Preparing Your Vacation Rental I wouldn’t normally blow my own trumpet but as a lead-in to a bit of a rant, I have given myself permission on this occasion. And anyhow, it’s my blog and I can do as I please so here is a snippet from one of my Osprey Cottage reviews on Flipkey: “What I liked the most?…… the bed sheets and covers in the master bedroom 🙂 Wow…just marvellous, beautiful white embroidered and thick like a cloud. Perfect for those who love to sleep.” I love to create a sleeping experience for my guests they will not forget. In summer we have crisp white Egyptian cotton sheets and floral sprigged white/blue covers on the light weight duvets. When the cold weather comes, the duvets are changed to heavier weight duckdown (warmer but still feel light as per the ‘thick like a cloud’ comment). The covers have a richer look and there’s throws for additional warmth and comfort. I’ve visited rental properties where the bedding has clearly seen better days with thin comforters and lumpy pillows, and have experienced a negative response when I’ve suggested buying new linens and ensuring the comforters are washed frequently and pillows changed often. There seems to be some resistance to providing what must be the most obvious of service and I find it difficult to understand. As an owner I feel huge responsibility for ensuring the bedding I provide is fresh and clean which is why I use duvets and not comforters and change the covers after each set of renters. I know of other less fastidious owners who are quite OK with leaving the same comforters on the beds for a whole season, never washed or freshened. That’s just not right in my book. Yes, it’s additional work laundering all the sheets and covers after each changeover but my guests arrive to beautiful looking bedrooms, ready for a good night’s sleep, rather than having to unpack their own linens and make up the beds. There’s another side to being in control over what goes on the beds and that’s the bed bug issue. When guests are asked to bring their own linens, they may unwittingly be transporting some additional and very unwelcome travellers right into your beds, and those guests will not be leaving on the departure date.
