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Having just returned from Europe, I wanted to mention a few things that I noticed that we can think of doing that will help Europeans to better understand what we are offering.... (These are based on what happened to us in France, it may differ in other European countries.)
Bed Sizes: I have started to list my bed sizes besides the names. The size of European beds are different and they may misunderstand our names.
European Sizes: Single (.90m x 2m), Double (1.4mx2m), Queen (1.6mx2m) and King (1.9mx2m)
North American Sizes: Twin (.97mx1.91m), Double (1.37mx1.91m), Queen (1.52mx2.03m) and King (1.93mx2.03m)
I put them down as approximate as .95mx1.9m, 1.4mx1.9m, 1.5mx2m and 1.9mx2m, so they have an idea of what the bed size really means, since our twin is wider, our double shorter and our queen is narrower. I was also considering explaining more about the fact that our beds are sping mattresses. We were in a few places in France where the bed was foam over plywood and not very comfortable.
The French breakfast was generally continental, especially in the countryside. Croissant, pain au chocolat, pain au raisin (cinnamon danish) and bread were the staples. Once place kept about a dozen different jams on the table. They also stocked two different honey. The hotel in Paris had cereal, but not the continental breakfasts in the countryside. Oh and breakfast other than in a chambre d'hote (hosted room, equivalen to B&B) was extra and often about $10 a person.
Internet access was a pain at some of the places we stayed. One place capped your daily access to 200M. I ran over my limit and had to beg for an extra access card. The speed was also capped. I eventually bought a 10 hour pass, which gave me unlimited data and good speed. They often blocked VOIP as well. Some of the hotel chains handed out individual accounts that you needed to log into.
Hotels in France had only hand towels and bath towels, no facecloths. Europeans tend to use a mitt or a mesh ball to soap up with. It's considered a personal item and they travel with it. Maybe we should consider having something to explain the use of the facecloth, if it's not common?
Hotels had TVs with clocks and alarm clocks on them.
 
Eric Arthur Blair wrote:
It's considered a personal item and they travel with it. Maybe we should consider having something to explain the use of the facecloth...
They'll probably bring their mitt/mesh ball if they're used to that, so I don't see any reason to explain the washcloth (facecloth). When I was a teenager our family hosted a Belgian exchange student for a year and he arrived with his own towels! He said everybody traveled with their own (back then, at least).
In several visits all over Italy, I've never seen a washcloth.
A few years ago when we hosted a Swedish exchange student, he was with us for several weeks before we realized he was sleeping on top of the top sheet. He had never seen two sheets on a bed before and didn't know about sleeping between them. He was used to sleeping on top of the one sheet, and under a comforter (duvet).
Traveling the world is good, to see how others do things.
 
Why bother to go to such detail? I think it is a waste of time. We all know people don't read :-( Just continue to do your own thing as you have. I think most don't need that kind of information. European stays are different than US stays. Thats just cultural differences. Expect it.
 
Why bother to go to such detail? I think it is a waste of time. We all know people don't read :-( Just continue to do your own thing as you have. I think most don't need that kind of information. European stays are different than US stays. Thats just cultural differences. Expect it..
catlady said:
Why bother to go to such detail? I think it is a waste of time. We all know people don't read :-( Just continue to do your own thing as you have. I think most don't need that kind of information. European stays are different than US stays. Thats just cultural differences. Expect it.
To be honest, we looked for it when we booked in Europe. And I sometimes get questions from Europeans about the size of the bed, because they don't understand the terms we use.
Of course, maybe I deal with more Europeans. They are about 30% of my business.
 
As a european, you are right, bed sizes like double and queen are unclear to us, I had to look them up to understand some of the forum items.... Thanks for the nice summary. We have two seperate boxsprings in the rooms, each 0,90*2,00 meter, with single duvets. I think this is this is standard size for most hotels B&B etc in the Netherlands. So together 1,80*2,00m which we call a double, but also 1,60*2,00 or 1,60* 1,90 beds are called double. 1,40 beds (and1,20) are often called twijfelaars (=doubter). To avoid confusion we give the bed size on the web site.
We have facecloths (washandjes), they are used 40% of the time, usually by the 50y+. In 10% they are used them to remove makeup and clean their shoes, by the young ones gen X.........
 
Why bother to go to such detail? I think it is a waste of time. We all know people don't read :-( Just continue to do your own thing as you have. I think most don't need that kind of information. European stays are different than US stays. Thats just cultural differences. Expect it..
catlady said:
Why bother to go to such detail? I think it is a waste of time. We all know people don't read :-( Just continue to do your own thing as you have. I think most don't need that kind of information. European stays are different than US stays. Thats just cultural differences. Expect it.
To be honest, we looked for it when we booked in Europe. And I sometimes get questions from Europeans about the size of the bed, because they don't understand the terms we use.
Of course, maybe I deal with more Europeans. They are about 30% of my business.
.
Yes I think you have many more Europeans. Not something we ever had any concern about with our guests.
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!
 
This came into play today (ironically) as we have 2 US citizens staying with us for about 2 weeks and have enquired about wash cloths which completely baffled our chamber maid as she thought they meant cleaning cloths ie to clean shoes or something. in the UK what you call wash cloths are called in the main Flannels as that is what they were made of. I may pop out and buy some for them as they are cheap enough but they are not something provided as standard in the UK.
I don't put bed sizes on but I do have pictures of every room which I think helps but if I know its a US booking I make sure they know that in the UK twin means 2 small beds not one big bed for 2 people as we have hit snaggs with this before. However european men (ie non gay ones) don't seem to have any bother about sharing a double bed where as UK men would rather be tarred and feathered.
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!.
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
.
catlady said:
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
I'd have both. The standard 'queen' for all of us and then (metric size) for all of them.
 
As a european, you are right, bed sizes like double and queen are unclear to us, I had to look them up to understand some of the forum items.... Thanks for the nice summary. We have two seperate boxsprings in the rooms, each 0,90*2,00 meter, with single duvets. I think this is this is standard size for most hotels B&B etc in the Netherlands. So together 1,80*2,00m which we call a double, but also 1,60*2,00 or 1,60* 1,90 beds are called double. 1,40 beds (and1,20) are often called twijfelaars (=doubter). To avoid confusion we give the bed size on the web site.
We have facecloths (washandjes), they are used 40% of the time, usually by the 50y+. In 10% they are used them to remove makeup and clean their shoes, by the young ones gen X..........
Bommelhoeve said:
As a european, you are right, bed sizes like double and queen are unclear to us, I had to look them up to understand some of the forum items.... Thanks for the nice summary. We have two seperate boxsprings in the rooms, each 0,90*2,00 meter, with single duvets. I think this is this is standard size for most hotels B&B etc in the Netherlands. So together 1,80*2,00m which we call a double, but also 1,60*2,00 or 1,60* 1,90 beds are called double. 1,40 beds (and1,20) are often called twijfelaars (=doubter). To avoid confusion we give the bed size on the web site.
We have facecloths (washandjes), they are used 40% of the time, usually by the 50y+. In 10% they are used them to remove makeup and clean their shoes, by the young ones gen X.........
I realize overseas you book a single or double or even a triple, but here we get people who are moronic over bed size, "I won't sleep in a double" and they won't. Full size is a double here and you can't even buy them now, everyone has queen or king or california king - for those taller folks.
 
As a european, you are right, bed sizes like double and queen are unclear to us, I had to look them up to understand some of the forum items.... Thanks for the nice summary. We have two seperate boxsprings in the rooms, each 0,90*2,00 meter, with single duvets. I think this is this is standard size for most hotels B&B etc in the Netherlands. So together 1,80*2,00m which we call a double, but also 1,60*2,00 or 1,60* 1,90 beds are called double. 1,40 beds (and1,20) are often called twijfelaars (=doubter). To avoid confusion we give the bed size on the web site.
We have facecloths (washandjes), they are used 40% of the time, usually by the 50y+. In 10% they are used them to remove makeup and clean their shoes, by the young ones gen X..........
Bommelhoeve said:
As a european, you are right, bed sizes like double and queen are unclear to us, I had to look them up to understand some of the forum items.... Thanks for the nice summary. We have two seperate boxsprings in the rooms, each 0,90*2,00 meter, with single duvets. I think this is this is standard size for most hotels B&B etc in the Netherlands. So together 1,80*2,00m which we call a double, but also 1,60*2,00 or 1,60* 1,90 beds are called double. 1,40 beds (and1,20) are often called twijfelaars (=doubter). To avoid confusion we give the bed size on the web site.
We have facecloths (washandjes), they are used 40% of the time, usually by the 50y+. In 10% they are used them to remove makeup and clean their shoes, by the young ones gen X.........
I realize overseas you book a single or double or even a triple, but here we get people who are moronic over bed size, "I won't sleep in a double" and they won't. Full size is a double here and you can't even buy them now, everyone has queen or king or california king - for those taller folks.
.
Drives me crazy, too, to know children of the advanced ages of 5 & 6 have a queen bed all to themselves! Whatever happened to getting your first 'big bed' when you got your first apt? In our rooms with 2 beds, the smallest child always calls dibs on the 'big bed'. They tell the parents to sleep in the little bed. There's something about a big bed!
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!.
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
.
catlady said:
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
Yes, but outside of the US, everyone is officially metric except Myanmar. While many people in the English speaking world might understand Imperial measure, it's a limited audience. Even certain measures are different between Imperial and US measurements, like the gallon (160 oz in Imperial and 128 oz in US, as one example.) But ask someone in France or Germany what 80 inches are, and they look at you blankly. And if you ask them what a pound is, they will tell you English currency.
It's all about making it more accessible to visitors.
Even the term coffee means different things to different people. In Italy, that's what they call Espresso. And a macchiato in Italy is called a Noisette in France. I was served a café Espagniol (Spanish Coffee) in France.... coffee with milk. The normal term is café au lait (coffee with milk) because au lait sounds like olé, some people call it Spanish coffee. And our French guests are often shocked when we give them cold milk... they prefer hot milk for their coffee, so it doesn't cool it.
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!.
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
.
If you ever get to europe, beware, a double bed can be anything from a USA twin to a USA king, you only know the real size if you convert the metric to inch which is quite easy IMHO.
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!.
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
.
catlady said:
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
Yes, but outside of the US, everyone is officially metric except Myanmar. While many people in the English speaking world might understand Imperial measure, it's a limited audience. Even certain measures are different between Imperial and US measurements, like the gallon (160 oz in Imperial and 128 oz in US, as one example.) But ask someone in France or Germany what 80 inches are, and they look at you blankly. And if you ask them what a pound is, they will tell you English currency.
It's all about making it more accessible to visitors.
Even the term coffee means different things to different people. In Italy, that's what they call Espresso. And a macchiato in Italy is called a Noisette in France. I was served a café Espagniol (Spanish Coffee) in France.... coffee with milk. The normal term is café au lait (coffee with milk) because au lait sounds like olé, some people call it Spanish coffee. And our French guests are often shocked when we give them cold milk... they prefer hot milk for their coffee, so it doesn't cool it.
.
A lot of guests like the milk heated. Most of them are not used to keeping milk in the fridge, either.
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!.
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
.
If you ever get to europe, beware, a double bed can be anything from a USA twin to a USA king, you only know the real size if you convert the metric to inch which is quite easy IMHO.
.
what I found hilarious is my chamber maid is Lituanian and her neice came to live in the UK and go to college about a year ago and had to do various tests to slot her into the system and she was super worried she was going to have to understand feet and inches! I myself work in what ever is easiest ie its about an inch is easier than saying 2 and a half cm and if you are working out roughly a yard and a meter are about the same.
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!.
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
.
catlady said:
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
Yes, but outside of the US, everyone is officially metric except Myanmar. While many people in the English speaking world might understand Imperial measure, it's a limited audience. Even certain measures are different between Imperial and US measurements, like the gallon (160 oz in Imperial and 128 oz in US, as one example.) But ask someone in France or Germany what 80 inches are, and they look at you blankly. And if you ask them what a pound is, they will tell you English currency.
It's all about making it more accessible to visitors.
Even the term coffee means different things to different people. In Italy, that's what they call Espresso. And a macchiato in Italy is called a Noisette in France. I was served a café Espagniol (Spanish Coffee) in France.... coffee with milk. The normal term is café au lait (coffee with milk) because au lait sounds like olé, some people call it Spanish coffee. And our French guests are often shocked when we give them cold milk... they prefer hot milk for their coffee, so it doesn't cool it.
.
what was also funny was my grandmother gave a recipy to some hungarian friends of ours and never thought about it and included a knob of butter (ie big dollop) and they were trying to work it out ie about the same size as a door knob? was the question we were asked in extreeme confusion!
 
This came into play today (ironically) as we have 2 US citizens staying with us for about 2 weeks and have enquired about wash cloths which completely baffled our chamber maid as she thought they meant cleaning cloths ie to clean shoes or something. in the UK what you call wash cloths are called in the main Flannels as that is what they were made of. I may pop out and buy some for them as they are cheap enough but they are not something provided as standard in the UK.
I don't put bed sizes on but I do have pictures of every room which I think helps but if I know its a US booking I make sure they know that in the UK twin means 2 small beds not one big bed for 2 people as we have hit snaggs with this before. However european men (ie non gay ones) don't seem to have any bother about sharing a double bed where as UK men would rather be tarred and feathered..
Coincidentally we started putting flannels in our guest bathrooms after a couple of people asked for them, both American.
 
I think it's a great idea to post the sizes of the beds in metric. Thanks for the info!.
sorry to say, if I just saw metric sizes I wouldn't have a clue what it meant :-(
.
If you ever get to europe, beware, a double bed can be anything from a USA twin to a USA king, you only know the real size if you convert the metric to inch which is quite easy IMHO.
.
what I found hilarious is my chamber maid is Lituanian and her neice came to live in the UK and go to college about a year ago and had to do various tests to slot her into the system and she was super worried she was going to have to understand feet and inches! I myself work in what ever is easiest ie its about an inch is easier than saying 2 and a half cm and if you are working out roughly a yard and a meter are about the same.
.
camberleyhotel wrote:
I myself work in what ever is easiest ie its about an inch is easier than saying 2 and a half cm...

Then there's that thing with the rocks. Not pounds or kilograms, but weight in stones! It gets to be a lot to keep up with.
I know the metric system is much easier and more logical than Imperial measurements, but can someone explain the advantage of using Celsius rather than Fahrenheit for temperatures, other than it's easier to remember the freezing point and boiling point of water?
 
This came into play today (ironically) as we have 2 US citizens staying with us for about 2 weeks and have enquired about wash cloths which completely baffled our chamber maid as she thought they meant cleaning cloths ie to clean shoes or something. in the UK what you call wash cloths are called in the main Flannels as that is what they were made of. I may pop out and buy some for them as they are cheap enough but they are not something provided as standard in the UK.
I don't put bed sizes on but I do have pictures of every room which I think helps but if I know its a US booking I make sure they know that in the UK twin means 2 small beds not one big bed for 2 people as we have hit snaggs with this before. However european men (ie non gay ones) don't seem to have any bother about sharing a double bed where as UK men would rather be tarred and feathered..
Flannel, washcloth or facecloth, all the same thing. Around here they are terry cloth.
Dishcloths in Canada and very different, in Canada they are waffleweave material. In the US they are usually terry. The difference stems from quotas, Canada has a strict quota on terry importation and it increases the cost of terry because you have to pay for the permit. The US doesn't.
Of course the only reason I know this is that my family... are linen importers. Grew up with this stuff.
 
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