Do European hosts make beds?

[Stacey6]

Our listing is in Switzerland.  My husband (he's Swiss, I'm not) tells me to leave the folded bedclothes in a stack on the table.  He says that in this type of hosting situation, guests should make the beds.  He makes a good point in that we have, for example, five beds and three guests--which beds do they want to sleep in?  I think it's a good point, but I still don't feel comfortable with not making the beds.  Any thoughts, comments, suggestions from other Eurohosts?

[Donna15]

@Stacey6, I'm a host in the Netherlands. And I most definitely make the bed. For example, if I were a guest arriving - maybe late at night - after a long, possibly tiring journey, the last thing I would want to have to do is make the bed. 

(In fact, a host posted here recently about a guest who had been given the bed linen, but didn't use it at all. He simply slept on top of the duvet. For 3 weeks. :))

And at the 'creature comfort' level, there's something very appealing about turning down a bed cover or quilt, and crawling into a made-up bed with freshly laundered sheets and pillow cases. 

One thing you might want to be careful of, though, is the possibility that a small number of guests might use ALL of the beds - for whatever reason - thus making extra work for you.

For instance, if you have three guests, just make three beds. Simply place a coverlet over the other two - unmade - beds to keep things looking nice. If for some reason the guests want to change beds, they can simply take the bed linen from one bed and put it on another. 

[Monica4]

@Stacey6 I am Swiss...so I know where the idea of not making up the beds comes from. In alpine huts for hikers that is the common method and is also true when one stays at a place in the mountains where there are bunks with linens available. It is traditional in Switzerland. But we are a global community now, and the host is expected to make up the beds for guests. My listing has 6 beds and they are all made up so that the guests can choose which beds they want to use and leave the others alone. Most of the time this works, and the house looks so much more inviting when the beds are all made up.

[Art5]

Any thoughts on who should wash/change bed/bath clothes and frequency, primarily when you have guests for 4 weeks? Heard different opinions

[Deb29]

@Art0

We always wash and change towels and linens before and after each reservation. We also leave extras so if guests would like to change during their stay they can do so on their own easily. All of our properties have washer/dryers on site so they may choose to do laundry more frequently if they would like.

Deb

[Linda108]

It is just my preference, but I like to provide clean linens and towels for each week a guest is in my place.