Accommodating extreme guest needs

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Posted on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 6:55pm

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Innkeeper of a small BnB in a small town here.

Question: do you find the need to make special accommodation for plus sized guests? Since I am only "fluffy" myself (it's been quite a while since I was, <ahem>, slim, I am afraid I may have neglected to consider my guests' needs in this respect.

Recently, a (self-described) plus sized guest expressed concern that the bed was not sufficiently structurally sound enough to support the guests' higher than average weight.

This took me by COMPLETE surprise. The bed is not an antique - the frame, mattress and box springs are, in fact, only a few months old and have been used by only a few other guests. On one hand, I suspect the guest had nothing to be concerned about, and may only be very self conscious.However, the sounds the guest described hearing from the frame - I would have been concerned, if I'd heard them, too.

This whole thing really threw me for a loop. While I am not quite plus sized, I come from a family of VERY large people - all of my blood relatives easily fall into this category - and I have never heard of this sort of problem from any of them (and they aren't really a shy bunch around me).

Other than this particular bit, the guest was extremely complimentary and appreciative (which made me feel really bad about the bed).

My spouse and I will be reinforcing the structure of the bed, but I wondered if any of you have run into this sort of situation, and how you were able to handle it graciously.

This comment (67238) was in reply to the Original Topic on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 10:55am

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ginocat

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My comment would be that "I think my place would not be suitable."

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This comment (67224) was in reply to the Original Topic on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 9:42am

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Samster

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Jill! Nothing you can do but reinforce the bed as best you can. We had an antique sofa broken by a young couple who must have felt the need to try it out for....ahem...frolicking, despite the large King sized bed in the room. If something is broken and it's not intentional, you'll have to decide how to handle that one.

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This comment (67203) was in reply to the Original Topic on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 7:30am

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Red Handed Jill

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Sanctuary - The guest expressed concern after having used the bed - not before checking in.

Very interesting - all your responses. This bed actually has the support legs down the center, but apparently, they fell down. I definitely have lots of food for thought.

Thanks for the welcomes, too. And hi, MTT, it's always good to know when people recognize you!

This comment (67209) was in reply to comment 67203 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 8:18am

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Joey Bloggs

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Red Handed Jill wrote:

Sanctuary - The guest expressed concern after having used the bed - not before checking in.

Very interesting - all your responses. This bed actually has the support legs down the center, but apparently, they fell down. I definitely have lots of food for thought.

Thanks for the welcomes, too. And hi, MTT, it's always good to know when people recognize you!

What can you do? Large people travel. I will never forget the man who was bursting out all sides of the neatest chair we have, and I had it off to the side out of reach, and instead of a sofa or sofa chair or any other place to sit, he picked this very old wooden with arms chair and moved it into the parlor. He sat in it and it creaked and moaned and I think I had sweat pouring down my cheeks or were those tears?

I came here and whined about it.The forum told me to remove the chair. They told me to not have anything nice or people will destroy it (this was the old forum, I will never forget this guest. He was a trucker and his goal was to drive all the interstates and stop at every major steakhouse. True. He pulled out his road map and had them all designated and told us his story - while in that chair).

So then I got mad, I am not childproofing this house! I refuse! I never childproofed it for my kids - they were taught to not destroy stuff and I refuse to do it for guests! I refuse to make it a motel because overweight people and others are inconsiderate.

But what can you do? Nothing really, just roll with the punches.

Thanks for sharing with us so we now know.

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This comment (67191) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 10:23pm

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gillumhouse

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My "shake-down cruise" guest is for want of a better term - a wide load. The chair I had in the room at that time had arms - and they would not accommodate the load - she she went to wiggle her wy up onto the bed to put on her shoes (mattress & box spring make it a high bed). She came down to breakfast to tell me she broke my bed. As her bottom pushed on the mattress & box spring, the bed frame spread allowing the slats to fall out. DH spent that day with turnbuckles and cable. That bed is now TIGHT! The next time she came, instead of stiitng in the middle of the bench I now had at the end of the bed, she sat on the end, which promptly tipped tossing her into the bedpost pushing it outward. I can now see about 1/8 inch of unstained wood in the footboard at that post - but it held. (The third visit she broke the toilet seat but the last visit, nothing got broken - she usually comes for a week and she pays, even though we are friends, former co-workers)

Then a few years ago I opened the door to welcome a couple and between them, if I was looking at less than 700 to 750 pounds I am the queen of England! The bed held. Then there were the 2 couples who rented movies and all climbed into that bed in their robes to watch movies and munch popcorn (and the pretzels I made) - and the bed held.

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This comment (67189) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 10:02pm

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Innkeeper To Go

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Welcome, Jill!

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This comment (67183) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 9:17pm

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Sanctuary

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Welcome from Miami!!!

My place is "self-patrolling" on this issue. The doors are only 23" wide. If you can't get through them.....

When the prospective guest brought up the weight issue, did you ask how much weight he/she was talking about? I know that sounds like one of the "rude questions to ask," but since this person alerted you to the fact that he/she may damage or destroy your furnishings due to the excessive weight, I'd want to know how much weight we're talking about before making a determination whether I could or would be willing to make the accommodation. Fortunately, this will never be an issue for me. All of our door openings are 23".

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This comment (67181) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 9:12pm

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Joey Bloggs

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YES, king sized beds NEVER have enough support down the middle.

Year one had a couple bust the bed and call from their room at 2am. They were so embarrassed, and you all know "the bucket story" from there.

Our own bed has added supports underneath the center from the day we bought it as it sags - even with a new mattress - it is a heavy duty log bed made in Idaho BUT the supports are not strong, just the rest is strong, and it cannot handle the weight of the mattress, let alone a couple. When our 12 lb cat jumps on it IT MAKES NOISE!!!

This comment (67188) was in reply to comment 67181 on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 9:57pm

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Innkeeper To Go

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Joey Bloggs wrote:

YES, king sized beds NEVER have enough support down the middle.

Use bedlegs. They stop the creaking, too.

This comment (67201) was in reply to comment 67188 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 7:26am

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Joey Bloggs

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Innkeeper To Go wrote:

Joey Bloggs wrote:

YES, king sized beds NEVER have enough support down the middle.

Use bedlegs. They stop the creaking, too.

What are bed legs?

It creaks down the middle and that is only about 12 inches off the ground, so we have wood T's under there. Can you explain bed legs?

This comment (67242) was in reply to comment 67201 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 11:26am

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Innkeeper To Go

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Joey Bloggs wrote:

What are bed legs?

It creaks down the middle and that is only about 12 inches off the ground, so we have wood T's under there. Can you explain bed legs?

Yes, they're literally legs that attach to the box springs so instead of putting the box springs on a frame, it supports itself. They attach to the springs themselves.

They're very inexpensive, come in several adjustable heights and you use as many as you need. I like them because they eliminate the creeking between the frame and the springs and because you just lift the whole thing when you move it. No possibility of fingers getting caught in that gap. All around better than frames and only take a few minutes to attach.

But if the problem is your pillow top, they won't help. That's why I hate pillowtops that are attached. They always sink long before the mattress itself goes bad. Love those new removable/zippable pillowtops for that very reason.

Still, if your bed has been doing this from the very beginning, it might be worth a try.

This comment (67204) was in reply to comment 67201 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 7:36am

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Morticia

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Bed legs, to me, are those center support legs you get on beds bigger than a double. One last bed here does not have them and that bed has a hunk of PVC pipe (4" diameter) jammed under the center of the bed. (That bed is being replaced this spring so will get a new frame with built in center supports.)

Our king bed is on 2 twin frames so has plenty of support down the middle.

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This comment (67211) was in reply to comment 67204 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 8:20am

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Joey Bloggs

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Mort it is not the box springs, all kings have two twin box springs, I am referring to the weight of a king pillow top mattress with no legs underneath it. I am interested in these legs, although we have the home-made wooden T junction under there right now! UGH

This comment (67213) was in reply to comment 67211 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 8:47am

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Morticia

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My bed has the slats which I flip over every once in awhile. I'll have to check the new bed because I bet it doesn't have any center support.

I did search for legs to add on to the queen beds and couldn't find anything, so that's why we have the PVC pipe on the one bed. Your T is doing the same thing.

This comment (67216) was in reply to comment 67213 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 9:03am

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Joey Bloggs

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Next step will be a rope bed and bed tick. (again, back to the book "The Man who Moved a Mountain" and we saw one on Sunday and I actually said aloud "Ahhhh rope!" Better than slats that bust.

This comment (67223) was in reply to comment 67216 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 9:35am

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copperhead

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We have one but had been converted long before we got it to using wood slats. These slats are thicker than any we see today though and actually cover the entire length of the bed. Wish all my larger guests would choose that room.

We used PVC under a couple of beds... That stuff is strong.

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This comment (67173) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 7:47pm

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Penelope

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Welcome from Ohio!!

This comment (67171) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 7:40pm

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Morticia

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Never had anyone mention it to me, but I myself have worried on occasion given certain guest's amplitude. If the guests themselves mentioned their weight I have no idea what to say other than, 'You may think you have a problem, but you should have seen the couple here last week! Maybe they loosened things up, we'll take a look, thanks for letting us know.'

This comment (67168) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 7:29pm

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MTLLodge

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I think I know you.

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This comment (67170) was in reply to comment 67168 on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 7:47pm

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sgirouard

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Not on topic, but love your sig.

This comment (67166) was in reply to the Original Topic on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 7:23pm

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swirt

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Welcome to Innspiring.

I haven't run into this, but I have had potential guests express on the phone that they think they are too big to fit in a standard shower. Not much we can do about that.

My guess is that the guest may be a little gun-shy. They have probably broken a bed or two in the past and may have been very cautious at the first "squeak" or "groan" from your bed. Make it stout and then don't give it another thought.

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