Room Book Examples?

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MidwestBB

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Hi Everyone!
We have a B&B in Minnesota that has two large suites. We have found that we spend too much time showing guests how to use things like the mini-split air conditioner/heater, whirlpool tub or the electronic door locks. While we will always have to explain some things, we just have way too many things to go over and we feel like its a little off-putting for guests.

I'm going to write a book for the room(s) that has all that information along with things to do, places to eat, etc. I was wondering if anyone has an example book that you would care to share? If you are able to help I can share my email address so that you don't have to post anything publicly. I have a writing background and I do graphics, etc., so I'm mainly just wanting some good ideas to help me get started.
Thanks!
Dave
 
Welcome Dave.
We have a homemade book. Front page is a welcome and the wifi password along with emergency #s.
Next page is rules and info on breakfast and the common areas.
After that we have our breakfast menu, restaurant info and some history of the inn.
 
I bought 10x10" photo albums. We have a welcome page, a list of things guests should know: breakfast time, where to find things, how to contact us, etc. The next few pages are the top 10 things to do for a variety of things: kids, outdoors, rainy days, etc. A list of local info like churches, gas stations, post office.
We leave this on the bed. On top of that we have a picture frame that has very important info: wifi password, breakfast, check out time.
We don't have a lot of things that require instructions. What I will say is that you will have to tell the guests to read the book for info on how to run things. About 90% of our guests toss the book and the picture frame aside and never look at it.
 
Morticia said:
I bought 10x10" photo albums. We have a welcome page, a list of things guests should know: breakfast time, where to find things, how to contact us, etc. The next few pages are the top 10 things to do for a variety of things: kids, outdoors, rainy days, etc. A list of local info like churches, gas stations, post office.
We leave this on the bed. On top of that we have a picture frame that has very important info: wifi password, breakfast, check out time.
We don't have a lot of things that require instructions. What I will say is that you will have to tell the guests to read the book for info on how to run things. About 90% of our guests toss the book and the picture frame aside and never look at it..
Click to expand...
Morticia said:
I bought 10x10" photo albums. We have a welcome page, a list of things guests should know: breakfast time, where to find things, how to contact us, etc. The next few pages are the top 10 things to do for a variety of things: kids, outdoors, rainy days, etc. A list of local info like churches, gas stations, post office.
We leave this on the bed. On top of that we have a picture frame that has very important info: wifi password, breakfast, check out time.
We don't have a lot of things that require instructions. What I will say is that you will have to tell the guests to read the book for info on how to run things. About 90% of our guests toss the book and the picture frame aside and never look at it.
Click to expand...
And after they toss it aside, they ring the doorbell to ask the wifi password. LOL
 
We have 1-inch white ring binders in every room. The binder has a clear sleeve in the front. I have a printout in this front sleeve with an index of what's inside the binder. I also have the WiFi password, breakfast times, check-out time, and my cell phone # in big, bold font on the front of the binder.
Inside the binder are: details about our B&B and "house rules", a short blurb about us & our dogs, safety info, WiFi & TV info, list of local restaurants w brief descriptions & their web page & phone #, nearby services like laundry & grocery stores, nearby churches, and directions to major attractions.
I mention the binder at check-in by stating, "our WiFi password & my cell # are on the front of that white binder". I think there's a 25% chance that guests actually open the binder & read it. Every now & again, a guest will mention, "So I read that you lived in Wisconsin. Where at?" or "I read that you have 2 dogs. Where are they?" I'm always pleasantly surprised that someone took the time to read about us!
 
Good info and great ideas! I wouldn't have thought of some of the things you thought to put into your books so thank you so much!
We don't want any smoking in the rooms and will be charging a $250 cleaning fee to anyone who smokes. We also don't allow open flames (e.g. candles) but we do have really nice electronic candles in the rooms. We also don't allow street shoes in the rooms. For the shoes, we have a big sign by the front door that says "leave your worries and your shoes at the front door" or something to that effect.

Our whirlpool tub has an add-on heater that will keep the water temperature hot while you use it. I put a switch on the wall so that people can shut the heater off in case it gets too warm for them. I'm going to label with switch with indicators as to which way is "on" and which way is "off" and then I think I'll put a note in the book as to what it does.
In addition to your books, do you have signs in the rooms? We have a sign that has the wifi password and check-out time. We're thinking of adding a note about no smoking and no open flames to the sign.
 
MNVineyardBB said:
Good info and great ideas! I wouldn't have thought of some of the things you thought to put into your books so thank you so much!
We don't want any smoking in the rooms and will be charging a $250 cleaning fee to anyone who smokes. We also don't allow open flames (e.g. candles) but we do have really nice electronic candles in the rooms. We also don't allow street shoes in the rooms. For the shoes, we have a big sign by the front door that says "leave your worries and your shoes at the front door" or something to that effect.

Our whirlpool tub has an add-on heater that will keep the water temperature hot while you use it. I put a switch on the wall so that people can shut the heater off in case it gets too warm for them. I'm going to label with switch with indicators as to which way is "on" and which way is "off" and then I think I'll put a note in the book as to what it does.
In addition to your books, do you have signs in the rooms? We have a sign that has the wifi password and check-out time. We're thinking of adding a note about no smoking and no open flames to the sign..
Click to expand...
There are a couple inns in town that have gotten bad reviews because of 'too many rules.' So when we wrote our 'rules', I tried to be casual. We never published rules until the smoke detector went off and the guest said, "I don't know! Maybe when we blew the candles out, it set it off!" CANDLES????
So we went easy:
House Rules: No smoking, no candles, no open flame of any kind.
Please respect our other guests and our neighbors. quiet hours are between 10 PM and 7 AM.
Please do not feed the fish or cat. The cat is only kidding when she tells you we don't feed her.
 

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