B&B Bedroom decoration

[Stevehoward]

My wife and I are considering purchasing a (an?) hotel in France and notice there is an aspect to hotel keeping which rarely, if ever, gets a mention on these pages.

We need to know if it is obligatory for all the bedrooms to be decorated in a particularly horrible floral wallpaper with lino floors without rugs.

Also, does it take a special skill known only to hotel proprietors to buy the orange and yellow swirly pattern bedspreads which  manage to clash spectacularly with the walls 

I only ask because this is what we have enjoyed(?) in each of the various visits to France so far and am not sure that we have this particular talent. We are worried we may bring good taste to the decor.

 Is it some sort of regulation in order to achieve two star status?

Just wondering. . . . .

Steve Howard

P.S.  Do the regulations also cover the sixties retro brown shiny bathroom tiles as well?

[Quillan]

You know I understand where you are coming from but it does not restrict it's self to just hotels and B&B's. We saw one place where they had put up this horrible brown and pink floral wall paper. I think they did not know how to wall paper as it appeared that they had papered the whole room (including a wardrobe) then cut out the window and round the door.

We have different colour painted rooms, yellow, green, blue and cream, each one following the theme of the room. A german couple stayed in the yellow room and when I asked how they like their stay and would they return again the guy said "not next year as in Germany we paint our houses white inside and now my wife has seen all the wonderful colours in your house I will be spending next years annual holiday painting".

Brown seems to be very popular as well (God knows why) perhaps they got a job lot or a EU mountain of brown paint cheap. My wife said not to worry we will just redecorate anyway, what did she mean WE, all she does is pick the paint I do the rest.

[Tourangelle]

Well quite. I have worked in a number of offices here in France where they have carpeted the walls. Usually brown, but sometimes grey. Very tasteful.

[Alex H]

I'm convinced there is a large warehouse full of 'bad art' which is manadatory for all hotel owners to purchase from.

And don't forget the obligatory shower head which never stays in position.

[Coco]

[quote]I'm convinced there is a large warehouse full of 'bad art' which is manadatory for all hotel owners to purchase from.And don't forget the obligatory shower head which never stays in position.[/quote]

YOu mean you've stayed in a place where there was a hook to put it on in the first place?

[Quillan]

We have started to let our guests have hot water for the shower (one kettle per room), only in the winter when it's really cold. Cheaper than putting the heating on.

[Dick Smith]

We once stayed in a little commercial hotel (in Sourdeval) where the shower cubicle was at the foot of the bed - slap in he middle of the bedroom. The toilet was down the hall, but you had to be careful of the hole in the floor under the lino...

[letrangere]

they had papered the whole room (including a wardrobe)

When we talk about earliest impressions of France, this is one that always stands out in my mind.  When I was a child my parents regularly stayed at hotel in the Latin Quarter of Paris where everything including the doors and wardrobe were papered in brown flock.  And it was the same in the provinces too.  I have such clear memories of old fashioned Hotel de France style places that my mother was so fond of and even Logis de France properties all done up the same way.  I must have been in my mid-20s, staying somewhere smart with a rich boyfriend, before I came across my first hotel with walls and doors minus flock.  And it came as quite a shock, I kind of missed it.

There's a Logis de France in Angouleme that must win the all-in-the-worst-possible-taste award.  Decorated identical to the poster's description but even better as the bathrooms have dark purple suites with tangerine tiled walls!  (Imagine retreating in there after a heavy night?)  Best bit though is the flooring, it's really odd.  It's not lino, it's more like hundreds and thousands of tiny little shells crushed into cement.   Looks awful, feels awful on bare feet and can you imagine how timeconsuming it was to lay?  Shouldn't be catty though, I'm sure the owner's terribly proud of it.

M

[winterbunny]

Quote:  We need to know if it is obligatory for all the bedrooms to be decorated in a particularly horrible floral wallpaper with lino floors without rugs.

Absolutely; surely anything else would be passe

Quote: Also, does it take a special skill known only to hotel proprietors to buy the orange and yellow swirly pattern bedspreads which  manage to clash spectacularly with the walls 

Not just hotel owners; I've seen quite a few private houses which successfully use this method of interior decorationg, it's the wall papering of any vertical surface which really finishes it off.

Quote: I only ask because this is what we have enjoyed(?) in each of the various visits to France so far and am not sure that we have this particular talent. We are worried we may bring good taste to the decor. 

I would suggest a short course in order to bring your hidden talents forward.  You too could achieve the designs you crave. 

Quote: Is it some sort of regulation in order to achieve two star status?

Why stop at 2 star, with a real effort and a little fake fluffy rug in purple you could get 3 star.

Buns

[mascamps.com]

Thankfully the "stars checklist" doesn't mention the decorations at all.

We've the "interesting" combination of the weird wallpaper in the "house" part of our place thanks to the family that lived here up to about 4 or 5 years ago yet a quite nicely decorated "hotel" part of the building.

If you're really interested in buying a hotel, don't bother asking Land & Leisure as their commercial guy seems under the impression that he has to interview you for the position of hotel manager (at least with us) before he'll let you look at his properties. We were under the impression that it was our problem if it subsequently turned out that we were rubbish at running a hotel and not his.

And welcome to the club... there appear to be only four of us daft enough to think that we can run a hotel in France up to now so you'll bump the total up by 25%!

 

Arnold