"I can't do stairs."

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Morticia

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Says the guest on arrival with whom I spent 20 minutes on the phone reviewing the rooms.
All of our rooms require walking up stairs.
It's a group booking so either the guest does the stairs or I lose all the rooms.
Why do guests not think of these physical problems when you're explaining all the stairs? Even the room name implies there might be a few steps.
 
I've had a few turn up and say they can't do stairs and there are 12 steps to get up to the front door too. It says so on our website, but we all know the likelyhood of people reading information.
"We need a ground floor room".............. Well you'll have to go somewhere else then because I can't magically produce one.
One thing that has caused problems in the past is that in the UK we refer to the floor with the entrance as the "ground" floor and the floor above as the "1st", whereas I've noticed in the US the door is on the "1st" floor and the floor above is the "2nd". People ask for a 1st floor room thinking that means no stairs.
 
I've had a few turn up and say they can't do stairs and there are 12 steps to get up to the front door too. It says so on our website, but we all know the likelyhood of people reading information.
"We need a ground floor room".............. Well you'll have to go somewhere else then because I can't magically produce one.
One thing that has caused problems in the past is that in the UK we refer to the floor with the entrance as the "ground" floor and the floor above as the "1st", whereas I've noticed in the US the door is on the "1st" floor and the floor above is the "2nd". People ask for a 1st floor room thinking that means no stairs..
We avoid the problem by telling guests that the rooms are one floor up or two floors up, since we have to deal with people from all over. It avoids confusion.
I've had the "do you have a ground floor room" and "do you have a room on a lower floor, I'm old." nonsense. Why book here? Every picture shows you a four story house with stairs to the main entry.
Of course, it costs me reservations during an intermediate season, but I'm not unhappy about it... those same people who complain about the stairs always want a discount because they are old and need a lot more handholding. I offer no age discounts and if you are more work, you are less viable.... you cost more in service time. You, to use the Yiddish term for it, kvetch about everything.... take a happy pill!
 
Because they aren't listening to you. I actively discourage them. Ma'am, I have stairs to the front door, and then more stairs to the rooms. If you can't do stairs, this is not the right place for you. May I suggest a hotel, where they have an elevator and breakfast comes from lovely box that says Kellogg's on it.
 
Because they aren't listening to you. I actively discourage them. Ma'am, I have stairs to the front door, and then more stairs to the rooms. If you can't do stairs, this is not the right place for you. May I suggest a hotel, where they have an elevator and breakfast comes from lovely box that says Kellogg's on it..
First laugh of the morning was reading your lovely breakfast comment!
ive learned that with my demographic - mostly boomers, to start the conversation with the stairs. The ones who want to stay here in spite of mobility challenges arrange their time so as to only have to face the stairs once. We assist with luggage and welcome everyone really to spend time in the downstairs sitting area(with many books and periodicals, or out on the porch (with seating) birdwatching. We get an amazing number of hummingbirds here and people love to watch them up close.
plus, we look out into a fair size creek so other wildlife often appear.
Sometimes when they hear about the stairs they decline but there are’t many alternatives in our community.
 
Because they aren't listening to you. I actively discourage them. Ma'am, I have stairs to the front door, and then more stairs to the rooms. If you can't do stairs, this is not the right place for you. May I suggest a hotel, where they have an elevator and breakfast comes from lovely box that says Kellogg's on it..
First laugh of the morning was reading your lovely breakfast comment!
ive learned that with my demographic - mostly boomers, to start the conversation with the stairs. The ones who want to stay here in spite of mobility challenges arrange their time so as to only have to face the stairs once. We assist with luggage and welcome everyone really to spend time in the downstairs sitting area(with many books and periodicals, or out on the porch (with seating) birdwatching. We get an amazing number of hummingbirds here and people love to watch them up close.
plus, we look out into a fair size creek so other wildlife often appear.
Sometimes when they hear about the stairs they decline but there are’t many alternatives in our community.
.
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
 
Because they aren't listening to you. I actively discourage them. Ma'am, I have stairs to the front door, and then more stairs to the rooms. If you can't do stairs, this is not the right place for you. May I suggest a hotel, where they have an elevator and breakfast comes from lovely box that says Kellogg's on it..
First laugh of the morning was reading your lovely breakfast comment!
ive learned that with my demographic - mostly boomers, to start the conversation with the stairs. The ones who want to stay here in spite of mobility challenges arrange their time so as to only have to face the stairs once. We assist with luggage and welcome everyone really to spend time in the downstairs sitting area(with many books and periodicals, or out on the porch (with seating) birdwatching. We get an amazing number of hummingbirds here and people love to watch them up close.
plus, we look out into a fair size creek so other wildlife often appear.
Sometimes when they hear about the stairs they decline but there are’t many alternatives in our community.
.
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
.
I use my spidey sense on that. I’ve had some lovely stair challenged folks this year.
♥️
 
Because they aren't listening to you. I actively discourage them. Ma'am, I have stairs to the front door, and then more stairs to the rooms. If you can't do stairs, this is not the right place for you. May I suggest a hotel, where they have an elevator and breakfast comes from lovely box that says Kellogg's on it..
First laugh of the morning was reading your lovely breakfast comment!
ive learned that with my demographic - mostly boomers, to start the conversation with the stairs. The ones who want to stay here in spite of mobility challenges arrange their time so as to only have to face the stairs once. We assist with luggage and welcome everyone really to spend time in the downstairs sitting area(with many books and periodicals, or out on the porch (with seating) birdwatching. We get an amazing number of hummingbirds here and people love to watch them up close.
plus, we look out into a fair size creek so other wildlife often appear.
Sometimes when they hear about the stairs they decline but there are’t many alternatives in our community.
.
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
.
Generic said:
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
They paid, they stayed, they went away(d).
They have an Airbnb rental for the remainder of their trip. I hope it's not the one our previous guests had where one of them fell down the stairs with no railings.
 
Because they aren't listening to you. I actively discourage them. Ma'am, I have stairs to the front door, and then more stairs to the rooms. If you can't do stairs, this is not the right place for you. May I suggest a hotel, where they have an elevator and breakfast comes from lovely box that says Kellogg's on it..
First laugh of the morning was reading your lovely breakfast comment!
ive learned that with my demographic - mostly boomers, to start the conversation with the stairs. The ones who want to stay here in spite of mobility challenges arrange their time so as to only have to face the stairs once. We assist with luggage and welcome everyone really to spend time in the downstairs sitting area(with many books and periodicals, or out on the porch (with seating) birdwatching. We get an amazing number of hummingbirds here and people love to watch them up close.
plus, we look out into a fair size creek so other wildlife often appear.
Sometimes when they hear about the stairs they decline but there are’t many alternatives in our community.
.
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
.
Generic said:
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
They paid, they stayed, they went away(d).
They have an Airbnb rental for the remainder of their trip. I hope it's not the one our previous guests had where one of them fell down the stairs with no railings.
.
There are days where I tire of the rescue calls I get from AirBnBers who discover that... a. It's not nearly what it was cracked up to be and the pictures don't show the smell or b. They got cancelled because they booked some place illegal and the owner screwed them over.
 
Because they aren't listening to you. I actively discourage them. Ma'am, I have stairs to the front door, and then more stairs to the rooms. If you can't do stairs, this is not the right place for you. May I suggest a hotel, where they have an elevator and breakfast comes from lovely box that says Kellogg's on it..
First laugh of the morning was reading your lovely breakfast comment!
ive learned that with my demographic - mostly boomers, to start the conversation with the stairs. The ones who want to stay here in spite of mobility challenges arrange their time so as to only have to face the stairs once. We assist with luggage and welcome everyone really to spend time in the downstairs sitting area(with many books and periodicals, or out on the porch (with seating) birdwatching. We get an amazing number of hummingbirds here and people love to watch them up close.
plus, we look out into a fair size creek so other wildlife often appear.
Sometimes when they hear about the stairs they decline but there are’t many alternatives in our community.
.
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
.
Generic said:
Honestly, I'd rather they decline. If they complain about the stairs, it's just the start of the litany of complaints.
They paid, they stayed, they went away(d).
They have an Airbnb rental for the remainder of their trip. I hope it's not the one our previous guests had where one of them fell down the stairs with no railings.
.
There are days where I tire of the rescue calls I get from AirBnBers who discover that... a. It's not nearly what it was cracked up to be and the pictures don't show the smell or b. They got cancelled because they booked some place illegal and the owner screwed them over.
.
Generic said:
There are days where I tire of the rescue calls I get from AirBnBers who discover that... a. It's not nearly what it was cracked up to be and the pictures don't show the smell or b. They got cancelled because they booked some place illegal and the owner screwed them over.
or c) the previous guest has taken over and refuses to leave. Place in havoc. Owner not near by to handle the problem.
This has happened to 2 different guests that called us in panic.
Since there are several around here that are frequently used for parties and weddings - unbeknownst by the owner (we think), the gov. is finally coming down on this... they don't know what they are going to do yet but are trying to come up with a remedy.
 
We have a 155 year old house with one 2nd floor suite that has a very steep, narrow staircase. It's not a ladder but it's not far from it! The first thing I ask is can you manage these stairs? Most say "no problem" but we have at least one guest who wrote in her TA review "The innkeeper made sure to mention the steep stairs. Pay attention....she is not kidding!"
 
I've had several AirBnb rescue bookings lately. People showing up because their Air didn't have air (conditioning). Or their elderly parents couldn't handle the steep stairs. Or it was filthy. Or unsafe.
I've resolved as of today that I'm going to strongly, strongly encourage these guests to write reviews for us both on TA, Google and other platforms, AND on their Air reviews. I know the latter will probably get censored, but I'd like people to start seeing what a huge roll of the dice booking an unlicensed rental is.
 
I've had several AirBnb rescue bookings lately. People showing up because their Air didn't have air (conditioning). Or their elderly parents couldn't handle the steep stairs. Or it was filthy. Or unsafe.
I've resolved as of today that I'm going to strongly, strongly encourage these guests to write reviews for us both on TA, Google and other platforms, AND on their Air reviews. I know the latter will probably get censored, but I'd like people to start seeing what a huge roll of the dice booking an unlicensed rental is..
They should at least do a review on Air about the place that they left... to warn others.
 
I've had several AirBnb rescue bookings lately. People showing up because their Air didn't have air (conditioning). Or their elderly parents couldn't handle the steep stairs. Or it was filthy. Or unsafe.
I've resolved as of today that I'm going to strongly, strongly encourage these guests to write reviews for us both on TA, Google and other platforms, AND on their Air reviews. I know the latter will probably get censored, but I'd like people to start seeing what a huge roll of the dice booking an unlicensed rental is..
In the review for Air guests I add a note in the private feedback section:
"If you enjoyed your stay we would welcome comments for MyInn, Mytown, on the Google, Trip Advisor or Yelp platforms. The online comments are the best way non-Air guests find us in our tiny corner of the world,
Best,..."
Many will go online and leave another review in one of those places.
 
Most of our rooms are upstairs and we always use that in our verbal descriptions. "We have an upstairs Queen/King bed room/suite..." And we tell them how many stairs and that there is a railing on either side. Most of the time no issues except when a lady booked for her and another couple, then took the downstairs room and made their friends stay upstairs. :)
 
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