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flossy

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we are thinking of having NO children under the age of 12 as guests but still allowing pets.Our thinking is influenced by........ we have 2 kids at home over the age 12 and 3 pets...a small dog, a cat and a homing pidgeon that has adopted us(all UNDER the age of 12). The turnkey that we are in the early stages of negotiation is a grand 120 yr old very solid 2 story building (think French quarter New Orleans) with 18 rooms that would be reduced to 10 as we intend to accommodate ourselves in 1/4 of the facility. As part of our due diligence we stayed as guests for 3 nights including a weekend (obviously the busiest time). Now this is a tourist destination with harbour and beaches within 5 mins walk, lots of people about and low speed traffic but the only noise that bothered us was the patter of little feet running up and down the stairs and along the long outside balconies servicing 6 of the rooms(the rooms inside are quiet)
There's more. 2 rooms have a seperate little court yard which is fenced off from the main guest areas. So we would feel ungracious ....firstly if we did not allow travelling animals (we would be the only accomodation in this tourist area offering this and secondly we find teenagers fairly quiet with their "mobile offices" and the area being so walkable but very safe. Any thoughts please? JJ
 
First thing to check on is whether or not the number of rooms you will be renting out puts you into a category that precludes excluding guests 'of any age'. If it doesn't, then by all means exclude away. Most of our 2-legged young guests have been wonderful, but some have not. They yell, they scream, they cry, they whine, they fidget and they totally take over any adult conversation during breakfast. Dogs don't do this.
 
I guess it depends on the type people you're planning to focus on. I think people who stay at a place like yours are trying to get away from it all. Relaxation, romance and all that. I don't think that mixes well with small children running around. I'm not planning to accept any under 12 at my place.
 
interestingly Arkie "our" building was built in1895 as well but we are way behind you in the purchasing process.JJ
 
Our rule is
"children will only be accepted if old enough to have their own room, the full room rate will be charged"
We've had a few teenagers stay this year, and no problems really.
We had a family take all ou rooms one year, including a baby. The baby cried most of the night, never again.
However the area we are in is generally not the sort of place people take young children, so it certainly doesn't impact our bottom line.
 
If you are a tourist area.......as you mention.....think french quarter....assuming french quarter, new orleans......doesn't have to be new orleans...I recall Sydney having a residential area that was considered french quarter..
anyway.....
Tourist area......means to me kid friendly.....Age 12 is fine....maybe age 8 or 10 would be better at filling rooms ?
 
We did not allow any children no matter what the age. But if you want them I would say 12 and over. We did not allow pets.
I think you need to restrict the pet thing to only 1 or 2 rooms as people with allergies will be affected by them if they stay in a room after pets have been there. Sorry no matter how well you clean...if there is an allergy...they will know.
 
You who allow pets: I can imagine the benefit of bringing in guests whose pets aren't welcome elsewhere, but what are the drawbacks?
Of course cleanup comes to mind. More dirt, more hairs, more drool.
But are they bad to disturb the other guests? Do you have much problem with dogs that bark a lot when their owner is gone out on the town? Ever had a dog chew the place up? Or do you require that they be put in a pet carrier when the owner is away?
 
You who allow pets: I can imagine the benefit of bringing in guests whose pets aren't welcome elsewhere, but what are the drawbacks?
Of course cleanup comes to mind. More dirt, more hairs, more drool.
But are they bad to disturb the other guests? Do you have much problem with dogs that bark a lot when their owner is gone out on the town? Ever had a dog chew the place up? Or do you require that they be put in a pet carrier when the owner is away?.
All of them I would suspect at one time or another. Most people do not allow pets to be left alone. They must be with the owner at all times. You are not a boarding room for pets. Also the allergy aspect for other guests I believe is a big concern.
All those issues are exactly the reason we would not do it
 
In my humble opinion I would accept kids before I would accept pets. I love animals dont get me wrong, but with it you just don't know what they will bring with them, noise,maybe fleas, etc
Kids yes they run around maybe the problem with breaking something etc. We had a B & B and our kids where older than 12 they where High Schoolers and well that presents all other kinds of problems.
 
If you are a tourist area.......as you mention.....think french quarter....assuming french quarter, new orleans......doesn't have to be new orleans...I recall Sydney having a residential area that was considered french quarter..
anyway.....
Tourist area......means to me kid friendly.....Age 12 is fine....maybe age 8 or 10 would be better at filling rooms ?.
One Day said:
Tourist area......means to me kid friendly.....Age 12 is fine....maybe age 8 or 10 would be better at filling rooms ?
CERTAIN tourist areas. Beaches, places with lots of family activities. Other tourist places aren't so much geared toward kids. And in that case, the parents want to LEAVE the kids in the room watching TV while they go do the 'grown up' stuff. So it's better to not provide them with the space required for 3 or more in a room.
 
You who allow pets: I can imagine the benefit of bringing in guests whose pets aren't welcome elsewhere, but what are the drawbacks?
Of course cleanup comes to mind. More dirt, more hairs, more drool.
But are they bad to disturb the other guests? Do you have much problem with dogs that bark a lot when their owner is gone out on the town? Ever had a dog chew the place up? Or do you require that they be put in a pet carrier when the owner is away?.
Dogs are not allowed to stay alone in the room unless the owner is eating breakfast here. Owner gone=dog gone. THAT cuts down on a lot of sketchy owners who have dogs that tear up their own homes and pee all over the place when no one is home.
LAST thing I want to hear from a guest is how their dog is trained to use a piddle pad.
 
You who allow pets: I can imagine the benefit of bringing in guests whose pets aren't welcome elsewhere, but what are the drawbacks?
Of course cleanup comes to mind. More dirt, more hairs, more drool.
But are they bad to disturb the other guests? Do you have much problem with dogs that bark a lot when their owner is gone out on the town? Ever had a dog chew the place up? Or do you require that they be put in a pet carrier when the owner is away?.
All of them I would suspect at one time or another. Most people do not allow pets to be left alone. They must be with the owner at all times. You are not a boarding room for pets. Also the allergy aspect for other guests I believe is a big concern.
All those issues are exactly the reason we would not do it
.
We have had guests cancel when they READ their confirm that stated dogs were allowed in the room they chose. They ranted that the PO's never allowed pets (like we did it just to thwart the guests). But, the PO's DID allow pets, they just didn't tell anyone. If you called and asked, ok. But it wasn't published anywhere.
 
We don't do children or pets. Do we lose business? Probably. They go to our local competitors. We do however get most if not all of the romantic couple getaway crowd and they don't. We decided to be good at one thing and not try to be everything to everyone. That works for us, but I can see how is wouldn't for someone located in a tourist area.
 
If you allow pets they must be in a crate and never left alone. Even the best behaved can get nervous in a strange place and not only bark and howl but scratch and ruin wood doors. Kids and dogs will mean you will have to really clean well between turns. So I hope you have cleaning help.
I would recommend that like others you designate a specific room to be pet friendly. Right now to my experience there would be more loss to you of bookings by people with allergies than you would gain by people traveling with pets.
I would not do it - I am a pet lover and have them myself. But it's hard enough to keep my own dog's hair out of the main buiding and kitchen. I cannot imagine trying to turn rooms with dog hair. And fleas for those not medicating their pets. And ticks.
And I don't want to deal with making special breakfasts for surly kids who are bored in a B&B with no swimming pool
And the kids ( my own nephews did this in a B&B) who take apart the TV to try and hook up their media games and end up messing it up so that it then did not work at all.
But remember, I work outside the business and we run wine tours so maybe you'll have time to deal with this - time we don't have.
Riki
 
We don't do children or pets. Do we lose business? Probably. They go to our local competitors. We do however get most if not all of the romantic couple getaway crowd and they don't. We decided to be good at one thing and not try to be everything to everyone. That works for us, but I can see how is wouldn't for someone located in a tourist area..
Proud Texan said:
We decided to be good at one thing and not try to be everything to everyone.
I see that excellent advice over and over. Figure out your niche, know the type people you're planning to attract, and keep them in mind as you make your plans.
 
In some states you have to be very careful about their discrimination laws. I have an innkeeper friend whose policy is "maximum room occupancy is 2. We consider children people too."
That policy won't eliminate a single parent bringing a child, but it really takes care of most situations for a b&b that doesn't have 2 beds in a room.
 
As stated - you should first determine what type of clientele you want to attract...and does that match your location - i.e. if it is FQ New Orleans, I would say no children, but only if FQ - as N.O. has wonderful things for children as well, just not FQ.
There are pros and cons for limiting or allowing any sector...
When I saw this thread it reminded me of a restaurant that has been in the news lately - one of the articles here where they just state Screaming and misbehaving children will be asked to leave... one news interview with the owner states that all her patrons should be able to eat in peace...and all well behaved (disciplined) children were always welcome. Several news polls were highly in favor of the rest. - I can not tell you how many times my DH has told a hostess "2 for the non screaming children's section, please" !!!
And I can not resist not posting this quote from the article: "....who is a mom of two. "You can't help it if your kids scream." "
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
 
As stated - you should first determine what type of clientele you want to attract...and does that match your location - i.e. if it is FQ New Orleans, I would say no children, but only if FQ - as N.O. has wonderful things for children as well, just not FQ.
There are pros and cons for limiting or allowing any sector...
When I saw this thread it reminded me of a restaurant that has been in the news lately - one of the articles here where they just state Screaming and misbehaving children will be asked to leave... one news interview with the owner states that all her patrons should be able to eat in peace...and all well behaved (disciplined) children were always welcome. Several news polls were highly in favor of the rest. - I can not tell you how many times my DH has told a hostess "2 for the non screaming children's section, please" !!!
And I can not resist not posting this quote from the article: "....who is a mom of two. "You can't help it if your kids scream." "
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
.
copperhead said:
I can not tell you how many times my DH has told a hostess "2 for the non screaming children's section, please" !!!
And I can not resist not posting this quote from the article: "....who is a mom of two. "You can't help it if your kids scream." "
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
The first time I did that, and it was because the hostess was leading us RIGHT to the table next to a family reunion where the kids WERE screaming and out of control, I'M the one who got the dirty look- from the hostess! And we could still hear that kid screaming until that family left and we were in an entirely different section of the restaurant.
 
As stated - you should first determine what type of clientele you want to attract...and does that match your location - i.e. if it is FQ New Orleans, I would say no children, but only if FQ - as N.O. has wonderful things for children as well, just not FQ.
There are pros and cons for limiting or allowing any sector...
When I saw this thread it reminded me of a restaurant that has been in the news lately - one of the articles here where they just state Screaming and misbehaving children will be asked to leave... one news interview with the owner states that all her patrons should be able to eat in peace...and all well behaved (disciplined) children were always welcome. Several news polls were highly in favor of the rest. - I can not tell you how many times my DH has told a hostess "2 for the non screaming children's section, please" !!!
And I can not resist not posting this quote from the article: "....who is a mom of two. "You can't help it if your kids scream." "
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
.
copperhead said:
And I can not resist not posting this quote from the article: "....who is a mom of two. "You can't help it if your kids scream." "
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
My father would have just said (as he was removing his belt) "I'll give you something to scream about!"
cry_smile.gif

 
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