Guests in the kitchen...cooking

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Morticia

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Went to heat up the maple syrup in the micro this morning and it was soaking wet inside. We have one of those with the rotating tray and it was off the rails. Mentioned it to hubs and he said, 'Well, I found this old mug in the sink along with a bunch of eggs shells.'
Lovely. Guests were rooting in the cupboards and fridge and then cooking themselves food in the micro.
 
Like I said ..... STAY OUT OF MY KITCHEN. That would annoy me. OK - I am officially procrastinating. I need to get this NRA of mine out of this seat and in front of an ironing board NOW. Good thing is it's nice and cool today.
 
Gheez...your guests seem to be the out of bounders...hey they are paying..so they think they should have the run of the house...right
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Our friends just posted a sign in their kitchen stating Health dept regulations do not permit guests to be in the kitchen or to use any of the kitchen facilities.
Not true...at least in our county..but hey..they don't know that..and it has helped keep folks out.
 
I bet since your dining room is open to your kitchen your guests assume it's ok to use it? Even if they did feel it was OK they should at the very least clean up their mess! How do you keep future guests from doing the same thing?
 
I bet since your dining room is open to your kitchen your guests assume it's ok to use it? Even if they did feel it was OK they should at the very least clean up their mess! How do you keep future guests from doing the same thing?.
Even if they did feel it was OK they should at the very least clean up their mess! How do you keep future guests from doing the same thing?
She is still trying to figure it out. I think they have tried about everything. I hope those guests stay in New England. So far, my guests have stayed within their boundaries.
 
I bet since your dining room is open to your kitchen your guests assume it's ok to use it? Even if they did feel it was OK they should at the very least clean up their mess! How do you keep future guests from doing the same thing?.
Hubs wants to put a velvet rope between the counters. You saw the kitchen, you know how open it is. My guess is it was the late arrivals who we didn't meet so we couldn't give them the speech.
I'm thinking some sort of sign on the counter might help. And I guess we go back to using the baby locks on the cupboards.
 
I tell my guests they can help theirselfes to tea , soda nad such, but that's how far it's been going. They are allowed to use the BBQoutside and a few dishes they need, but there too, they have all been great about cleaning up.
My longterm guest uses the kitchen to cook small items, like soups and such, and he is good at cleaning, but I had to ask him yesterday to not put the pots and pans into the DW, since I only have a few for breakfast and really don't want to have to clean them in the am before I can use them. He took it like a man and said no problem
wink_smile.gif
 
I tell my guests they can help theirselfes to tea , soda nad such, but that's how far it's been going. They are allowed to use the BBQoutside and a few dishes they need, but there too, they have all been great about cleaning up.
My longterm guest uses the kitchen to cook small items, like soups and such, and he is good at cleaning, but I had to ask him yesterday to not put the pots and pans into the DW, since I only have a few for breakfast and really don't want to have to clean them in the am before I can use them. He took it like a man and said no problem
wink_smile.gif
.
I can only say that if it's at all possible a locking door should always be on a kitchen in a bed and breakfast. If I didn't have one it would be a major priority whether it messed with the house design or not.
 
Our week long guests asked earlier in the week about borrowing a bowl to take a salad to their reunion. Sure. Well, turns out they bought some platters at Wally World and a bunch of veggies and needed to use the kitchen for prep. Fortunately, I had just finished all the fluffs and kitchen clean up when they came back from church, so I laid out a knife and cutting board and finally grabbed my shower and made it up to church in the nick of time.
Whatever... everything was clean and tidy when I returned.
=)
Kk.
 
Do you have a door separating the ktchn from the other rooms? We installed a door, and placed a "private" sign on it. It would be very much worth it, if you could install a door.
But, even though it says "private", some of the guests still want to use the refrgrtr. But they always ask first.
 
do you have a guest microwave? we do, purchased at home depot about 6 years ago. small, electric green .... little monster but it works great and they love it.
i can't find the pictures of your kitchen and where guests get their own coffee ...
 
The problem with using our kitchen is it is officially OUR QUARTERS. So by going in there, there is a security breach. CC info, reservations, business info, our bathroom, our bedrooms, the laundry, all things that guests will never be privvy to.
Plus I don't want anyone looking in my fridge or drawers.
I think with this house having strangers in it all the time, my own quarters have become even moreso private than before. Not that they are messy, in fact I keep the kitchen as clean as I can for health code purposes. The kids have nothing in there, as you can see it from the dining room. But it is still what I have taken for my own. Not for guests. I think it is the boundaries thing. Sure one guest once in a while is no big deal, but it actually stresses me out in the long run.
 
Our week long guests asked earlier in the week about borrowing a bowl to take a salad to their reunion. Sure. Well, turns out they bought some platters at Wally World and a bunch of veggies and needed to use the kitchen for prep. Fortunately, I had just finished all the fluffs and kitchen clean up when they came back from church, so I laid out a knife and cutting board and finally grabbed my shower and made it up to church in the nick of time.
Whatever... everything was clean and tidy when I returned.
=)
Kk..
There is only one group of guests that I would allow in my kitchen and that is a group that have stayed with us five times. They come in for the Yale/Harvard football game every other year when it is in New Haven. They take the entire B & B, party hardy and ask us to join them.
The kitchen is off limits to all other guests.
 
do you have a guest microwave? we do, purchased at home depot about 6 years ago. small, electric green .... little monster but it works great and they love it.
i can't find the pictures of your kitchen and where guests get their own coffee ....
seashanty said:
do you have a guest microwave? we do, purchased at home depot about 6 years ago. small, electric green .... little monster but it works great and they love it.
i can't find the pictures of your kitchen and where guests get their own coffee ...
No guest micro. I know all the hotels have mini kitchens now but I seriously do NOT want to be cleaning up guest micro messes before I can start brekkie in the morning. And there's not much worse than burnt food smells greeting everyone. Plus, one guest burns something, the next guest who wants to use the micro then thinks I'm a slob and don't keep a tidy inn.
Sorry, didn't mean to gripe, I just don't want 'one more thing' to clean. I want guests to respect the boundaries. I'll try to find a pic to post...
This pic (if it uploads) is taken standing in the dining room looking at the 'breakfast bar' where guests can get coffee/tea anytime. I put the snacks on the counter. Right behind that is my kitchen. Most guests see the visual boundary of the island and stop there. Silverware, plates, all the glasses, mugs, wine glasses, etc are all RIGHT there on the shelf to the left.
Never mind, I can't figure out how to post a picture.
Here's the link to the website with the pix.
DSCN0331.JPG

The 3rd pic down on the right is a good shot of both the guest area and the kitchen.
 
I am sure glad that my living quaters and the B&B are seperate, but it still would upset me if huests left a mess.
I will put out a seperate shelfing unit for the teas, plates and such since lots of this taking up lots of my counterspace at the moment....when we built, I thought I did not need a big kitchen cause I omly cook breakfast...yeah right....never have enough space, then guest want to use some of that space for their stuff...I am going to town tomorrow....
 
Our week long guests asked earlier in the week about borrowing a bowl to take a salad to their reunion. Sure. Well, turns out they bought some platters at Wally World and a bunch of veggies and needed to use the kitchen for prep. Fortunately, I had just finished all the fluffs and kitchen clean up when they came back from church, so I laid out a knife and cutting board and finally grabbed my shower and made it up to church in the nick of time.
Whatever... everything was clean and tidy when I returned.
=)
Kk..
There is only one group of guests that I would allow in my kitchen and that is a group that have stayed with us five times. They come in for the Yale/Harvard football game every other year when it is in New Haven. They take the entire B & B, party hardy and ask us to join them.
The kitchen is off limits to all other guests.
.
JeannineIrish said:
There is only one group of guests that I would allow in my kitchen and that is a group that have stayed with us five times. They come in for the Yale/Harvard football game every other year when it is in New Haven. They take the entire B & B, party hardy and ask us to join them.
The kitchen is off limits to all other guests.
If we had a 'whole house' group here, I wouldn't mind doing that as well.
 
I bet since your dining room is open to your kitchen your guests assume it's ok to use it? Even if they did feel it was OK they should at the very least clean up their mess! How do you keep future guests from doing the same thing?.
Hubs wants to put a velvet rope between the counters. You saw the kitchen, you know how open it is. My guess is it was the late arrivals who we didn't meet so we couldn't give them the speech.
I'm thinking some sort of sign on the counter might help. And I guess we go back to using the baby locks on the cupboards.
.
I'm not sure the baby locks would work, the guests that would use your kitchen without asking would just assume the locks were there to keep kids out....
It would sure be cheaper to make a sign to put out on the counter, but the velvet rope idea seems like to would work, and then for fun get some sort of cheap alarm from somewhere like Radio Shack so if a guest does cross into the kitchen the alarm would go off and then for even more fun, put in a nanny cam to watch them when the alarm does go off and they wet their pants!!
devil_smile.gif

 
do you have a guest microwave? we do, purchased at home depot about 6 years ago. small, electric green .... little monster but it works great and they love it.
i can't find the pictures of your kitchen and where guests get their own coffee ....
seashanty said:
do you have a guest microwave? we do, purchased at home depot about 6 years ago. small, electric green .... little monster but it works great and they love it.
i can't find the pictures of your kitchen and where guests get their own coffee ...
No guest micro. I know all the hotels have mini kitchens now but I seriously do NOT want to be cleaning up guest micro messes before I can start brekkie in the morning. And there's not much worse than burnt food smells greeting everyone. Plus, one guest burns something, the next guest who wants to use the micro then thinks I'm a slob and don't keep a tidy inn.
Sorry, didn't mean to gripe, I just don't want 'one more thing' to clean. I want guests to respect the boundaries. I'll try to find a pic to post...
This pic (if it uploads) is taken standing in the dining room looking at the 'breakfast bar' where guests can get coffee/tea anytime. I put the snacks on the counter. Right behind that is my kitchen. Most guests see the visual boundary of the island and stop there. Silverware, plates, all the glasses, mugs, wine glasses, etc are all RIGHT there on the shelf to the left.
Never mind, I can't figure out how to post a picture.
Here's the link to the website with the pix.
DSCN0331.JPG

The 3rd pic down on the right is a good shot of both the guest area and the kitchen.
.
I know you don't want to clean something else, but it seems like it would be less aggravation to have a guest microwave on your guest service island. Plus, you can pick them up relatively cheaply. I would bite the bullet & put one there for the guests who are tempted to go into the B&B kitchen area AND I would put a tent sign on top of it that said this is for guest use and the health department prohibits guests from using anything in the inn kitchen. Period, end of story. I'd also reconsider some kind of folding screen at least that you could put as a barrier in the evening between the island and your kitchen.
Knock on wood, no one has breached our swinging door into the kitchen from the dining room yet. So, I guess the "private" signs are working.
 
I have one couple who stays one week each month during the winter. They are very easy. He eats Cherrios every morning, and she has instant oatmeal that she brings with her. And, they like to do their own housekeeping. She asks me (insists!) for a sponge and some bathroom cleaner, so I leave that in the bathroom now when they are here. At bedding change time, she just likes for me to hand her the fresh linens and she likes to change the sheets herself. At first, I felt strange about this because all of that is part of the service I provide and that they are paying for. And no, there wasn't anything strange going on in their room. I had to go in there and run a new toilet hose (yes, the yucky side because I was getting sea water siphoning!) while they were out one evening, and everything was in its place.
Despite our being a dockside B&B, she likes to bring her own oatmeal, make it in the microwave each morning in the galley (kitchen), and prepare his cereal. OK. But, it gets a little bit hairy when I have other guests in addition to them and I have to cook. When I've got to get busy, I politely remind her, "This is a one-butt galley," and that's all I have to tell her.
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