member said she had them and loved them. !

[Janey]

We don,t charge any extra for the bed linen, it,s changed once a week. I just knock on the door politelyfor the guests that are here for 2 weeks, ask if they,d like the bed linen changed..some do... some don,t.

I don,t provide towels though, and I do all the cleaning/washing/ironing myself.

Janey

[Em]

We provide the best quality cotton sheets and linen and huge bath sheets which only fit 2-3 per wash load. The intention being to keep us ahead in the customer satisfaction stakes.

All linen and towels are included in our pricing and the only way to make it economic is to do all the washing and ironing myself. Maybe 10 loads on a saturday.

I actually don't mind the ironing now that I have a diciplined routine and a good supply of radio plays to listen to whilst I do it.

I would never,though, leave an unlocked limitless supply of linen for guests to help themselves. Most people will never look afer your things as you would yourselves.

We have three sets per bed and the initial purchase cost was a fortune, but I had great feedback so far so think it has been worthwhile.

Em

[Fourwinds]

Fluffy towels have been part of the problem and as I'm subsidising people to have this luxury I'm a bit cynical about the value of it.

We have rented out our house in Portugal for years based on repeat business or referrals and have always tried to provide people with what we would like to find - good quality linen (easier to iron etc anyway) big fluffy bath towels etc. There it has not been a problem, weekly costs for laundry and a weekly clean are around 75 euros total. Also in Portugal rental rates are much higher than in France.

I think what we will need to do in France is incorporate a basic laundry cost into the rental with a 'charge' for sheets etc. We can then offer a discount to people who choose to take their own. That way we pay what we'd expect to for laundry and the client picks up the 'extra' bit.

I've looked up the La Redoute sheets - they don't solve my problem as I'm paying per load regardless of whether its ironed - but they look good from a low maintenance standpoint. Not sure how long they would last though - would they go faded like t shirts after a few washes?? Planning to order some to experiment at home so will come back with my findings in due course.

[Lori]

I use the fitted sheets from La Redoute. I don't find them hot at all and no one has complained about them. I love them because they fit very snuggly (but not too) over the bed, therefore, do not need ironing.

We change the linens AND do a complete house cleaning for guests who stay more than one week. I do this myself. Guests are offered this service (free of charge) upon arrival. If they prefer to do it themselves, or that we do not come in, it is their option. They choose the time of day, each Saturday, that they prefer the cleaning/linen changing, take place. All our guests have opted FOR this service. All have told us how much they liked coming back to fresh clean bed linens, bath and kitchen linens and a spotless home.

I do iron the twin size sheets, but I take my king sized sheets to 5 a Sec and they wash and iron them for 4 euros each. It would cost me more in water and electricity to do it myself.

Anyway, that is what we do here....

[Pippa]

Hi

As a guest rather than host I would prefer to see bed linen included in the cost of the gite.  Once I like the look of a place, it doesnt bother me if another gite down the road is a few euros cheaper.  Do sheets really need to be ironed?  I cant say that I have noticed if they are or arent, the duvet cover/pillow cases are a different matter of course.

For the host I would think that it would be better to provide linen with beds made.  At least that way you know that your beds are protected.

For towels, why not offer the guest the choice but also ask how many are wanted?  I find that the normal provision of one bath towel and one hand towel is not enough.  I would be happy to pay for what I actually want rather than a standard package.

If the host is resident then towels are one way of assisting the guest if the weather is poor.  It would be a nice surprise for the host to offer additional towels when drying them is a problem.  Of course if the guest is horrible then you dont need to bother if you havent advertised this service!

Pippa

[Coco]

The first year we rented our house as a gite we included bed linen in the rental cost.  The following year we gave people the option but I kept forgetting who had asked for it and who hadn't so half the time the people who looked after the gite made up beds when they didn't need to.  Also, it was inevitably the ones who wanted the gite for the £10 less a week that it cost them by bringing their own linen who were the ones who had any gripes.  Following comments on this forum, plus my own gut feelings, I returned to providing all linen and charging for it for our third season and if I was still renting the house as a gite I would continue to do so.

Personally I think the place looks much more welcoming if the room looks pretty with linen to match it, and all made up on arrival than if people turn up to a stripped bed and then put their orange bed linen in my cream and raspberry bedroom

When I used to rent gites I would much rather have had a "proper" holiday, paid the extra few pounds and not had the hassle of making up and stripping beds and taking dirty linen home with me - the clothes washing was enough, without bed linen as well