Guest etiquette

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Morticia

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I have a line in my guest book, which so few read, that says, 'Please do not let anyone into the house who rings the bell. Let the innkeepers handle bell-ringers.' So, the bell rings tonight and I go out and there are guests, bag and baggage standing in the dining room. Me, quite startled, ask how they got in, thinking someone is leaving the door wide open in the dark. No, someone let them in. And said someone walked off into the night to go to dinner.
So, as a point of guest etiquette...what do you expect your GUESTS to do/not do?
I don't expect them to open the door and let anyone in. Altho, I had a guest last week who sat in the dining room talking on her cell who would let anyone in who showed up. Great. You let them in, YOU help them, because I don't know they're there...
 
  • Do not answer the door
  • Do not answer the phone
  • Please park in front of the house as I ask in the confirmation letter (they keep parking in the VFD lot across the street & thanks to the loudmouth I married and his comments, they do not like us)
  • Please do not shut off lights that I leave on
 
bree, you know they are trying to be HELPFUL when they let folks in. and when someone is 'just trying to help out' the rules don't apply!
my big BIG rule is for guests to return their keys TO ME because we have these old fashioned room keys that are a nightmare to replace. half the time they leave them in their rooms 'in an obvious place'... well, sometimes they are in their pockets. but those obvious places can be anywhere from in the door to on the bed to on the bed tray moved to a new location, to on the desk, to on the night stand .....
 
Guests shut all lights off three nights ago. DH accused me of doing it (I am the one who turns them ON not off). They fessed up the next morning. Good intentions.
 
bree, you know they are trying to be HELPFUL when they let folks in. and when someone is 'just trying to help out' the rules don't apply!
my big BIG rule is for guests to return their keys TO ME because we have these old fashioned room keys that are a nightmare to replace. half the time they leave them in their rooms 'in an obvious place'... well, sometimes they are in their pockets. but those obvious places can be anywhere from in the door to on the bed to on the bed tray moved to a new location, to on the desk, to on the night stand ......
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
 
bree, you know they are trying to be HELPFUL when they let folks in. and when someone is 'just trying to help out' the rules don't apply!
my big BIG rule is for guests to return their keys TO ME because we have these old fashioned room keys that are a nightmare to replace. half the time they leave them in their rooms 'in an obvious place'... well, sometimes they are in their pockets. but those obvious places can be anywhere from in the door to on the bed to on the bed tray moved to a new location, to on the desk, to on the night stand ......
My keys travel more than I do. And sometimes they even come home!
 
bree, you know they are trying to be HELPFUL when they let folks in. and when someone is 'just trying to help out' the rules don't apply!
my big BIG rule is for guests to return their keys TO ME because we have these old fashioned room keys that are a nightmare to replace. half the time they leave them in their rooms 'in an obvious place'... well, sometimes they are in their pockets. but those obvious places can be anywhere from in the door to on the bed to on the bed tray moved to a new location, to on the desk, to on the night stand ......
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
.
catlady said:
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
They take the keys off of it. I have some semi-obxnoxious and MEN tell me they can't fit it into their pocket, so they take the key off. Then the keys go home with them.
confused_smile.gif

 
bree, you know they are trying to be HELPFUL when they let folks in. and when someone is 'just trying to help out' the rules don't apply!
my big BIG rule is for guests to return their keys TO ME because we have these old fashioned room keys that are a nightmare to replace. half the time they leave them in their rooms 'in an obvious place'... well, sometimes they are in their pockets. but those obvious places can be anywhere from in the door to on the bed to on the bed tray moved to a new location, to on the desk, to on the night stand ......
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
.
catlady said:
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
They take the keys off of it. I have some semi-obxnoxious and MEN tell me they can't fit it into their pocket, so they take the key off. Then the keys go home with them.
confused_smile.gif

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Maybe try ugly girlie for key rings.
Our house was owned by the B & O Station Agent so I had really neat train engine key rings when we opened - those disappeared so long ago that I cannot remember what they looked like. Right now I have the "best" room keys on a bright red-orange lanyard. So far so good, it has not traveled.
 
bree, you know they are trying to be HELPFUL when they let folks in. and when someone is 'just trying to help out' the rules don't apply!
my big BIG rule is for guests to return their keys TO ME because we have these old fashioned room keys that are a nightmare to replace. half the time they leave them in their rooms 'in an obvious place'... well, sometimes they are in their pockets. but those obvious places can be anywhere from in the door to on the bed to on the bed tray moved to a new location, to on the desk, to on the night stand ......
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
.
catlady said:
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
They take the keys off of it. I have some semi-obxnoxious and MEN tell me they can't fit it into their pocket, so they take the key off. Then the keys go home with them.
confused_smile.gif

.
Maybe try ugly girlie for key rings.
Our house was owned by the B & O Station Agent so I had really neat train engine key rings when we opened - those disappeared so long ago that I cannot remember what they looked like. Right now I have the "best" room keys on a bright red-orange lanyard. So far so good, it has not traveled.
.
gillumhouse said:
Maybe try ugly girlie for key rings.
Our house was owned by the B & O Station Agent so I had really neat train engine key rings when we opened - those disappeared so long ago that I cannot remember what they looked like. Right now I have the "best" room keys on a bright red-orange lanyard. So far so good, it has not traveled.
I found these heavy duty key rings at dollar general, thick ring and heavy heart on top of another heart - they have a small saying like "Love to the fullest" printed on one of the hearts. They are simple and heavier than what I had before.
 
bree, you know they are trying to be HELPFUL when they let folks in. and when someone is 'just trying to help out' the rules don't apply!
my big BIG rule is for guests to return their keys TO ME because we have these old fashioned room keys that are a nightmare to replace. half the time they leave them in their rooms 'in an obvious place'... well, sometimes they are in their pockets. but those obvious places can be anywhere from in the door to on the bed to on the bed tray moved to a new location, to on the desk, to on the night stand ......
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
.
catlady said:
Why not put your keys on some obnoxiously big key ring That can't be put into a pocket. I mean REALLY BIG!!
Because they take them off. I have my keys on a huge wooden keyring (which one set of guests lost at the beach yesterday, changing to door code today once everyone is gone). I have had guests on their way out the door and I'll ask if they left the keys in their room? Oops, no, right here on my keyring. No huge wooden keyring attached, just the keys. They left MY keyring in the room, 'too bulky to carry around'.
 
With regard to letting other people in, they think that they're doing you a favor. They don't think that it could be just anybody wandering in. I mean, why would they? This is how they think which I'm sure that you know. Aggravating yes, but what are you going to do other than what you're doing? You can mention it on the tour when you demo your door key pad that a bonafide guest will know the code and anyone else needs to be greeted by you to be sure that they belong there. Especially in your location where you probably have considerable foot traffic. It just doesn't dawn on guests that someone would come in that shouldn't be there, or that you might need to know who's in the house.
The next best thing is to say that you're going to put them on the payroll if they keep it up! Ha!
regular_smile.gif

I think somebody here has a summary of B&B etiquette on their website? Or it's a FAQs on their website? Maybe they have that in their room books as well. That might be a good idea here....
 
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc.
 
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc..
Cathy - we have a note on the key ring "$10 charge for lost key" - Haven't 'lost' a key since we put the note. If they mistakenly take the key home, we get a call or email "opps we have you key, will send in mail ASAP"
Add the note, it seems to work!
 
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc..
Cathy - we have a note on the key ring "$10 charge for lost key" - Haven't 'lost' a key since we put the note. If they mistakenly take the key home, we get a call or email "opps we have you key, will send in mail ASAP"
Add the note, it seems to work!
.
I think we really should do that as well. But this is the first set that made us think of this. As soon as they left and the garage doors closed.
We also give those with vehicles a remote for the garage doors, The replacement cost for the remote is about 50 US dollars. We need to inform guests that if they misplace the keys or the remote they will be responsible for the costs. It is going on our list of things that we NEED to do.
 
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc..
Cathy said:
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc.
Thought of? ha ha you are funny. OF COURSE. "If keys are returned within 3 days there is no charge, if not $10." It is on the guests statement with our address.
 
We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc.
That in itself will encourage keys to go walkies. Sure nice for the guest to just clip it on, but bad when they don't return them.
 
We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc.
That in itself will encourage keys to go walkies. Sure nice for the guest to just clip it on, but bad when they don't return them..
We have been lucky as it has only happened twice ... the first time was guests leaving at 4 am .. we got up to see them off and give them a bag with fruit and muffins, but they decided to leave at 3 am instead, Mistakenly took the one set of keys. They were returned that week.
The second was the ones that unpacked everything from the car with the two small children, it was us that said for them to go on and send them back. It was painful for us to helplessly watch their frustration.
It was this time that the thought occured to us that this might happen once again. We always ask for keys when our guests leave. If they say they are in the room, we check before they leave as they are packing up the car or waiting for a taxi.
So, a 100 peso charge will now be added to the charge policy. Lost/misplaced keys.
 
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc..
Cathy said:
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc.
carabiner
I think 'caribeaner' has something to do with coffee growers in the Caribbean.
wink_smile.gif

 
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc..
Cathy said:
Has any one thought of charging for misplaced keys? We had guests here and when asked for the keys they said ... they are in the room. Checked the room and not there.
They emptied their car, and 2 young kids ... but they searched and searched and said didn't we give them back yesterday. No, but you gave the spare set back after you locked your set in the room. Oh.
Well after more than a 1/2 hour of searching we decided to let them go and they promised IF they had them they would mail them back, Well, they found them. It took them almost a week to arrange to fed-ex them back. They gave them to the 18 month old to "hold" and the child put them in the car.
After they left we were wondering about a charge for replacing. We put the keys on a ring on a caribeaner (spelling :s). The keys are actually through a material loop and it is hard to get the ring off the caribeaner (need to look up the spelling). We usually can see the keys trying to leave as they are attached to belt loops, purse handles, etc.
carabiner
I think 'caribeaner' has something to do with coffee growers in the Caribbean.
wink_smile.gif

.
Hook me up to one of those, medium roasted please! Love love coffee.
 
We had a full house this past weekend and the people were nice and they were pleasant but the etiquette of the people was horrid in my opinion. It's hard to complain because the group was nice and I could tell they meant no harm but they just threw us for a loop with the way the weekend went down.

There were several little things but the big thing was that they were all over the place in and out of our neighbor’s yard. We are on a small lot (nice when it comes time to mow
wink_smile.gif
) and they were riding their bikes through the front yard of our neighbors’ across the street and I had no idea what to say. I mean do you have to really go tell grown adults to not ride in front of the dining room window in someone else's yard?
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
Luckily they were out of town.


Then My wife got up early upon their request to have coffee ready, (which they told her an hour earlier than they mean because they didn't take the time to switch from central time to eastern time when they came to our town) she laid on the couch in the living room and closed the doors that lead to the dining room just to try to keep people from crowding the kitchen while she is getting breakfast ready (lesson learned there). My wife put the coffee out and laid on the couch to catch a quick nap since she now had an extra hour and covered her whole body, including head in a blanket, they opened the closed doors and were poking around in the living room, which is not a big deal but kinda rude and she heard they whisper "Do you think this is their private living quarters?". No it's not but HELLO if you think it might be why are you sneaking around whispering? Not a big deal.
I'll skip a couple of other small things and go right to the cherry on the Sunday during the last hour of their visit as I was helping them load their cars.
It was an extremely hot day here on Sunday and while they were talking to us and saying goodbyes I noticed my neighbor left for church and I waived. I then went outside and saw 4 of our guests gathered on HER front law getting shade from her tree.
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
I mean seriously, what am I suppose to do? Yell at these people like they are 5 years old like they are acting? My only hope is that our neighbor didn't have to drive around them on her way out of her driveway.

Talk about poor etiquette. Its one thing to have to explain rules but I thought some things like 'don't play in the neighbor’s lawn' went without saying.
 
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