For the bandwidth or firewall challenged, these drapes have large grommets at the upper edge. A wood rod just smaller than the grommets threads through them.
There are no cords or other mechanism. Due to the fit of the grommets on the rod, and the fact that it is wood and not totally smooth, they bind instead of slide. Boy do they bind.
Fortunately I am tall and can reach the 7-8 feet up to coax the grommets along the rod, but it is a slow and aggravating process, at least to close the drapes. Opening isn’t so bad as the grommets align to the rod as the drapes accordion fold.
If this is the way to do it, then I guess normal/short people have to stand on a chair. It is a hotel room, and leaving them open is really not an option, as I don’t want to be responsible for the havoc that would ensue if my nakedness were put on such display. The maid apparently has no issue with opening them each day…and the hotelier has a dog that comes to visit now and then, so when I am clothed I want them open anyway.
It seems that perhaps grabbing high and pulling at a slight upward angle might help, but if not, and if I weren’t able to reach them, I think I’d improvise some sort of stick. It seems that the problem is that there is increased friction from the forces going perpendicular to the direction of movement - if you were able to manipulate them directly at the top, it’d make the going easier.
I have that same style but mine are on a metal bar. I still have the same problem since the bar is one of those telescoping ones that fits in different size windows and it hangs up and the transition between the two poles. I, as you, just reach up near the top and slide the actual grommets over the transition.
OK thanks. I could ask the staff, but this would only lead to frustration for me, and entertainment for them. I speak no French, and they speak very little English. The Hotel is teetering on the edge of losing it’s 3 star rating (though the kitchen deserves at least 4) and has a vaguely Faulty Towers vibe.
They are perhaps using them wrong, I have generally seen that type of drapery used as a framing drapery with an underlayer that is designed to be closed, though I personally like them framing roman shades.
Some years ago I worked in a hotel being remodeled. Each room had a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall drape mounted on a rod. One end of the drape had a three-foot-long, 3/8 inch diameter aluminum rod attached at the top to pull it open or closed. It worked nicely.
