Final Walk-through with guests... best way to check-out

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Casa Carby

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Hello....
I've been wondering how you do your final walk-through of your rooms/home... do you walk with the guests or without? More importantly, aside from asking them about their stay/ how it could have been better etc. How do you broach the topic of "broken/damaged" items... it seems like 50% of our guests will be honest and say up front, "hey sorry but we broke a glass/ decoration" but the other 50% never say anything and we only see it after they are gone, hence unable to take away some of the secuirty deposit. Do any of you ask outright if anything is broken? It seems so forward... is there a nice way of approaching this topic? Any help/ advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Personally, if I found anything broken - more than the normal wear & tear that is - I would take photos with a date/time stamp as proof of damage before I did anything else.
THEN decide is it worth the time and trouble to pursue for compensation. Is the principle enough to make it worth the time and trouble? (were they nice people or twits?)
 
Nathalie, you certainly didn't ask but thought I'd pass along that I clicked and clicked on
Make a Reservation, View the Rooms, and Latest Promos on your website and was frustrated that nothing happened. Took me a while to realize you have to click the photos ABOVE the text to go to the other pages.
There may be prospective guests as dense as I am who will just give up and search elsewhere when this happens. Maybe you can fix it where clicking the text as well as the photos will take you to the other pages.
 
Damage other than what happens as part of just doing business rarely happens. In the 12 years of innkeeping I have only had to charge a guest once.
Is your place a b&b or a vacation rental? From your website, it looks like it's a vacation rental and you do charge a $500 security deposit. Don't give them their security deposit back until you inspect the property. I would not do an inspection with the guests there, but if there's damage out of the ordinary, take pictures and deduct it from their security deposit.
 
Personally, if I found anything broken - more than the normal wear & tear that is - I would take photos with a date/time stamp as proof of damage before I did anything else.
THEN decide is it worth the time and trouble to pursue for compensation. Is the principle enough to make it worth the time and trouble? (were they nice people or twits?).
gillumhouse said:
I would take photos with a date/time stamp as proof of damage...
OOO. Good idea to set the camera to put date/time stamp!
 
It sounds like you do vacation rentals and not B&B the way most of us do. I never ask the guests if they broke or damaged something.
So, if you have collected a damage deposit I would say to the guest, 'Shall we do a walk thru on your room/cottage/suite and verify everything is as you found it so I can refund your security deposit before you leave?' Bring along your camera just in case.
If they don't want to, then say you'll refund their cc after YOU do the walk thru.
 
Hello,
Thanks for the responses... and the great suggestions. To clarify, we are a B&V (bed & venue) not a vacation rental.... as we have a number of photoshoots/commercials at our home throughout the year. We do not offer breakfast. We do offer a private chef who can come in and prepare all/any food necessary. However, we do reside on premise, we do check-ins at insane hours of the day/night, we are on call 24-hours, we act as a concierge and book restaurants/tours/ We personally maintain the grounds/pool/ and provide the added security. We do not just hand over the key to our home and walk away as a typical vacation rental. This is a round-the-clock job for us :)
 
Hello,
Thanks for the responses... and the great suggestions. To clarify, we are a B&V (bed & venue) not a vacation rental.... as we have a number of photoshoots/commercials at our home throughout the year. We do not offer breakfast. We do offer a private chef who can come in and prepare all/any food necessary. However, we do reside on premise, we do check-ins at insane hours of the day/night, we are on call 24-hours, we act as a concierge and book restaurants/tours/ We personally maintain the grounds/pool/ and provide the added security. We do not just hand over the key to our home and walk away as a typical vacation rental. This is a round-the-clock job for us :).
Casa Carby said:
Hello,
Thanks for the responses... and the great suggestions. To clarify, we are a B&V (bed & venue) not a vacation rental.... as we have a number of photoshoots/commercials at our home throughout the year. We do not offer breakfast. We do offer a private chef who can come in and prepare all/any food necessary. However, we do reside on premise, we do check-ins at insane hours of the day/night, we are on call 24-hours, we act as a concierge and book restaurants/tours/ We personally maintain the grounds/pool/ and provide the added security. We do not just hand over the key to our home and walk away as a typical vacation rental. This is a round-the-clock job for us :)
Just to be clear though, the house is rented as a whole, travelers do not rent each individual room like a b&b, correct?
 
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