The Proverbial Bed Sheet Dilemma

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Happy Harpie

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Hello All!
My wife and I are at an impasse on when to change sheets on the bed for guests staying 3 nights or more. I am of the opinion that if they are staying no more than 3 nights, then the sheets should remain on the bed. I also don't have anything against the 4th night. My wife wants the sheets on the bed for a maximum of two nights before they are changed. This has probably be rehached a few times, however, I would sincerly like some opinions.
Have a great Summer
Harry
 
I use my own little rule - the no more than 3 rule. If a guest is staying 3 days, I do not change but if staying 4 days, I would change after 2nd night...
 
Since I ask the guest if they need maid service (and take their word for it if they say no), I say on the 3rd morning if staying a week, I will be going into the room to change the sheets today. Most times I get told don't bother, I only change the sheets once a week at home. Whe I fet told OK, I change them. I obviously am NOT a glutton for work!
 
We do the same as Copperhead. 3 night before a change and if they are staying 4 nights, change after 2. These are also the guidlines of our state B&B association. If you get a lot of honeymooners, romantic getaways, etc, you might want to evaluate after 2 days if the sheets need to be changed. The norm would be 3.
 
We change sheets after the third night or with the change of guests.
 
I use my own little rule - the no more than 3 rule. If a guest is staying 3 days, I do not change but if staying 4 days, I would change after 2nd night....
Copperhead said:
I use my own little rule - the no more than 3 rule. If a guest is staying 3 days, I do not change but if staying 4 days, I would change after 2nd night...
Ditto Copperheads schedule. But like Kathleen, we do ask and most of the time the guests say not to bother.
 
Being in a region with persistent drought and water issues, our local governements have asked everybody from a tiny B&B to a five hundred room hotel to not change sheets until after four nights.
We mirror the other folks with the halfway through for at least a four night stay but not on a three or less. We don't even switch out towels until the third day unless they are soiled.
We provide seperate towels for the hot tub and bath robes, so that really seems to cut down on the need to switch towels too often.
Our "fluff" always includes a "make like new" treatment for the bed, even when guests kind of make it themselves to varying degrees of neatness.
 
How about this? Who changes the sheets and washes the sheets and basically handles the details about the beds? That person should decide how often they want to do that job.
95% of our guests do not care a whit about us changing the sheets after 3 or 4 days and most don't care about 7 days (and the 7 day people will say, 'Don't bother about the sheets, we don't change them out that often at home'). If the sheets look ok, then compromise on changing out the pillow cases. You can also run a little brush across the sheets to get the crumbs out of the bed and tuck everything up tight again.
I say this because we've got 7 rooms and it's a damn lot of work to change out sheets on beds where guests are staying many nights. They have settled in, their stuff is everywhere, it's hard to even get the vacuum thru the rooms, much less get all the sheets & blankets, etc off the beds and redone.
I used to have a 2 day rule. After the first summer that went out the window. Too much laundry for one thing! Guests too settled in for another.
 
How about this? Who changes the sheets and washes the sheets and basically handles the details about the beds? That person should decide how often they want to do that job.
95% of our guests do not care a whit about us changing the sheets after 3 or 4 days and most don't care about 7 days (and the 7 day people will say, 'Don't bother about the sheets, we don't change them out that often at home'). If the sheets look ok, then compromise on changing out the pillow cases. You can also run a little brush across the sheets to get the crumbs out of the bed and tuck everything up tight again.
I say this because we've got 7 rooms and it's a damn lot of work to change out sheets on beds where guests are staying many nights. They have settled in, their stuff is everywhere, it's hard to even get the vacuum thru the rooms, much less get all the sheets & blankets, etc off the beds and redone.
I used to have a 2 day rule. After the first summer that went out the window. Too much laundry for one thing! Guests too settled in for another..
I am impressed. We rarely get a 3 or 4 night. Mostly 2-nights.
 
How about this? Who changes the sheets and washes the sheets and basically handles the details about the beds? That person should decide how often they want to do that job.
95% of our guests do not care a whit about us changing the sheets after 3 or 4 days and most don't care about 7 days (and the 7 day people will say, 'Don't bother about the sheets, we don't change them out that often at home'). If the sheets look ok, then compromise on changing out the pillow cases. You can also run a little brush across the sheets to get the crumbs out of the bed and tuck everything up tight again.
I say this because we've got 7 rooms and it's a damn lot of work to change out sheets on beds where guests are staying many nights. They have settled in, their stuff is everywhere, it's hard to even get the vacuum thru the rooms, much less get all the sheets & blankets, etc off the beds and redone.
I used to have a 2 day rule. After the first summer that went out the window. Too much laundry for one thing! Guests too settled in for another..
I am impressed. We rarely get a 3 or 4 night. Mostly 2-nights.
.
gillumhouse said:
I am impressed. We rarely get a 3 or 4 night. Mostly 2-nights.
I get a spate of 1-nighters (a lot of bookended weekends where they stay Fri and come back the following Sat, but it's still a 1-nighter) and then will get a few 5-7-nighters. Next week I have 3 6-nighters. The 7-nighters surprise me. I always hope they find enough to keep them amused! We've got quite a few 4 & 5-nighters coming up. That's encouraging.
 
3 nites i'd leave the sheets but i'd remake the bed so it was nice and tight each day and changed the pillow cases on the 2nd morning, this would make the bed feel fresh. 4 nites, on the 3rd morning, i'd change the whole sheet set like for a new guest.
 
How about this? Who changes the sheets and washes the sheets and basically handles the details about the beds? That person should decide how often they want to do that job.
95% of our guests do not care a whit about us changing the sheets after 3 or 4 days and most don't care about 7 days (and the 7 day people will say, 'Don't bother about the sheets, we don't change them out that often at home'). If the sheets look ok, then compromise on changing out the pillow cases. You can also run a little brush across the sheets to get the crumbs out of the bed and tuck everything up tight again.
I say this because we've got 7 rooms and it's a damn lot of work to change out sheets on beds where guests are staying many nights. They have settled in, their stuff is everywhere, it's hard to even get the vacuum thru the rooms, much less get all the sheets & blankets, etc off the beds and redone.
I used to have a 2 day rule. After the first summer that went out the window. Too much laundry for one thing! Guests too settled in for another..
I am impressed. We rarely get a 3 or 4 night. Mostly 2-nights.
.
gillumhouse said:
I am impressed. We rarely get a 3 or 4 night. Mostly 2-nights.
I get a spate of 1-nighters (a lot of bookended weekends where they stay Fri and come back the following Sat, but it's still a 1-nighter) and then will get a few 5-7-nighters. Next week I have 3 6-nighters. The 7-nighters surprise me. I always hope they find enough to keep them amused! We've got quite a few 4 & 5-nighters coming up. That's encouraging.
.
I have a 4-nighter coming in Monday (2-nights were a donation to her Women's Club that she bought) and next week I have all rooms for 4-nights when I gave my old guys the 4th night for our Happy Birthday to us special $13 per room. And I am not going to be changing any sheets when the guys are here - we will be at the same event with DH's paintings.
I have to figure out what we will do that Thursday - we need to be at the event BUT I have a very important Garden Club meeting the same day at Noon. I am trying to get the ladies to set up a Foundation and do a few other non-sports related things with the money they inherited.
 
Thanks for all your comments. I like Bree's way of thinking, however, after being married for 39 years, I have been taught to know only four words to ensure a successful relationship, "Yes Dear" and I'm Sorry"! Ergo, Wife - 1, Husband - O. Every two days it is or three if they are staying only three nights
Like Bree many of our stays are becoming lengthier. In Aug we have a six, eight and nine night stay. We get lots of 3 & 4 day stays. Although we accept one night stays, for the most part they normally book for two or more. Being a small 2-bedroom B&B we really enjoy the lengthier stays, as you really get to know the folks and form a certain bond/friendship.
Cheers and thanks again for all the info.
Harry
 
How about this? Who changes the sheets and washes the sheets and basically handles the details about the beds? That person should decide how often they want to do that job.
95% of our guests do not care a whit about us changing the sheets after 3 or 4 days and most don't care about 7 days (and the 7 day people will say, 'Don't bother about the sheets, we don't change them out that often at home'). If the sheets look ok, then compromise on changing out the pillow cases. You can also run a little brush across the sheets to get the crumbs out of the bed and tuck everything up tight again.
I say this because we've got 7 rooms and it's a damn lot of work to change out sheets on beds where guests are staying many nights. They have settled in, their stuff is everywhere, it's hard to even get the vacuum thru the rooms, much less get all the sheets & blankets, etc off the beds and redone.
I used to have a 2 day rule. After the first summer that went out the window. Too much laundry for one thing! Guests too settled in for another..
"How about this? Who changes the sheets and washes the sheets and basically handles the details about the beds? That person should decide how often they want to do that job."
Well, thats me and I say never change them on days when something really good is on Oprah no matter how many nights the guest has been here. LOL
"95% of our guests do not care a whit about us changing the sheets after 3 or 4 days and most don't care about 7 days (and the 7 day people will say, 'Don't bother about the sheets, we don't change them out that often at home')."
Sorry, but these folks are paying us for an experience here unlike their typical day to day life. They can tell us all they want about their home schedule, but we've got standards that we don't compromise on no matter what.
"If the sheets look ok, then compromise on changing out the pillow cases. You can also run a little brush across the sheets to get the crumbs out of the bed and tuck everything up tight again."
We don't do that. Its either the whole set or nothing. And when we hit halfway through a four nighter or longer, it gets done. Its my freakin' job and if I didn't want to change sheets, etc. for a living, I would have opened a hardware store.
"I say this because we've got 7 rooms and it's a damn lot of work to change out sheets on beds where guests are staying many nights. They have settled in, their stuff is everywhere, it's hard to even get the vacuum thru the rooms, much less get all the sheets & blankets, etc off the beds and redone."
Goes with the territory I'm afraid. Two rooms, twelve rooms, forty rooms, we gotta have standards at least as high as your average hotel. We have luggage racks, hanging storage space, dressers, etc.
Its a rare guest here staying at least two nights that doesn't use any or all of those options.
"eh I used to have a 2 day rule. After the first summer that went out the window. Too much laundry for one thing! Guests too settled in for another."
Two nights seems a bit excessive, but today its 94 degrees out and most of our folks are outing hiking right now. Even if they shower again today, all it takes is a little more sweat and a set of sheets can feel a little grubby after a couple days of that routine.
 
Thanks for all your comments. I like Bree's way of thinking, however, after being married for 39 years, I have been taught to know only four words to ensure a successful relationship, "Yes Dear" and I'm Sorry"! Ergo, Wife - 1, Husband - O. Every two days it is or three if they are staying only three nights
Like Bree many of our stays are becoming lengthier. In Aug we have a six, eight and nine night stay. We get lots of 3 & 4 day stays. Although we accept one night stays, for the most part they normally book for two or more. Being a small 2-bedroom B&B we really enjoy the lengthier stays, as you really get to know the folks and form a certain bond/friendship.
Cheers and thanks again for all the info.
Harry.
TuckedInntheHarbour said:
Thanks for all your comments. I like Bree's way of thinking, however, after being married for 39 years, I have been taught to know only four words to ensure a successful relationship, "Yes Dear" and I'm Sorry"! Ergo, Wife - 1, Husband - O. Every two days it is or three if they are staying only three nights
Like Bree many of our stays are becoming lengthier. In Aug we have a six, eight and nine night stay. We get lots of 3 & 4 day stays. Although we accept one night stays, for the most part they normally book for two or more. Being a small 2-bedroom B&B we really enjoy the lengthier stays, as you really get to know the folks and form a certain bond/friendship.
Cheers and thanks again for all the info.
Harry
You know, if I only had 2 rooms it wouldn't be a big deal. But even with a housekeeper, 7 strips in one day (11 beds total) gets to be old fast!
See, I figured it was how you describe it...she wants to do this and you don't really see the reason. Am I right? If so, you are not alone. Hubs doesn't 'get' some of the 'nice' things I want to do. I'll be stripping the entire bed of all linens and he'll say, 'What's wrong, did they spill something?' Uh, no, but these things have to washed once in awhile. Which is why I'm in charge of the cleaning sched.
 
Thanks for all your comments. I like Bree's way of thinking, however, after being married for 39 years, I have been taught to know only four words to ensure a successful relationship, "Yes Dear" and I'm Sorry"! Ergo, Wife - 1, Husband - O. Every two days it is or three if they are staying only three nights
Like Bree many of our stays are becoming lengthier. In Aug we have a six, eight and nine night stay. We get lots of 3 & 4 day stays. Although we accept one night stays, for the most part they normally book for two or more. Being a small 2-bedroom B&B we really enjoy the lengthier stays, as you really get to know the folks and form a certain bond/friendship.
Cheers and thanks again for all the info.
Harry.
TuckedInntheHarbour said:
Thanks for all your comments. I like Bree's way of thinking, however, after being married for 39 years, I have been taught to know only four words to ensure a successful relationship, "Yes Dear" and I'm Sorry"! Ergo, Wife - 1, Husband - O. Every two days it is or three if they are staying only three nights
Like Bree many of our stays are becoming lengthier. In Aug we have a six, eight and nine night stay. We get lots of 3 & 4 day stays. Although we accept one night stays, for the most part they normally book for two or more. Being a small 2-bedroom B&B we really enjoy the lengthier stays, as you really get to know the folks and form a certain bond/friendship.
Cheers and thanks again for all the info.
Harry
You know, if I only had 2 rooms it wouldn't be a big deal. But even with a housekeeper, 7 strips in one day (11 beds total) gets to be old fast!
See, I figured it was how you describe it...she wants to do this and you don't really see the reason. Am I right? If so, you are not alone. Hubs doesn't 'get' some of the 'nice' things I want to do. I'll be stripping the entire bed of all linens and he'll say, 'What's wrong, did they spill something?' Uh, no, but these things have to washed once in awhile. Which is why I'm in charge of the cleaning sched.
.
"But even with a housekeeper, 7 strips in one day (11 beds total) gets to be old fast!"
Do the rising balances in your bank accounts get old real fast when you are that busy? I didn't think so......
I'm trying to goat you just a little to perhaps trigger a reminder of why we do this thing to begin with.
And I'm in total sync with you on how much effort it is to keep on top of stuff, but this many years into it and none of us have found that elusive magic wand to get it all done instantly and to a standard that clearly distinguishes us from your average hotel.
I personally don't find any of the physical duties of being an innkeeper troublesome or all that tiring, its the sociological and guest relations stuff that wears me out.
As sure as the sun comes up tomorrow, I know that we will NEVER get a bad review, complaint, etc. about uncleanliness, worn out anything, or a lackluster effort. That is our job at its most basic.
 
standards shmandards ... i TOLD my stayover guests when i'd be changing the sheets. if they wanted them changed more or less frequently, i'd do what made them happy. some 'green' guests get very upset if you change the bed more often than they want you to. and i do mean upset!
if there was no guest preference, i went by my own schedule - if it was a particulary humid 'sticky' time, i'd change the sheets .... but we didn't have many of those sticky days! i used my own senses to decide. if the sheets seemed soiled, sticky, gritty, dirty, grubby, smelly, etc., i stripped the bed. if not, it was a tight remake with new pillow cases. and i defy you to check my newly made beds and tell me some should be changed .... (getting really feisty here)
i see absolutely nothing wrong with this approach. with guests writing comments in the guest book like 'immaculate place' and 'lovely fresh linens' and 'we felt totally pampered', i felt confident they were happy and i was doing it right.
and it DOES matter how much time you have, how much help you have, how many beds there are to freshen, how much else you have to do, and how 'green' you are trying to be. providing the great guest experience isn't just about changing sheets!
we could debate this forever ...........
 
Hi, Harry...yes, the age old sheet question! I change them after the 3rd night or after the 2nd night on a 4 night stay. I'll say to 4 night stay folks, "I'll be changing your bed linens after the 2nd night" & 90% of the time, they'll say, "Oh, don't bother, we're only here one more night". Okey dokey....then I do a happy dance :)
Linens are always changed if there is something on them, of course. If the pillowcases are looking tired (no longer crisp, wrinkly, drool marks or the like), I'll change them even if the sheets are still OK. The best question for me is to ask myself, "Would I want to sleep on these sheets and pillowcases?" If the answer is "no", they get changed.
In some locales, you must go with the Health Department regulations regardless of what you think should be done.
 
standards shmandards ... i TOLD my stayover guests when i'd be changing the sheets. if they wanted them changed more or less frequently, i'd do what made them happy. some 'green' guests get very upset if you change the bed more often than they want you to. and i do mean upset!
if there was no guest preference, i went by my own schedule - if it was a particulary humid 'sticky' time, i'd change the sheets .... but we didn't have many of those sticky days! i used my own senses to decide. if the sheets seemed soiled, sticky, gritty, dirty, grubby, smelly, etc., i stripped the bed. if not, it was a tight remake with new pillow cases. and i defy you to check my newly made beds and tell me some should be changed .... (getting really feisty here)
i see absolutely nothing wrong with this approach. with guests writing comments in the guest book like 'immaculate place' and 'lovely fresh linens' and 'we felt totally pampered', i felt confident they were happy and i was doing it right.
and it DOES matter how much time you have, how much help you have, how many beds there are to freshen, how much else you have to do, and how 'green' you are trying to be. providing the great guest experience isn't just about changing sheets!
we could debate this forever ............
standards shmandards ...
I agree with you. The same thing goes for ironing sheets and many of the other things some innkeepers do. I sincerely feel that as an innkeeper, if it makes you feel you are giving a better experience to the guest - DO IT and be happy you are doing it. If it makes you feel superior to other innkeepers to do something - then DO IT.
There are many of us who are happy doing what we do. I will NOT iron sheets (they are welcome to go to the Greenbrier for ironed sheets) and I am not about to work myself to a frazzle to make everything perfect (see I am handing the superiority over on a silver platter - and this is not directed at anyone, period) because neither I nor my house is perfect.
I reserve my standards for the food that goes on the table and the coffee in the cup. If I have served a feast for the eyes as well as for the stomach, if I have slipped in another area it is likely to be forgotten.
 
Hi, Harry...yes, the age old sheet question! I change them after the 3rd night or after the 2nd night on a 4 night stay. I'll say to 4 night stay folks, "I'll be changing your bed linens after the 2nd night" & 90% of the time, they'll say, "Oh, don't bother, we're only here one more night". Okey dokey....then I do a happy dance :)
Linens are always changed if there is something on them, of course. If the pillowcases are looking tired (no longer crisp, wrinkly, drool marks or the like), I'll change them even if the sheets are still OK. The best question for me is to ask myself, "Would I want to sleep on these sheets and pillowcases?" If the answer is "no", they get changed.
In some locales, you must go with the Health Department regulations regardless of what you think should be done..
Samster said:
Hi, Harry...yes, the age old sheet question! I change them after the 3rd night or after the 2nd night on a 4 night stay. I'll say to 4 night stay folks, "I'll be changing your bed linens after the 2nd night" & 90% of the time, they'll say, "Oh, don't bother, we're only here one more night". Okey dokey....then I do a happy dance :)
Linens are always changed if there is something on them, of course. If the pillowcases are looking tired (no longer crisp, wrinkly, drool marks or the like), I'll change them even if the sheets are still OK. The best question for me is to ask myself, "Would I want to sleep on these sheets and pillowcases?" If the answer is "no", they get changed.
In some locales, you must go with the Health Department regulations regardless of what you think should be done.
Like the guest with Pityriasis Capitis - aka extreme dandruff. I could not MAKE the bed when the pillow case and area around the top of the bed was covered in dead skin. It grossed me out. Yes it was their predicament, but it still grossed me out, so I had to change the linens on a two day stay.
 
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