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ChrisandShelley

ChrisandShelley

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We haven't had a child-specific policy since we took over, just that we can't accommodate children under 6. However, we have received word that sometime during this year, we might have an issue with a returning guest. This is prompted an ongoing discussion and disagreement between the two of us. I've searched for posts on here and found some helpful information, but diverse opinions.
I think we are going to stick with the 6 and older rule with the following policies. We'll have these posted on our Our Policies page and also send it out when people book with kids. Opinions?
Child Policies
The Innkeepers at the Wildflower welcome well-behaved children of responsible adults. Our home is a near-century-old historic building and not designed for the safety of unaccompanied young children. Also, we want all of our guests to feel safe in our home and enjoy their experience.
Due to insurance and liability reasons, we cannot allow children younger than 6 years old.
If you plan to stay at the Wildflower Bed & Breakfast On the Square with accompanying children, please read and adhere to the following policies:
Children 6 to 12 years old:
  • Must be supervised by an adult or adolescent (14 or older) at all times anywhere on the property. This includes in-room, common areas, front porch, and any area outside on the grounds.
  • Must be accompanied to the buffet by an adult or adolescent at least 14 years old.
  • Rambunctious behavior is not allowed. This includes (but not limited to) yelling/screaming, running, throwing things, tantrums, or any disruptive behavior.
  • Good behavior is especially important during breakfast and breakfast entertainment. If a child becomes unruly (as even the best tend to do from time to time), please remove them from the dining room. We’ll be glad to hold some breakfast back for you and them.
Children 12 to 18 years old:
  • The rambunctious behavior rule as stated above also applies.
  • Respect for other guests is an absolute must. Teasing, gesturing, or rude behavior is not allowed.
  • Profanity is absolutely prohibited anywhere on the property.
  • Mobile phones and tablets must be placed on silent when used in common areas.
  • Music on headphones must not be able to be heard by other guests.
Failure to adhere to these policies will result in you and your family being asked to leave with no refund. Damages will be charged to the credit card on file.
If you have any questions about our child policies (or anything!) please send us an email at [email protected].
 
sorry, I doubt guests will even read this..and who is going to be the enforcer??? What will you do when they break your rules? I think you are going too far out on a limb with these policies.
How do you market your place? Is it for couples or families? If families, then I would not bother putting down a list of policies. Just say children must be supervised by adults at all times.
Better yet, no children under the age of 18 would be and was my policy.
 
We are a 4 story victorian - not a child friendly property - but have had no problems with under 6's - pretty much the only problems we have every had was 1 child was a bit over active but parents kept him under control and 1 or 2 cried during breakfast but parents took them outside - figure that's a heck of a lot less trouble then adults!
 
I feel your pain. I kind of started out as a no children destination. Then I had someone from the UK book me for four nights and told me about their baby during our correspondence. Being new in the business, I loved the fact that I had someone book a four night stay as I was getting tired of my one nighters. I just crossed my fingers.
They ended up being the most delightful guests. He turned out to be one of the deans at Oxford Univ. and his wife was a brilliant scholar as well. They were so good with their daughter (eight months) and she was the centre of attention at every breakfast. Everyone loved her. And when she fussed, because honestly, she was a baby, they sensibly took her to their room and you coudn't hear a peep. Have had a few babies since then and they've all been fine.
Second case in point: I've ended up becoming a favourite of the hockey crowd, and that includes their kids-playing and non playing. I had visions of screaming, unruly kids playing sock hockey in the hallway or crashing down on my couches. Hasn't happened and their parents and all involved have been totally respectful.
All that being said, I have a couple upstairs at the moment that have never stayed at a B&B before and have already messed up the remote in their room (they think if they push every button, it will magically reset itself), brought food in with them and are eating it in their room even after I suggested that they would be more comfortable eating in my dining room (sigh) and they're lying on the bed in the dark with their door wide open watching TV while my others guests are trying not to look in their room while they walk by.
You can make rules but just try and enforce them without looking like a killjoy. You could be an adult's only destination but there will always be that fine line about the age restriction. Best of luck.
 
We take children under 7 with prior written approval only. The parents ask us, we tell them that we allow it at their discretion but that if they disturb other guests that they will responsible for the consequences and if that means that we have to refund the other guest, then we will ask them to pay for that. So far all have understood and we haven't had a problem.
As a general rule, we find that European children and well behaved and quiet. I'll take the 5th on North American children.
 
Because we are small and off the beaten path, we do not always have a full-house (sigh sort of - we DO enjoy having only 2 couples). We welcome children but they MUST bring at least one well-behaved parent or guardian with them. Twice we have had fussy babies - only ones in-house as it was off-season both times.
The "child" that was the most problem was "my" problem - I wanted to slap her silly for the way she talked to her Mother who was paying for everything (horse show travelers) and she was 21.
I had fussy eaters - of course it was probably due to Mother informing me on arrival the kids were fussy eaters and they could not make a liar of her. It was one of the times I DID say something - I told the kids I was lucky that my Mother made sure none of us would ever go hungry. If we said we did not like something she took it away but we got nothing else for breakfast. Lunch - it reappeared. But we don't like that. It disappeared nut we got nothing else. By dinner we were so hungry we would eat anything and do to this day.
We used to have a doll sitting on a shelf - at kid eye level - (I mean with legs hanging over) and no kid ever touched it. Looked at it but never touched. I had a non-breakable doll that I gave them saying this is yours to play with WHILE YOU ARE HERE. Worked like a charm.
Funny thing is we rarely get kids any more. I gave most of the dolls to Toys For Tots a couple years ago. Just had a few - gave 40+ two years in a row and still have some.
 
Ok, due to popular opinion, here's what I'm going to put instead:
The Innkeepers at the Wildflower welcome well-behaved children of responsible adults over the age of 6. Our home is a near-century-old historic building and not designed for the safety of unaccompanied young children. Also, we want all of our guests to feel safe in our home and enjoy their experience. Please supervise your children and ensure they are quiet and respectful of other guests who wish to relax in a peaceful environment.
I thought about mentioning the taser, but that would be a bit much, hmmm?
 
EmptyNest said:
sorry, I doubt guests will even read this..and who is going to be the enforcer??? What will you do when they break your rules? I think you are going too far out on a limb with these policies.
How do you market your place? Is it for couples or families? If families, then I would not bother putting down a list of policies. Just say children must be supervised by adults at all times.
Better yet, no children under the age of 18 would be and was my policy..
Click to expand...
Agree. Rules, especially long-winded rules, are ignored by the very people for whom you need them. If you want to take families, make sure you have space for them to be annoying on occasion and that other guests won't be caught by surprise. When trouble starts, step in quickly.
Otherwise, just no kids.
 
Too much. Something that simply says children must be 6 or older and accompanied by an adult at all times. Stop there. You can mention your insurance regs but I've never heard of such a thing limiting the age at a hotel so be prepared for push back.
We used to say antiques and age of house, blah, blah, but it's so off putting to ramble on like your house is precious.
Make sure your state regulations allow you to set age limits.
You do not have to take repeat guests who no longer fit your model. We had to develop a 'repeat speech' for those who did not fit who wanted to tell us off. Mostly it came down to, "the PO's could not handle the stress, they retired, these are our operating procedures so we do not burn out in 3 years the way they did. Here's the name of another inn that may suit your needs better."
 
2cat_lady said:
I feel your pain. I kind of started out as a no children destination. Then I had someone from the UK book me for four nights and told me about their baby during our correspondence. Being new in the business, I loved the fact that I had someone book a four night stay as I was getting tired of my one nighters. I just crossed my fingers.
They ended up being the most delightful guests. He turned out to be one of the deans at Oxford Univ. and his wife was a brilliant scholar as well. They were so good with their daughter (eight months) and she was the centre of attention at every breakfast. Everyone loved her. And when she fussed, because honestly, she was a baby, they sensibly took her to their room and you coudn't hear a peep. Have had a few babies since then and they've all been fine.
Second case in point: I've ended up becoming a favourite of the hockey crowd, and that includes their kids-playing and non playing. I had visions of screaming, unruly kids playing sock hockey in the hallway or crashing down on my couches. Hasn't happened and their parents and all involved have been totally respectful.
All that being said, I have a couple upstairs at the moment that have never stayed at a B&B before and have already messed up the remote in their room (they think if they push every button, it will magically reset itself), brought food in with them and are eating it in their room even after I suggested that they would be more comfortable eating in my dining room (sigh) and they're lying on the bed in the dark with their door wide open watching TV while my others guests are trying not to look in their room while they walk by.
You can make rules but just try and enforce them without looking like a killjoy. You could be an adult's only destination but there will always be that fine line about the age restriction. Best of luck..
Click to expand...
Guests with door open - I've walked by and closed doors when guests are 'too relaxed' ie - in bed!
Had one woman yell at me. "Who are you???" I told her I was the owner and she could not leave the door open while she was in bed. End of conversation.
 
ChrisandShelley said:
Ok, due to popular opinion, here's what I'm going to put instead:
The Innkeepers at the Wildflower welcome well-behaved children of responsible adults over the age of 6. Our home is a near-century-old historic building and not designed for the safety of unaccompanied young children. Also, we want all of our guests to feel safe in our home and enjoy their experience. Please supervise your children and ensure they are quiet and respectful of other guests who wish to relax in a peaceful environment.
I thought about mentioning the taser, but that would be a bit much, hmmm?.
Click to expand...
Grammar police here - your sentence structure implies the parents must be over the age of 6.
Skip the whole responsible parents. They are or they aren't. And everyone's limits are different.
You are implying that only children misbehave. If you haven't read my stories...
 
Morticia said:
ChrisandShelley said:
Ok, due to popular opinion, here's what I'm going to put instead:
The Innkeepers at the Wildflower welcome well-behaved children of responsible adults over the age of 6. Our home is a near-century-old historic building and not designed for the safety of unaccompanied young children. Also, we want all of our guests to feel safe in our home and enjoy their experience. Please supervise your children and ensure they are quiet and respectful of other guests who wish to relax in a peaceful environment.
I thought about mentioning the taser, but that would be a bit much, hmmm?.
Click to expand...
Grammar police here - your sentence structure implies the parents must be over the age of 6.
Skip the whole responsible parents. They are or they aren't. And everyone's limits are different.
You are implying that only children misbehave. If you haven't read my stories...
.
Click to expand...
But they must be!!! We can't have parents stay here that are younger than 6!!! Egads!!
Good call, thanks for the catch. I'll do some changing.
 
One thing I've learned after all these years of innkeeping is that I don't have to justify my rules. If guests don't like the few rules we have, then we're not a good match and they should look elsewhere. I know it sounds harsh, but one of the goals of having happy guests is to make sure they're a good match for what we provide.
Here is what we say "Children under 12 years old are appropriate only in the Cottage."
We're fortunate to have a separate building but if I didn't I would just say "Children under 12 are not appropriate at XYZ b&b".
 
Breakfast Diva said:
One thing I've learned after all these years of innkeeping is that I don't have to justify my rules. If guests don't like the few rules we have, then we're not a good match and they should look elsewhere. I know it sounds harsh, but one of the goals of having happy guests is to make sure they're a good match for what we provide.
Here is what we say "Children under 12 years old are appropriate only in the Cottage."
We're fortunate to have a separate building but if I didn't I would just say "Children under 12 are not appropriate at XYZ b&b"..
Click to expand...
We've got two rooms where kids can be kids. It's amazing to me how many guests refuse to book those rooms on their own. They call. They want a king bed. They want a room on the first floor.The kid sleeps with them. They don't want two beds. They don't want, they don't want, they don't want.
Gomez backs down. I tell them another place they can stay.
I need to be confident, as much as it is possible, that my guests, all of them, are comfortable.
Just this past weekend we had a family here. Kid was maybe 10. Dad is standing in the dining room around 7:30 AM. Bang! Crash! Over our heads. Dad says, "oh, she must be up."
I don't want this noise over the heads of other guests who are still sleeping!
Kid also had a meltdown and stomped up the stairs and slammed the door. Can't hear that on the other side of the house. Could definitely hear it if we let kids stay in the main part of the building.
We do what we can to make the stay pleasant for as many guests as possible. But I draw the line at more than 2 guests in rooms not so designated.
 
BTW - you can try these things - a small gift for the child (under age 10 or so we do a stuffed animal), make friends by entrusting the kid with the room key and immediately learning kid's name (school teacher trick) or just glower at the kid (ie - scare the bejeepers out of him) .
 
Now let me say first- that I have put my foot in my mouth a few times in the past, so I am inclined to hold up and ask...
What kind of guests do you get?
A policy like what you posted makes it seem as if you are one block from Sugar High Amusement Park with hundreds of crazed kids running wild through the streets and your b&b.
Do you have guests like that?
 
Here's my rewrite...
The Innkeepers at the Wildflower welcome you. Our home is a near-century-old historic building and designed to give all of our guests a timeless experience they'll enjoy. We happily accept children aged 6 years or more. Please note that children must be accompanied by an adult at all times while on property and respect the quiet and privacy of others. If you have any questions about our policy, please contact us prior to arrival and we'll do our best to make your visit the best it can be.
 
happykeeper said:
Now let me say first- that I have put my foot in my mouth a few times in the past, so I am inclined to hold up and ask...
What kind of guests do you get?
A policy like what you posted makes it seem as if you are one block from Sugar High Amusement Park with hundreds of crazed kids running wild through the streets and your b&b.
Do you have guests like that?.
Click to expand...
I stopped reading after the first few 'don't's'. Glad I went back to look again after your comment.
Holy cow! No, no no, you can't say all of that to guests. No. If you expect the worst that's what you'll get. Even after 10 years I'm still surprised when a guest is a jerk. They are 99% wonderful, don't talk to them this way!
"Children over the age of 6 are welcome at (your inn). Please be advised we do not have toys and games so come prepared! Children must be with their parents at all times. Please do not leave your child alone in the room, common spaces, or outside."
 
Morticia said:
happykeeper said:
Now let me say first- that I have put my foot in my mouth a few times in the past, so I am inclined to hold up and ask...
What kind of guests do you get?
A policy like what you posted makes it seem as if you are one block from Sugar High Amusement Park with hundreds of crazed kids running wild through the streets and your b&b.
Do you have guests like that?.
Click to expand...
I stopped reading after the first few 'don't's'. Glad I went back to look again after your comment.
Holy cow! No, no no, you can't say all of that to guests. No. If you expect the worst that's what you'll get. Even after 10 years I'm still surprised when a guest is a jerk. They are 99% wonderful, don't talk to them this way!
"Children over the age of 6 are welcome at (your inn). Please be advised we do not have toys and games so come prepared! Children must be with their parents at all times. Please do not leave your child alone in the room, common spaces, or outside."
.
Click to expand...
the thing is this as well - irresponsible parents will not read any of that, will bring the kids anyway and expect that you deal with them all when they turn up on the door step. The responsible ones you don't have to worry about.
 
happykeeper said:
Here's my rewrite...
The Innkeepers at the Wildflower welcome you. Our home is a near-century-old historic building and designed to give all of our guests a timeless experience they'll enjoy. We happily accept children aged 6 years or more. Please note that children must be accompanied by an adult at all times while on property and respect the quiet and privacy of others. If you have any questions about our policy, please contact us prior to arrival and we'll do our best to make your visit the best it can be..
Click to expand...
noPE...Still too wordy. Just state the facts. We cannot accept children under age 6. Children must be supervised at all times by their parents.
 

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