Guests using multiple bathrooms

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Country Girl

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Hi,
I own a small B&B with three bedrooms and three private baths. One of the bathrooms is in the B&B room while the other two are just outside their respective B&B rooms. Lately we have had a problem with guests who are staying in one room using their bathroom and also the other bathrooms. We have been in business for 12 years and until this past year this has never been a problem. But this year it's happening over and over again, even when we ask the guests not to use the other bathrooms. Today we had a family of three staying in the room with the private bath. I did not have guests in the other two rooms. The family used all 3 bathrooms, including the showers. Is anyone else having this problem? I keep the bedroom and bathroom doors open because it adds light to the hallway and the rooms are very pretty. If i close them the hallway becomes very dark and I would have to leave a light on constantly. I don't want our B&B to have the feel of a hotel with all the doors closed. I guess this is the route I will have to take if I can't get things to change. I was just wondering if anyone else is having the same problem. I find it so strange that it has never been an issue until this year. Thanks for your feedback.
 
WOW! The nerve of some people.
CLOSE THE DOORS and...
LOCK THE DOORS when not booked.
Perhaps this year you are getting more non-B&B guests than before? We want everyone to love B&B's but there are those new to staying in them and don't really know "the rules."
You can also mention they will be charged to room rate for ALL three rooms now.
Welcome to the forum!
 
Welcome...some of these folks may be not your usual B & B people. We always keep our empty rooms closed and locked. Avoid the problem by not having open rooms. If they want to see a room, they will ask.
 
Hi Country Girl. I would keep the doors closed and locked. I know it makes for a darker hall, but I imagine when you have a full house of guests, they close the door to their rooms/baths anyway, so it's not like the hall can always be bright with natural light. Perhaps hang mirrors throughout the hall to help reflect light and make it look more airy.
BTW, that's a beautiful sunset (sunrise?).
 
welcome!
I had this problem as well and i am sorry to say i HAD to close and lock the other guest room doors. otherwise, i might find that i'd be ready to check someone in to a clean room and do a quick look-see first discover the bathroom was dirty.
i found that people did not want to WAIT to use their bathroom, so would slip into an unoccupied room to use that one.
they did not want to make the treck up to their room especially on the third floor, so would go into an open room's bathroom.
also, it occurred to me that they did not want to make their own bathroom smell so would exit their guestroom, go into an open room's bathroom, and then return to their room.
there was an attitude of 'it's only me ... i'm not doing any harm' ... i don't believe they THINK this through. i could not tell when i met the guests which ones would turn into BV's (bathroom violators!) i also had guests wandering into other rooms to take a peek -- they would sit on the bed, etc. so then the room was not the way i wanted it for checkins.
i am sorry ... if it makes the hallway dark, you will have to light it. please trust me ... i dealt with it time and time again ... and learned my lesson the hard way.
 
WOW! The nerve of some people.
CLOSE THE DOORS and...
LOCK THE DOORS when not booked.
Perhaps this year you are getting more non-B&B guests than before? We want everyone to love B&B's but there are those new to staying in them and don't really know "the rules."
You can also mention they will be charged to room rate for ALL three rooms now.
Welcome to the forum!.
Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I am really enjoing this forum. I've learned a lot already. I guess I will have to keep the doors closed from now on or tell the guests that they will be charged a cleaning fee if they use the bathrooms.
 
Thanks for the quick responses. I'm happy to know that I am not the only one dealing with this problem. I find it strange, however, that before this year we never had anyone use a bathroom that was not their own. Our B&B clientele has not changed but perhaps attitudes have changed. Interesting. Thanks again.
 
WOW! The nerve of some people.
CLOSE THE DOORS and...
LOCK THE DOORS when not booked.
Perhaps this year you are getting more non-B&B guests than before? We want everyone to love B&B's but there are those new to staying in them and don't really know "the rules."
You can also mention they will be charged to room rate for ALL three rooms now.
Welcome to the forum!.
Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I am really enjoing this forum. I've learned a lot already. I guess I will have to keep the doors closed from now on or tell the guests that they will be charged a cleaning fee if they use the bathrooms.
.
Don't bother telling them anything! It doesn't matter..they will think they can get away with it. Just keep the doors locked and all will be ok:) Less hassle for you. and one less rule you have to explain:)
 
WOW! The nerve of some people.
CLOSE THE DOORS and...
LOCK THE DOORS when not booked.
Perhaps this year you are getting more non-B&B guests than before? We want everyone to love B&B's but there are those new to staying in them and don't really know "the rules."
You can also mention they will be charged to room rate for ALL three rooms now.
Welcome to the forum!.
Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I am really enjoing this forum. I've learned a lot already. I guess I will have to keep the doors closed from now on or tell the guests that they will be charged a cleaning fee if they use the bathrooms.
.
Country Girl said:
Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I am really enjoing this forum. I've learned a lot already. I guess I will have to keep the doors closed from now on or tell the guests that they will be charged a cleaning fee if they use the bathrooms.
Closed? LOCKED!
Hey an open door on a restroom is an INVITATION.
Now as to showering in it, that is a whole new flippin' issue with guests having no boundaries. If they want two bathrooms they can pay for two bathrooms!
poke.gif
poke em in the head like this.
 
Keeping the light on in the hallway constantly seems like less work for you than cleaning all the bathrooms! You could use Flourescent bulbs to keep energy use down.
What part of the country are you in if you don't mind me asking??
 
Welcome.
Well of couse a family of 3 is going to use 3 showers after all they are all going to need to get ready at teh same time! This is not a hotel tht limits one to just one bathroom after all...... They were not being used by anyone else so what does it matter? It is not as if they were going to take a shower in a shower someone else had used. Yep, why would a B & B owner want to throttle them?
I am sorry you are having the problem. So far I have not had the problem - I have a bathroom at the top of the stairs that is a shared bath but I DO keep the hall lights on as long as there is anyone in-house. An insurance agent told me that if a guest had to reach out and flip on the light switch and did not flip that switch but fell on the stairs, I would be liable because they had to turn on the light switch. I now leave those suckers on 24/7 when guests are here. Cheaper than law suits. My problem is the conscientious guest who turns them OFF at night.
 
Welcome.
Well of couse a family of 3 is going to use 3 showers after all they are all going to need to get ready at teh same time! This is not a hotel tht limits one to just one bathroom after all...... They were not being used by anyone else so what does it matter? It is not as if they were going to take a shower in a shower someone else had used. Yep, why would a B & B owner want to throttle them?
I am sorry you are having the problem. So far I have not had the problem - I have a bathroom at the top of the stairs that is a shared bath but I DO keep the hall lights on as long as there is anyone in-house. An insurance agent told me that if a guest had to reach out and flip on the light switch and did not flip that switch but fell on the stairs, I would be liable because they had to turn on the light switch. I now leave those suckers on 24/7 when guests are here. Cheaper than law suits. My problem is the conscientious guest who turns them OFF at night..
I know why you keep your lights on:) However, when I have stayed at some B & B's the hall light shines through the door or a transom or such..and since I am such a light sleeper, it really bothers me. I have stuffed towels under doors and tried to 'jerririg" towels over transoms etc....So sometimes..I am guilty..I do turn off lights in a hallway:-( Sorry.
 
Country Girl said:
Hi,
I own a small B&B with three bedrooms and three private baths. One of the bathrooms is in the B&B room while the other two are just outside their respective B&B rooms. Lately we have had a problem with guests who are staying in one room using their bathroom and also the other bathrooms. We have been in business for 12 years and until this past year this has never been a problem. But this year it's happening over and over again, even when we ask the guests not to use the other bathrooms. Today we had a family of three staying in the room with the private bath. I did not have guests in the other two rooms. The family used all 3 bathrooms, including the showers. Is anyone else having this problem? I keep the bedroom and bathroom doors open because it adds light to the hallway and the rooms are very pretty. If i close them the hallway becomes very dark and I would have to leave a light on constantly. I don't want our B&B to have the feel of a hotel with all the doors closed. I guess this is the route I will have to take if I can't get things to change. I was just wondering if anyone else is having the same problem. I find it so strange that it has never been an issue until this year. Thanks for your feedback.
Without even reading what everyone else said, I know what you're going thru. I have the same layout...if I close all the doors it is dark, dark, dark in the hallway. If I don't close the doors, guests wander into all the rooms and use whatever they find. We have the same situation with one bathroom being in the hallway. We have to lock it in order to keep guests with ensuite bathrooms from using it.
If you can put some mirrors in the hallway and leave just a small light on, it will make it much brighter.
Why it is happening now and not over the 12 years is up for grabs but I'd say because NO ONE shares a bathroom at home anymore, no one has to wait in line and a lot of guests feel that if there's no one else using the bathroom, why the heck do you CARE??? Well, the cleaning aspect is just one thing!
So, if these guests are staying another night, LOCK all the doors. They sure as heck won't say a word about it!
 
WOW! The nerve of some people.
CLOSE THE DOORS and...
LOCK THE DOORS when not booked.
Perhaps this year you are getting more non-B&B guests than before? We want everyone to love B&B's but there are those new to staying in them and don't really know "the rules."
You can also mention they will be charged to room rate for ALL three rooms now.
Welcome to the forum!.
Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I am really enjoing this forum. I've learned a lot already. I guess I will have to keep the doors closed from now on or tell the guests that they will be charged a cleaning fee if they use the bathrooms.
.
Country Girl said:
Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I am really enjoing this forum. I've learned a lot already. I guess I will have to keep the doors closed from now on or tell the guests that they will be charged a cleaning fee if they use the bathrooms.
Don't throw the fee at them. If you do that, they'll think they're entitled to ANYTHING in that guest room including use of the beds. And I would not just close the doors, you may find you have to lock them as well. Annoying as that is.
 
Welcome.
Well of couse a family of 3 is going to use 3 showers after all they are all going to need to get ready at teh same time! This is not a hotel tht limits one to just one bathroom after all...... They were not being used by anyone else so what does it matter? It is not as if they were going to take a shower in a shower someone else had used. Yep, why would a B & B owner want to throttle them?
I am sorry you are having the problem. So far I have not had the problem - I have a bathroom at the top of the stairs that is a shared bath but I DO keep the hall lights on as long as there is anyone in-house. An insurance agent told me that if a guest had to reach out and flip on the light switch and did not flip that switch but fell on the stairs, I would be liable because they had to turn on the light switch. I now leave those suckers on 24/7 when guests are here. Cheaper than law suits. My problem is the conscientious guest who turns them OFF at night..
I know why you keep your lights on:) However, when I have stayed at some B & B's the hall light shines through the door or a transom or such..and since I am such a light sleeper, it really bothers me. I have stuffed towels under doors and tried to 'jerririg" towels over transoms etc....So sometimes..I am guilty..I do turn off lights in a hallway:-( Sorry.
.
catlady said:
I know why you keep your lights on:) However, when I have stayed at some B & B's the hall light shines through the door or a transom or such..and since I am such a light sleeper, it really bothers me. I have stuffed towels under doors and tried to 'jerririg" towels over transoms etc....So sometimes..I am guilty..I do turn off lights in a hallway:-( Sorry.
Highjack alert (insert pirate smiley here)...we FIXED that problem this winter...with the new carpet, no light UNDER the doors and with the new small strip of wood at the top of the door frame, no light over the top of the doors! Yippee!
 
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to.
 
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to..
JunieBJones (JBJ) said:
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to.
And yet...I will get 4 women wanting to share one bathroom to save the cost of booking 2 rooms. I try to 'gently' explain that the suite has TWO bathrooms and the big room has ONE bathroom, but it's all about saving money.
And we labeled the light switches!
 
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to..
JunieBJones (JBJ) said:
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to.
And yet...I will get 4 women wanting to share one bathroom to save the cost of booking 2 rooms. I try to 'gently' explain that the suite has TWO bathrooms and the big room has ONE bathroom, but it's all about saving money.
And we labeled the light switches!
.
Bree said:
JunieBJones (JBJ) said:
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to.
And yet...I will get 4 women wanting to share one bathroom to save the cost of booking 2 rooms. I try to 'gently' explain that the suite has TWO bathrooms and the big room has ONE bathroom, but it's all about saving money.
And we labeled the light switches!
glow in the dark labels?
 
Trivia for the day
Why do guests think we do the pointy fold on the end of the TP? So we can see if someone has used it! I mean the lid up is another dead giveaway...
 
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to..
JunieBJones (JBJ) said:
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to.
And yet...I will get 4 women wanting to share one bathroom to save the cost of booking 2 rooms. I try to 'gently' explain that the suite has TWO bathrooms and the big room has ONE bathroom, but it's all about saving money.
And we labeled the light switches!
.
Bree said:
JunieBJones (JBJ) said:
These are all humorous answers I have to say. We have DARK WALNUT CEILINGS upstairs!
I have finally convinced DH about keeping areas lit so noone breaks their neck. Some guests do turn off ALL the lights, and even double lock the front door. On ocassion I have confronted them as they LOCK out other guests and leave them in the dark. One thing about old houses - the light switches are NEVER where you think they should be.
The other guest room doors remain closed and locked. You do NOT KNOW what guests do in the other guest rooms or bathrooms. Well sometimes you do, we are aces at putting 2 and 2 together. I agree Bree, noone has to wait at home, so why wait in a lodging facility. I am the same, going somewhere with family in tow - I about go insane to use the bathroom when I need to.
And yet...I will get 4 women wanting to share one bathroom to save the cost of booking 2 rooms. I try to 'gently' explain that the suite has TWO bathrooms and the big room has ONE bathroom, but it's all about saving money.
And we labeled the light switches!
glow in the dark labels?
.
Ah, no, not that helpful! But helpful for guests wanting to sit in the dining room at night, or the ones who don't know what switch to hit to turn off the living room lights. Little things to take some of the 'what light switch runs THAT light?' stress.
 
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