Just had our first British clients in maybe 10 years leave (apart from one french resident British couple who no longer count as true Brits!) . Two elderly couples from Northampton.
We have been friendly throughout their stay, exchanged pleasantries and answered any questions they had. As we always like to check they are happy and don’t need anything. Saw them last night in passing and no mention of the time they wanted to leave.
Popped out to the bins just now and they’ve gone! No goodbye and here are the keys, nothing! They have at least washed up their breakfast things, but no effort otherwise. Beds not stripped, towels not in washing basket. Lots of things in the wrong places (chairs, cushions not just a teaspoon in wrong drawer) or just scattered about.
Most of our clients will automatically strip the beds, put most things back where they found them, amd say goodbye!
I’m not sure there’s as strong a consensus on what constitutes social skills and good manners in the UK and some people are just extraordinarily rude.
It’s not called filer à l’anglaise for nothing.
Yes but for English people it means to be cowardly and for French people while it can have that meaning it’s generally used for to slope off without going around and saying goodbye like a polite person.
I know exactly what you mean, and I’m so happy that we dont have to deal with all that crap anymore. The Dutch can come across as being quite rude, whether they mean to be or not. Parisiens just are
I suppose their argument is that they have paid for a holiday and why should they clean up. You have to wonder what their homes are like to be honest as most people would do those few jobs naturally and leave the place more or less as they found it, I know I would. I don’t think brits are any ruder than any other race, depends how you define rude because to one person, rudeness may not be that at all and to others it is the norm. I used to housekeep for Parisiennes, one part of the family were very good and cleared up before leaving and then the youngest son and his family were a total nightmare, didn’t even turn the washer or drier off, empty the kitchen bin etc and it might be a couple of days before I went to the house again. That to me was rude, but normal to them and even the owner and his wife were tired of going on at them.
The very few times we’ve rented here, there’s been a “rule book” in the property, outlining everything, lots of useful info… and detailing how we should leave the place.
Our Host checked with us, to return our security cheque or whatever one calls it these days. If we hadn’t done as laid out in the rule-book, sums would have been deducted from our “security”… thus guests did not leave unseen by the Host unless they were prepared to lose all their security payment…
That was all years ago… and things might well have changed… but, back then, it made sense to both sides…
We have a lot of Dutch, and I find them direct rather than rude. But yes, the “citadines” are in their own group!
So strange. And yes (for Stella) our book of information has a sheet asking politely that people empty bins/fridge, strip beds place in washing basket, return furniture from where it was originally etc. Don’t expect or ask them to clean, but jsut be basically tidy!!
I’m not sure about one culture being less polite than another but do think there is a general deterioration of what we used to define as social etiquettes.
I suspect that hostelry guests now assume all services such as bed making and bin emptying, are covered in the price of room charge unless specifically stated. I’m not sure how people behave in their own homes but it does seem that picking up used towels would be barest common courtesy but perhaps not these days. Thanking a friendly host at the end of stay, or leaving a little note if departing very early, would be good manners but is I fear no longer the norm.
Things change over time. When I was a child, a tip would be left for the room maid at the end of a stay based on the number of days when staying in a private home (for staff). Having long been a practice of the well heeled, the custom continued for hotel stays, no matter how luxurious. Still done in some places.
Could be worse. Some hotels in China still have everything glued down - lamps, pictures, ashtrays… and even then the customers try to leave with bedding and furniture.
A paying guest is not the same as as a free guest. Everyone travels now and it’s a filtering flow.
Directness for one is in your face rudeness to another. There may also be a social and experiential expectation for accommodation - if they don’t normally use gites or chambre d’hote then they may see it as a hotel. And some are just socially inept.
100% this, people just don’t give a s**t anymore. Rather than look upon themselves as guests in someone else’s home renters now take the attitude that they own the place from the moment they arrive and behave accordingly.
Whenever we encountered poor behaviour we always asked ourselves ‘would they behave like that at home?’, but as the years rolled on we came to the conclusion that ‘yes’ they probably did.
It’s in our contract but we gave up bothering asking unless a family with umpteen children. Small things we just reckon are the name of the game (broken plates, stained towel) and anything significant would be an insurance claim. Normally, when we people leave we ask them directly if anything needs replacing and our experience is that they are honest.
But we’re not a hotel, so don’t rent by room but whole place.
We used to do the same, but I could write a book about the dishonesty and associated bullshit. Once it was my fault their children scribbled on the walls FFS
I had a friend who rented her house out for holidays here in France and once year the place was literally trashed by a ‘very pleasant family’. The place was an absolute mess with house furniture taken out to the pool, toilets not flushed………the list goes on. Certainly put me off ever getting involved in doing something similar with my place, before I moved permanently.
We have only hadtwo problemswith Brits. One bariatric woman who pulled the loo awayfrom the wall and a Vicar who broke a vase when opening the window and madem no offer to replace it.
But filer a l’anglaise is to take Fremch leave!
