since when did a sofa bed become ok for holiday accomidation

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Nor in mine....they can bring one with them (if I were still renting)

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I rented an apartment recently that only had a nespresso machine, I bought a plastic filter holder from the local supermarket so I could make more coffee at a time.

I like espresso, but not for breakfast.

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@johnE, I do most of it myself, with occasional bookings from ABB and bookingdotcom. Local lady who looks after apartment also does some letting for me.

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@Faust1, champagne flutes are essential but a Nespresso machine will not be adding to the very well-equipped apartment I have with filter machine, espresso and cappucino machine , kettle and toaster. Already have the egg cups (my favourite breakfast) and a salad spinner. Leaves don't tend to come ready washed in a French market.

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After all it is free

Essential equipment varies between nationalities. We have Nespresso machines in three out of four apartment, a little two-cup filter machine in the smaller studio. But we do get asked for other types on occasion, so we also have, on request, a normal size filter machine, a cafetière (aka French Press for the Americans) and one of those plastic filter holders on top of a jug. The Swiss, Germans and Dutch seem more happy with the Nespresso, French are more likely to want a filter machine, Brits, as often as not, are happy to just use instant.

As for other stuff mentioned earlier:
Yes, some decent kitchen knives, doesn't need to be a full matching set, but a sharp chef's knife and paring/veggie knife at a bare minimum, others not so important.
Toaster - it's more of a Brit thing, but we've had more Brits in the last couple of seasons who have asked for, so there's now one in our bigger apartment. Other nationalities don't ever seem to use it.
Kettle - I don't understand it either, how so many French families seem unfamiliar with the concept. When we first moved to France (20 yrs ago) they were actually quite difficult to find in the shops, and those that were there tended to be weedy things that would take five minutes to boil. Thankfully it's better now, but then we've sourced most of ours in Switzerland anyway.
Hair dryer, yes, we put one in each apartment from the start.
TV - we have one and a little Android box in each, some people never use them, some (usually older Swiss) seem unable to grasp the technology but in the most part they work well, especially if there are kids around.

@Hells Bells, champagne flutes would last about five minutes in my rental! Early in our ownership I got a brilliant idea: buy some nice glasses. Low-cost upgrade, little touch of class. Spent a couple hundy. Within three weeks seven of them were already gone, and they're all long gone now. What an idiot. Damn renters, the only thing I like about 'em is their money!

So we have our own glasses, silverware, knives and good pans in the owner cabinet and its Picardie for the great unwashed.

Has anyone ever had good stuff left behind at your place? Plenty of stuff stolen/broken, but a very nice Spiegelau wine glass appeared that isn't ours....wish they'd left a pair.

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@Scooter in Seattle, oh they aren't posh ones, they were a few euros for 6 in a French hypermarché I think. Not had anything removed by anyone though. Even breakages have been few and far between. Most of our stuff is Ikea and was bought to be replaced.

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Left Behind: New coffee percolator. Expensive child's one-piece ski suit. Unopened kitchen knife set.
Taken/lost: Loads of teas spoons and corkscrews.
Damaged: The odd glass, although none of the 20p champagne flutes or tumblers.
Would have expected to lose/break but haven't: Hair dryers. TVs. Soundbar.
Most expensive and time-consuming thing everyone seems to assume we have: Sofa-bed bought in UK that we transported to CH and hauled up the stairs by 3 of us coz' it wouldn't fit in the lift.
Also taken for granted: Wired broadband with decent download speed (pretty unusual for a 1980's building). Unlimited hot water (central boiler vs the teeny ones in many French apartments).

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Left behind...boot warmers, thank you very much. I didnt bother telling the guests as they never acknowledged any pre arrival emails . a camera...I think it was.. which I posted back

A snowHead

We ended up inadvertently taking home a uk adapter plug. Came home attached to one of the kids devices and I knew at wasn't ours. I emailed the owners and told them to take some money from deposit.

In another apartment we broke a wine glass again we told owners when they were checking just before check out and sorting out our deposit. They refused to deduct anything from deposit, we tried insisting.... so we left them some money in apartment.

A snowHead

We once broke a window in an apartment, well, the wind did it really, it blew it shut and it smashed. We rang the owner and a glazier came almost immediately to fix it. Shocked

We were young and poor at the time, with small kids, so were very worried that the owner would charge us a fortune and we'd have no money left for the rest of the holiday. However, when the owner came round to inspect it, it turned out he was worried that we would sue him because it was dangerous Laughing

.

He didn't charge us anything.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I would never deduct from deposits for broken glasses or minor stuff. I've only had to do it once when cleaner arrived and everything was covered in rubbish, kitchen thick with grease and bottles stacked on every surface. Bookshelf emptied and slung in a carrier bag at the bottom of a cupboard and curtain rail broken. Their disrespect for our home hurt most. She had to ask them to remove rubbish bags to the bin 100m away and still filled 5 more. They were only there for a week at most. A sofabed was destroyed more recently but not sure if it was misuse, sheer stupidity or it had just decided it was at the end of its lifespan.

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I have a friend who privately let her aparment in Les Arcs. She had a rule "no pets" someone booked and bought a young puppy with them. The puppy scratched and chewed a lot of the furnishings and did a lot of damage. She withheld the deposit. The renter then took her to the French equivialnt of the small claims court and won (we do not know how) and she had to return the deposit. I'm not sure if she bothers renting it out any more.

We have acually had very little damge or theft from our place, our own friends break more gasses. Judging by the gradual increase of odd glasses I suspect the rental agency just changes them

Going back to sofa beds - how reularly should you change matresses? The rental agency suggested we change the matresses in our apartment. They are only 45 years old. Any thoughts?

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@johnE, our sofa bed mattresses have been changed twice in 18 years. Our double mattress should have been changed this Spring, but replacing the broken sofa bed took up all the spare cash.

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Probably because "no pets" rules are illegal in France! You can't deny someone a rental property on the basis of their pet.

After all it is free

I think our favourite "incident" was the Dutch group who let us know that there was something wrong with our toastie maker because when they used it, it blew the power in the chalet.

We were intrigued at this, as we have never owned a toastie maker.

Turned out they had put cheese and ham sandwiches in a toaster. Not surprised the power blew!

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That's a good point. I once bought a house recently vacated by cats, and fleas separated from their cats were a massive problem.

How does that work in a rental: if someone brings a cat, don't the next visitors get bitten?

I would much prefer a rental which stipulates "no pets". Same for hotel rooms - I would always choose a room which is no smoking, and no pets. My sister had a tiny terraced airbnb cottage in a Worcestershire village for a while - and stipulated no pets. One woman was very insistent on bringing her dog and said she'd leave it in the car. Sister pointed out that in that central village location there was no guarantee she could park right outside the house. She was convinced that the woman would NOT leave the dog in the car some way from the house, and just refused the rental.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I initially offered rentals with pets allowed and naively thought that would be dogs. Someone brought a cat with them (is this a common French practice?) which clawed the arm chairs quite badly and the guests claimed that was just normal wear and tear! No cats or dogs allowed now…

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Technically, it's not legal to restrict pets from rentals in France !!

I am asthmatic animal allergic and at the very least would be in the properties so we never allowed pets.

A snowHead

Interesting. Maeva (part of Pierre et Vacances) who manage 100s of holiday rentals, restrict pets as an option when you sign a mandate with them. For those properties that do allow it, the guests have to pay a fee.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Faust1, anyone bringing an animal to our property (including me) has to pay an extra cleankng fee of 20€ to our cleaning company.
We have had a cat stay on a few occasions. No unwelcome visitors though.

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We've broken our fair share of glasses over the years and once a glass lampshade (stupidly placed over an already limited space top bunk and 8yr smashed head into it when they sat up too quickly in the morning). Always offered to pay for the glasses and host have invariably said no need, however the lampshade lady tried to withhold our full deposit due to the smashed shade, and, can you believe it, the "damage" to the sheets, ie child's blood! We were in a hurry for our flights so just had to leave, but we had made friends with the couple who lived next door and they took our address and promised to "sort it". 2 weeks later our 200eur cash appeared in the post from Austria with a cheery postcode with just "best wishes" written on it!

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I think paying an additional fee is fair enough, even when properties do allow animals. If only to compensate the owners for the bad vibes from neighbours when visitors with dogs let them poo all over the place. I once saw a little rat dog in a silly pink cardigan drop one at the bar in a restaurant. Somewhat lost for the right French words I tapped the owner on the shoulder and said "Madame, votre chien......" and pointed. She got the message. "Petite emmerdeuse" might have got my point across more clearly

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Pets? No and hell no. Virtually guaranteed damage, mostly paid for by the owner (not just damage, but also downtime) regardless of pet deposit stuff.

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And another thread resurrection. Reminds us that people who complain about sub-standard accommodation should learn how to spell it. Toofy Grin

After all it is free

@adithorp, I enjoyed reading it. I suppose it has remained dormant because no one really minds the sofa bed. It’s a big step from no bed to sofa bed for lots of people.

I slept on a sofa bed at my son's on Monday and Tuesday night - unpaid au pair!

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since when did a sofa bed become ok for holiday accomidation

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