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Cottage guest this a.m. could not get out of the Cottage (dead bolt & door knob locks) He 6 feet 1 inch & 195 lbs crawls out the kitchen window to the deck.Then calls me for help......What next ? They leave this a.m.....Mary
 
I'm confused! He couldn't get OUT?? Couldn't he just unlock the deadbolt?????
 
I'm confused! He couldn't get OUT?? Couldn't he just unlock the deadbolt?????.
GeorgiaGirl said:
I'm confused! He couldn't get OUT?? Couldn't he just unlock the deadbolt?????
me too. apparently the guest was confused as well.
.
mollysmom said:
GeorgiaGirl said:
I'm confused! He couldn't get OUT?? Couldn't he just unlock the deadbolt?????
me too. apparently the guest was confused as well.
oh, maybe the doorknob broke somehow?
 
I'm confused! He couldn't get OUT?? Couldn't he just unlock the deadbolt?????.
He probably unlocked one but not the other. I have deadbolt locks on the guestrooms and guests have had problems getting back in the rooms because they turn the key but forget to turn the DOOR KNOB! at the same time.
 
1 of our suites has an inside entrance & an outside entrance. guests of that room are forever locking the inside door & the deadbolt, then using the outside exit and locking it behind them. and of course they leave the key in their room.
 
Our deadbolts have a safety latch that if it is on, no one cane get in - even with a key. Once we had people who had a kid about 4 or 5 who was in the room alone for some reason and shut the door and managed to set that feature. Then the kid went into a crying fit because the door would not open. Grab you sides, Folks, this over-endowed rump then had to crawl OUT the bathroom window, cross the thankfully flat roof to the guestroom window and open it, and crawl through to unlock the door.
The windows are kept on latch as they are the fire escape and the large ones at the front of the house have 2 locks which would be a nightmare in an emergency otherwise - they would always have one locked and one unlocked!
 
I have never had that particular situation before. However, I have had guests lock themselves out on the deck before. We have security doors so that they can sleep with the door open if they want more fresh air.
They will usually just yell or call on their cell phone if they happen to have it with them. One ex-Marine actually shinnied down a tree and got down himself.
You better believe I go through the drill now whenever anyone checks in.
 
Our deadbolts have a safety latch that if it is on, no one cane get in - even with a key. Once we had people who had a kid about 4 or 5 who was in the room alone for some reason and shut the door and managed to set that feature. Then the kid went into a crying fit because the door would not open. Grab you sides, Folks, this over-endowed rump then had to crawl OUT the bathroom window, cross the thankfully flat roof to the guestroom window and open it, and crawl through to unlock the door.
The windows are kept on latch as they are the fire escape and the large ones at the front of the house have 2 locks which would be a nightmare in an emergency otherwise - they would always have one locked and one unlocked!.
Guest (a few) get confused about two locks. They do not have a key to the deadbolt lock but can lock it on the inside. Deadbolt is for me when the cottage is empty, I can lock it up as no one has that key but me. Just in case a previous guest made a key to the door handle lock( below dead bolt). Why they did not just call my cell(listes on the door rack) or use the Cottage line phone who knows. Possibly the weather might effect the lock also ?They are some of my Interstate 81 guest who travel up & down 81and stop here as I'am 3 miles West of 81.A Kodak moment for sure...Mary
 
little instruction card taped to the inside of the door?
my first year ~ we had a guest locked in her room who absolutely panicked. she had the old CHAIN LOCK on which she had locked herself in with. do you remember that one?! yikers!!
lock.jpg
 
Our keyed door locks (yes, we have them now for all of you who remember the ongoing beating I took for not having them) have one little idiosyncracy. If you leave the key in the lock on the outside of the door, and then throw the bolt from inside the room (using the turning thing on the lock) - you can not unthrow the bolt. It has happened about four or five times that guests have locked themselves in their rooms, usually overnight, and call on their cell phones to have us get them out. It might be time for a sign on the door. I hate that!
 
Our keyed door locks (yes, we have them now for all of you who remember the ongoing beating I took for not having them) have one little idiosyncracy. If you leave the key in the lock on the outside of the door, and then throw the bolt from inside the room (using the turning thing on the lock) - you can not unthrow the bolt. It has happened about four or five times that guests have locked themselves in their rooms, usually overnight, and call on their cell phones to have us get them out. It might be time for a sign on the door. I hate that!.
"It might be time for a sign on the door. I hate that!"
Don't we all....... I'd love to give people more credit than they someitmes deserve, but I think climate change, cell phones, bad haircuts, etc.. are frying people's brains.
Most all of us hate the prospect of being "one of those B&Bs with little signs everywhere", but what are we all supoosed to do when the average human's brain is turning to mush before our very eyes?
On the buffet, IN the dining room and one of the first things shown to people when they get the check in tour is this cute, kind of kitschy coffee cup tower we found made out of a table leg, heavy metal base and six bent spoons to hold the cups. We even have bright RED coffee cups hanging on the damn thing.
Guess how many guests come for breakfast and scratch their heads for a minute before asking "Where are the coffee cups?"
"Oh, right next to that shiny silver thing with hot, dark brown, liquid called coffee in it."
Maybe its our beds...... too comfy, give people amnesia...
What's next, we'll all have to give instructions on how to use the bed? LOL
 
I think the problem is that people's brains automatically shut off when they are on vacation.
 
It is a different environment.
Let's look at the facts of the matter here - within this forum something I find to be common sense is arguable by other members. So would it not be the same with our guests? One guest totally 'gets' it and another is clueless as it is not done 'that way' at home. People are different. Many stay at different BnB's within one trip alone, each innkeeper at check in might explain something that needs explaining, but the guests are thinking about using the restroom or starving and waiting to ask where to eat. Some feel you are treating them like children when you walk them through and show them simple things, so they don't listen. Next day...where is the coffee? Near the cups, creamer, sugars and big carafe.
 
Is there one thing at your BnB you know the guests won't 'get' so just wait for them to ask?
Example - a/c in one room, it works the opposite of most units - you put the thermostat HIGHER than the actual temp, so if it is 78 you put it to 85 to keep it turned on (this is a problem with the system). 1) I have a note there how to operate this. 2) I have it preset. 3) I explain it at check in.
Guests always call or come to me asking how to get it to work.
One reason is it doesn't just BOOM turn on, it takes a second, and then they begin pushing all the buttons and mess it up. It happens all the time. We should put a new thermostat on it, but it works just fine.
 
It is a different environment.
Let's look at the facts of the matter here - within this forum something I find to be common sense is arguable by other members. So would it not be the same with our guests? One guest totally 'gets' it and another is clueless as it is not done 'that way' at home. People are different. Many stay at different BnB's within one trip alone, each innkeeper at check in might explain something that needs explaining, but the guests are thinking about using the restroom or starving and waiting to ask where to eat. Some feel you are treating them like children when you walk them through and show them simple things, so they don't listen. Next day...where is the coffee? Near the cups, creamer, sugars and big carafe..
The number of guests who pick up the electric kettle thinking it is the creamer pitcher really boggles the mind. They pour hot water into their coffee and stand there looking dismayed. Ditto the guests who look at the mini moos, think they are pats of butter and then ask 'where's the creamer?' Why they think I would have a big bowl of butter on the counter with the coffee is a question I can't answer. But each one says they thought it was butter.
And, yes, these are all the same people who got the whole tour the day before but like you said, their minds were elsewhere.
I wish guests would tell us it's their first B&B. I've had quite a few newbies who look into the dining room, see everyone eating and say, 'Do we get our own food out of the fridge?'
But, if we try to tell guests, 'Just have a seat and we'll bring out the first course,' they adamantly refuse to have a seat. No, they want to check their email, read the paper, have 3 cups of coffee and then get upset when all the other guests DO have a seat and there are no seats left!
 
Our keyed door locks (yes, we have them now for all of you who remember the ongoing beating I took for not having them) have one little idiosyncracy. If you leave the key in the lock on the outside of the door, and then throw the bolt from inside the room (using the turning thing on the lock) - you can not unthrow the bolt. It has happened about four or five times that guests have locked themselves in their rooms, usually overnight, and call on their cell phones to have us get them out. It might be time for a sign on the door. I hate that!.
I'm more comfortable being able to lock my room when I leave. Especially since I travel with my laptop, cell phone, and iPod usually. I know that a lot of places are really safe but you don't really know your fellow travelers, do you? You never know....
So, good for you for adding the locks!! :)
 
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