Choosing the correct bed valance
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It is the one bed covering product that can continually upset housekeeping staff, hotel management and, most importantly, the paying guest.
Q: Why is it, this seemingly basic bed furnishing product can cause so much grief to so many and bring down the overall presentation of a hotel room?
A: Too many people involved in some form of supply to this industry do not understand what is required to produce a properly fitting bed valance using the correct fabrics, which must give many years of hassle-free neat and stylish bed presentation. Some of these people do have a certain amount of textile experience, however the hotel bed valance has almost nothing in common with the cheaper retail style of product and it can be an expensive mistake in more ways than one when not chosen correctly.
Decisions on hotel room décor quite often involve a whole series of people. These can include architects and specifiers, interior designers, FF&E operators, accommodation management and executive housekeepers. In most cases the housekeeping personnel know more about the requirements of the bed valance than all of the other aforementioned people. However, fabric choice and product design are most often decided by people who are after a look, and sometimes a price, without fully understanding the function of the product.
Fabric: The fabrics chosen are very important because they perform a different function to most fabrics used in hotel furnishings. The fabric must be heavy duty with a tight construction and it should have a high abrasive resistance to cater for pull-along luggage and foot traffic. It should also be washable for boot polish scuffs and to reduce maintenance costs, whilst also being FR where applicable and non-creasing for that perfect presentation for every guest.
Style: The older style pleated bed valance is not so often seen in recent years. One of the negatives with this style was its inability to always sit evenly on the bed base and, if it were pulled slightly to one side or end, it would then become caught in the bed castors during the cleaning process. This would eventually shorten the life of the valance and cause it to look drab and ill-fitting in too short a time – not to mention the extra time wasted by housekeeping.
The picket quilted valance style is becoming the standard for discerning accommodation properties. This simple, yet very neat finish, fits in with almost any hotel room décor, from semi traditional to ultra modern commercial and anything in between. A picket quilted valance, when manufactured correctly and properly colour coordinated, should be that silent well tailored bed accessory that tastefully blends in with the whole guest room décor and does not stand out like white socks exposed with short dark suit trousers.
The bed base deck lining should never be exposed, even when guests draw back the bed covers, so a courtesy flange minimum 8cm wide in the matching valance fabric is always included. The valance height should cover half of the castor for ease of floor vacuuming and bed mobility. This automatically takes the eye off the fully exposed castor which is a trait of beds with covered bases that in most cases, are not trying to compete with hotels requiring the more professional look of a proper bed valance. The picket quilted style is only made four sided, to ensure a snug fit (not tight) because the quilting has a degree of give that helps the valance slide over the base and stay there at all times, even during sheet replacement.
Housekeeping staff are under enough pressure to keep to a time limit on room maintenance. A shabby bed valance is not something that can be made to look good, no matter how much extra time is wasted on it.
Hotel guests are definitely more discerning today, with much higher expectations of presentation and cleanliness in the choice of properties they wish to stay in. Something very obvious, like a shabby bed valance, can be the catalyst for them to be looking for other areas in the room and maybe the whole accommodation complex, where they can be more critical of the standard that is not up to scratch. Thus another customer is lost.
Accommodation managers are easily frustrated with the knowledge that their hotel standard and overall room presentation is being let down by something as simple as the incorrect choice of bed valances and the associated costs in replacing them. They are also very aware of the expectations of guests as per the above.
