Bedding

[Russethouse]

Just letting my mind wander past Christmas to the January Sales, once again I will be on the look out for pillows and looking back this seems to be an annual thing. I am allergic to feathers so they have to be polyester or hollofill but I just wondered how long pillows and other bedding last in gites and B & Bs and should I be buying a specific type? Do you use the square pillows ?
True I buy in John Lewis sale, but usually mid range, not the cheapest. Any tips?

If you supply other bedding what type do you get and what 'life' do you expect. (Not 100% cotton, I don't mind ironing but I have enough to do without adding that )

Gay

[Maggiemortimer]

We've been giving the non-iron sheets from M&S a test run at home, to see if they'd be suitable for our apartment. We have no complaints over the quality, but they recommend tumble drying - a waste of energy in Provence, and say that, to achieve pristine condition, they should then be lightly ironed!!
Back to the drawing board, then.
Maggie

[Quillan]

I have to say we have bought our sheets etc from the UK for our Chambres D'Hote via mail order. The reason for this is quality against price. We use only white because they can be boil washed if needed plus you don't have to worry about what sheets go in each room and have you got enough if you have 3 one nighters etc. The problem with this is pillows, we can only find square ones here in quantity so we buy them in from the Uk, again price against quality pays an important part. Having said that we buy polyester and bin them after one year. The reason for this is that whilst you can protect the matress without causing any discomfort it's more difficult with pillows as the creek more with protection covers on.

On a visit to the UK we found a place called Matalan which do pillows suitable for our needs for around 7 each (5) and they are quite confortable, infact we use them ourselves. The quilt covers are also white with a slight patern embossed on them, again bought by mail order.

All the sheets, pillowcases and quilt covers have lasted very well and after one year are as good as new. The problem we have is with towels, they only last about one year and are the bigest expence to replace. Each guest has three towels, small medium and very large. We dry on the line but finish in the drier because it 'fluffs them up' and gives them that extra 'bounce'.

All our sheets etc are ironed and whilst the 'easy iron' conditioner is available over here it has to be said that the UK versions are MUCH better.

Just to say we don't buy cheap we buy quality but at a good price. To give you a clue on cost we spent roughly 600 per bed including towels for two people (thats 1,200 per room. We spend another 200 replacing pillows and towels per bed per year. Is it worth it, yes, many of our clients have returned purely on the basis that it's the best nights sleep they have had for months (and no I don't want to know why they sleep so bad normally).

Q

[JudyM]

We use hypoallergenic pillows from UK, with 'luxury quilted pillow protectors' (manufacturer's description!), white polycotton sheets and pillowcases. Choice of blankets or duvets (or both in winter!)

I took my sister in law's advice and bought dark blue towels. BIG mistake! They fade like hell, and I'm going to replace them all because they look 'tired' - they'll be fine for us to use though

I buy my stuff from Dunelm - Midlands based stores, where you can buy Dorma etc at VG prices.

JudyM