@Crookie We have dried towels on radiators and if you stay where there’s an AGA they’re wonderful for drying.
Never had a problem re 2nd person getting a cooler shower.
Hope you’re being shown where water stopcocks and fuse boxes are as I had to turn off water when a pipe sprang a leak and flooded the bathroom and it was under a metal plate in the middle of the road in front of the house!!! Fortunately it was a small village with little traffic!
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No. I am American. My husband is French and we have dual nationality.
We have traveled a great deal staying in a variety of settings; with family and friends, hotels, vacation rentals and as pet sitters.
We have almost always had top sheets in every hotel, home, airbnb in the US - 95% of the time, anyway. In France and Europe it was more like 5% of the time.
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@temba - this is great if you are traveling by car. We often are not.
We also do as you mention - we remove the comforter out of the duvet and use the duvet cover as a top sheet. Yes, duvets can be too hot! But sleeping with nothing on us is impossible.
We struggle to comprehend the lack of a top sheet. Seems so simple and so much less laundry!
Funny how what seems logical to some isn’t to others. Vive la difference! lol
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@crookie, the two points about a top sheet and a washcloth are so funny as we just came from Holiday (not petsitting though) and the AIRBNB we stayed in the first night did not supply either. This is not the first time either (this is in the US). I am beginning to think this is the norm rather than not and we just haven’t caught up with the trends yet.
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Different courses for different horses! I’m a Brit and was brought up sleeping directly under a duvet with no top sheet. Its what I’m used to and feel much more comfortable with! I find having a top sheet inconvenient- it gets tangled & in the way- i just find an unnecessary extra layer! In the event I am too hot at night (rare in the UK!) I would simply remove the duvet out of its cover and use the cover like a sheet instead.
In places/countries where a top sheet is used I’ve sometimes found the duvet cover itself is not freshly washed! That for me is a no go! Some have mentioned a saving in laundry but I find washing a top sheet or washing a duvet cover makes no difference to me!
In the end- most important-whatever bedding combo I am offered, I expect it all to be freshly washed for me! 
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Its very much an American things as well - as are wash cloths. Both are rare in Europe.
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@lockstar
So interesting! If I’m too hot in the middle of the night the last thing I want to hassle with is pulling a comforter out of duvet at 2 AM! I like my top sheet VERY tightly tucked in - not loose like a comforter.
Washing a top sheet is easier than a duvet cover - just yank it off the bed and throw it in - takes little space in the washer…and extra steps to stuff the comforter back into the duvet cover and getting it to be evenly distributed inside the cover…sometimes it winds up very lumpy is some areas. Maybe I’m just lazy. I like simple and fast.
We have both at home - top sheet and then comforters inside duvet covers and I can tell you the top sheet gets washed much more often as I hate stuffing our king comforter into the king duvet cover! It takes 2 people to do it well. lol.
If I were traveling by car I might carry top sheets with me if I know the bed dimensions…but we often are flying.
As you say…different strokes. lol
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I’m from the U.K. and have never heard of a top sheet. What is it?
Every home in the U.K. will normally just have a fitted sheet on the mattress and then a duvet that has a duvet cover.
People wash the duvet covers regular, it’s not difficult and just goes in the tumble dryer after washing.
Also most people in the U.K. would never use a face cloth or hand cloth we have hand towels. It’s something I’ve noticed in Malaysia there’s always these tiny little towels by the sink which we never use.
Anyway just letting you know as this is more about cultural difference and expectations on your part not what HOs in the U.K. would ever think to offer.
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If you have trouble putting a duvet cover back on, try the Burrito Method .
Yes, cultural differences is part of the whole experience, this is true!
The tiny little towels you may have seen are likely a face wash cloth and not a towel. It is to wash one’s face, not dry it. In France they are often pockets called “gloves” that you put on your hand to wash your face but in the US they look like teeny towels. I carry a French style one with me when I travel.
Personally I don’t think it is just a cultural thing.
I am from the UK and always sleep with a top sheet and also pack one to take to sits if we are travelling in the car.
I wash my duvet cover regularly but not as regularly as the sheets and pillow cases. I don’t own a tumble dryer.
I use face cloths for washing (sometimes known as a flannel) and hand towels for drying.
I wouldn’t expect a homeowner to provide either a top sheet or wash cloths, that is my personal choice.
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Translations needed for this Brit @carpediem16!
Is a “comforter” the bag of feathers inside a duvet cover? ‘Cos in UK we call that a “duvet” (hence the duvet cover, you put the duvet into the duvet cover!)
I’m a Brit born & bred @Enjaybee and I use a top sheet under the duvet for ease of washing reasons. Also, the whole of Britain used flannel facecloths when I was a child in the 60s & 70s!
@Enjaybee the UK home I am sitting in at the moment has a top sheet, that goes between the duvet and the humans. It’s the 5th sit and the first home we have had this…a welcome change. This was not a criticism about the UK, merely my offering about things I wish home owners knew. Like the face washers aka face cloth / flannel / tiny towels. I’m a child of the 60s and had it drummed in to me as a kid by Mum at bath time to use the face washer “and don’t forget to wash behind your ears!”. My face doesn’t feel clean unless I use a washer 
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I’m a Brit & Canadian and use a top sheet. I travel with a white (it’s a thing of mine) super kingsize flat sheet which I can use doubled, it acts as a bottom and top sheet.
The night before leaving a sit if used I can launder the bedding provided and in the morning remake the bed and take my sheet with me.
Many apologies @Snowbird … the subject of sheets and towels has already been widely discussed 
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@Angela_L , you just couldn’t resist adding your two cents worth, could you, just to keep the topic rolling? 
OK, I’ve stayed quiet but I’ll add a little more.
@Saltrams a comforter is fluffier than a blanket but not as fluffy as a duvet. They usually drape down the sides of the bed, rather than laying on top, and may be used along with blankets. They don’t have a removable cover. They are often bought in sets - sheets, comforter, pillow covers (see photo below). They are more common in North American homes, compared to duvets. In North America where duvets are used by those without European backgrounds, many people still drape the duvet over the sides, rather than just on the bed surface. I found that out when buying a duvet by bed size in Canada.
As for ‘tiny towels’ (love that descriptor 
), I’d say in North America they’re more likely to be called washcloths or facecloths, but are used to wash far more of the body than merely the face … hence the reason I always bring my own, even if they are provided. Just my preference and they take up very little space when travelling.
I have my own take on sheets, but I’ll pass on that topic, Angela. 
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I watched a Youtube video that didn’t work but hubby and I have finally perfected our duvet skills 
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That’s genius! Thanks for sharing this @mars!
Kitchen wise the first thing I usually want to know is if there is facilities to make coffee, and does the HO mind me using their coffee (and sometimes filters) or shall I go buy some. Sometimes when you arrive late to a sit it’s very comforting to know it’s ok to get up the next morning and make a coffee from what’s available in the kitchen. So would be great if that’s in the House Guide.
Put in the House Guide where all the cleaning products are, where the spare toilet rolls are, washing detergent if they want towels and sheets washed - I hate feeling like I’m rummaging through people’s cupboards. If the hoover has any quirks etc so the end of sit clean is smooth I went to hoover at the end of a sit once and it wasn’t working (think it needed new filters) spent ages on youtube trying to see if I could get it working.
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Hi @Crookie. As someone from the UK I’ve no idea about top sheets? What are they?
A good tog duvet for winter normally works great in the UK.
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@richten1 if you scroll through this whole topic you’ll find the answer to your question as well as folks from the UK who do use a top sheet.
In most US beds, and many in the EU and apparently even in the UK (we had them when we did a pet sit RIchmond, UK), there is a fitted sheet on the mattress, then a flat sheet (also called a top sheet) over that and THEN a duvet or a comforter (a comforter is like duvet but does not have a cover over it).
Many of us do not like to have just the heavy duvet without a sheet between us and the duvet. If you are too hot then you have nothing covering you at all. Also, a flat or top sheet is so much faster and easier to throw in the laundry every time than dealing with a duvet and cover (in the opinion of some on here including me).
In the US especially, but other countries too, sheets are sold AS A SET of two. A fitted sheet and a flat (or top) sheet. You usually don’t even find them sold separately at the store.
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