Travel with own bed linen and towels, or not?

[MangosteenSoda]

Does anyone prefer to travel with their own bed linen and towels?

Apparently the good people of Belgium do. We arrived at a lovely apartment today and had to organise a linen package (never heard of this before so never thought to ask) because most people just bring their own.

I’ve just wrangled a flat sheet onto a queen bed and done the duvet dance (not a euphemism), it’s just my least favourite household job and I’m rubbish at doing it efficiently.

So mumsnetters, do any of you travelling with linen people walk among us?

Totally mad and such a waste

Not insane to me.
I have a skin problem and will not take the risk.

There is worse things that are bad for the environment.

I take silk/satin pillow cases everywhere when I'm away.
Largely because I'm usually budget and rough pillow cases totally frizz my hair.
Other than that - self catering I'd check.
Hotel, I would expect provided

Single use bedding is up there! Take it home and wash it ffs. You travel with it there

Anything is disposable if you throw it away. Incredibly wasteful.

It depends on the accommodation. When we stayed in Gîtes it was absolutely normal to be expected to clean the property at the end in many properties and it would be made clear in the rental agreement. You usually had the option of paying extra for a cleaner to do it if you wanted. The owner or property manager would walk round and check. It was extremely unusual to find a property with cleaning at the end included.

Same with many holiday lodges and mobile homes on campsites in France. At the end you clean the accommodation and it needs to be spotless. The staff come and check before you can check out!

AirBnB’s vary wildly in their terms and conditions too, and they aren’t always as up front about the list of jobs you need to do before you leave.

Re linen…we usually took the option of hiring bedlinen and towels where it was available. The property details usually state whether linen and towels are included or can/need to be hired. We stayed in one lovely gîte for many years and the duvet in the master bedroom was a seriously heavy winter duvet, must have been 13 tog. We don’t have a duvet that thick on our bed in winter in Scotland. We did take our own summer duvet over with us after the first visit. We do take our own pillows everywhere.

This is absolutely standard in almost all European self catering accommodation. There's usually a box to tick when booking if you want to hire their linen and towels, otherwise you bring your own.

The only disposable bedding I know of is paper (sleeper trains in 2nd class) or non-woven fabric (youth hostels). Neither of which screams “holiday” to me.
Sympathies to PP and their skin condition but I wouldn’t consider it.

Yes we had to pay extra for bedding and towels in a self catering place in France last year. We were only provided with one small towel each and instead of paying another €50 for more towels, went to the local supermarket for towels at €15 each.

I would still use their bedding because bed dimensions are sometimes not the same as uk ones. They can be square not rectangle

This isn’t the experience I’ve had so far in Europe. I’ve been doing AirBnB / self catering since 2019 due to my DS’s needs and this is the first time I’ve come across it. Did a few self catering places around 15 years ago in France and Germany and everything was provided then too.

Everything else is great about this place and I was puzzled rather than irritated though.

I've been living in France for 15 years, lived in Switzerland before that, travel often around western Europe and it's been the norm in most self catering accommodation. I imagine if you're booking Airbnbs from ex-pat Brits then maybe they would have a different way of doing things but not locals.

Not all countries. We've self catered in Spain, Germany, Iceland and Malta and bedding and towels has always been provided as standard. It wouldn't occur to me that it wouldn't be.

I hate low thread count fabric

Now that's got MN written all over it.

Never came across this in France. But I used Airbb not VRBO or other platform. I just looked at the details and noted everything that was included, and it was everything. There was cheese, wine in the fridge, bread in the freezer, cleaning materials (only if we wanted to use them, the cleaning fee was included for departure), tea towels, dishwasher, towels galore, fully made up beds and so on. Just a little 2 bed apartment in Normandy, it was gorgeous BTW, fairly basic but with a super balcony overlooking the harbour. No extra charge for the food and wine, it was a free welcome pack. Lovely.

No way would I cart linen and towels to my holiday destination. Nope!

I have not come across this anywhere in Europe, and I’ve travelled a fair amount.

We do check and yes, linen/towel packages paid extra has definitely creept up in the last couple of years.

I normally pay but then the bed is made. I don't have the space for duvet covers and towels for 3 people, I bring beach towels but that's it.

You may want to add Denmark to your list, I think 85% of all properties we looked at had no linen/towels included and several didn't offer a rental option.

I’ve seen this in lots of places. Any sort of caravan sort of thing - eurocamps etc. Cabins in Norway. A place we rented in Greece didn’t come with towels so we spent ages looking around for somewhere to buy them. Usually it’s specifically noted and sometimes there’s an option to rent.

Throwing away entire sets of towels and linen every holiday is totally bizarre. I can’t work out the logic here at all. Is the linen thrown away daily at home too? Why can’t anything be washed? How many days do you use it? Do you travel with 7 sheets for 7 days? So many questions.

This is shockingly wasteful. I really hope you don't travel much.

No i dont travel very much, i wish i could.

I absolutely hate the smell of cheap, industrial washing powder so I always take my own pillowcase, blanket, microfibre towels and flannels abroad

Yep we found this in Denmark. You also had to note down how much electricity you used from the meter as you left and leave the money on the table.

‘Probably gets washed’ - don’t you know? Maybe the butler does it? Or maybe he doesn’t 🤷‍♀️🤣

I took my own pillow to Australia!

I have to take my own as I’m allergic to fabric conditioner and most washing powders,