Request to see Guest Room for future visit

[Joey Camb]

The only time we had people pop in to have a look was the most inapporpriate time! We were shut for a week to do a ton of work ie new carpets, decorating, block paving by the back door and the list goes on. So they rang the bell looking for rooms for dates in September for a group of 8 couples for 3 nights and I answer the door looking like a homeless person, there are workmen and carpet fitters bare chested and hanging out of everywhere and calling to each other cos it was august and boiling hot. My mum had all laundry out everywhere all over the lounge in piles, no rooms to show really cos everything that was in the rooms being worked on was stuffed in the other rooms. They seemed nice though. But didn't book lol

 

[Don Draper]

This is why I just love this website and forum - I've been frettin about this all day- wasting precious time when I have rooms to change and toilets to clean . Y'all have helped me immensely ! I really did KNOW what to do- I just did not know how to word it and address it head-on. Reading through your suggestions makes me smile and now I will call this lying witch and kindly lie right back! Tell her ALL my rooms are booked and ask if I can answer any questions she may have over the phone - direct her to my website.
Today I had the greatest couple staying with me- HE is ( a fine Lt. Col. ) in the 10th Mountain Divison - home on R and R from Afghanistan - a surprise from his wife. My Military Folk are wonderful- my local yocals are time wasters. I refuse to fall victim to a Bully. I do not need her business-Not to be hubris, but I do just fine without cowing to "inspections" from nosey people who have nothing better to do with their time. BTW- her mother in law is dead too. And- if her mother was alive, how cruel to make a 90 year old woman climb stairs to the Guest Rooms ( as clearly indicated on my web site).
Once again, Friends- thank you ! I needed your comments and suggestions to get me in line..

I really did KNOW what to do- I just did not know how to word it and address it head-on.

Sometimes this is all it takes...once you have your "stock" answer ready the situation won't creep up on you again. Another reason this forum is invaluable...it's almost guaranteed that someone's got the answer to what you're looking for!

 

[Alibi Ike]

I absolutely refuse anyone who shows up at the door for a look. I've done it once or twice and every time I do I regret it more than the last.
That being said, one of our favourite guests is the daughter of someone who lives in town and called and asked to see the rooms for her mother. And yes, the daughter is a real estate agent.
We have had a few people who have asked to see the B&B for relatives. As long as they call and arrange, that's fine. They get to see the B&B... but only the public areas that I want to show them. Not occupied guests rooms and certainly not the private areas.
As for the tall tale. Just say something like, my condolences on the passing of your mother. And she knows that the cat is out of the bag. Don't worry, she will get the message that she was caught in a lie. People lie for many reasons and sometimes it's just simply to avoid long explanations..

It's all perspective and location. If I'm here and the house is in decent shape, come on in. I have shown the building dozens of times to people who are just in town in the planning stages of a wedding. Do they book? Some do, some don't but they've all had the chance to make an informed decision on whether or not their guests will be happy here. I'd rather they looked around, decided we're not what they want than have them reserve the whole place and hate it for a weekend.
No one thinks to call ahead because they didn't even know we were here until they got to town. They found all of the hotels and in driving around to see if those are close enough to the event location they see us. They stop, they explain, I let them in. If it's afternoon, they might just get cookies, too. If not, they can have tea while they look.
NONE of this takes more than 20 minutes of my time and has made me thousands of dollars.
If nothing else, I have made this TOWN seem like a good place to have their escape wedding.
We've had a bunch of open houses, too. The nosy parkers all show up for those. I get more than I give. I get the history of the house, and inside look at the people who lived here, how they were liked or not. What I give is a little bit of someone's past back to them and a couple of biscuits.
Of course it takes a lot out of me in the middle of July to do a house tour, but most lookie lous come now when it's quiet.
I need to explain, also, that a LOT of my business is walk-in so I must do this. This is a walk-in town. People get here with the idea they are going to stop for a couple of hours on the way to somewhere else and then they decide to stay.
.

I live in the inner city... I refuse almost all walk-up business. In the summer I sometimes will call other B&Bs to find people a place if the person on my doorstep impress me. But for the most part, I'm booked for the summer. I'm over three-quarters booked for May already... I'm trying to fill holes, but walk-ups are generally too late. But I do pass them on to other B&Bs.
At least once every summer someone will come to the door with a GC from a 3rd party that I accept and ask me if I accept them. Yes, I do. Do you have a room available? Nope.
How do you handle walk-up business? What kind of information do you take from them? (When I have taken walk-up business, they have to provide a passport of government issued ID at a minimum.) Must they pay by CC or do you accept cash?
.

I take their address. They could make it up for all I know. (But so could someone booking on the phone or online.) I don't need an email because I'm not sending them anything. Don't need a phone because I'm not calling them. Foreigners offer their passports all the time. It's usually easier to get their address that way because none of them write anything I can read!
If they would rather pay cash, all fine and dandy. If they pay via cc I still only have the receipt I don't write the number down.
I know it all sounds very casual to someone from the city. But this is a casual place and if someone is going to lie, they generally have some proof of the lie. ie- if they've stolen the cc, they'll probably have a license from the same wallet.
My 'season' is still wide open. It usually is until the week of, sometimes I fill an empty house with walk-ins. We've adapted to this kind of biz model to survive. Sure, I'd rather know well in advance but that isn't going to happen here.

 

[JBloggs]

I absolutely refuse anyone who shows up at the door for a look. I've done it once or twice and every time I do I regret it more than the last.
That being said, one of our favourite guests is the daughter of someone who lives in town and called and asked to see the rooms for her mother. And yes, the daughter is a real estate agent.
We have had a few people who have asked to see the B&B for relatives. As long as they call and arrange, that's fine. They get to see the B&B... but only the public areas that I want to show them. Not occupied guests rooms and certainly not the private areas.
As for the tall tale. Just say something like, my condolences on the passing of your mother. And she knows that the cat is out of the bag. Don't worry, she will get the message that she was caught in a lie. People lie for many reasons and sometimes it's just simply to avoid long explanations..

It's all perspective and location. If I'm here and the house is in decent shape, come on in. I have shown the building dozens of times to people who are just in town in the planning stages of a wedding. Do they book? Some do, some don't but they've all had the chance to make an informed decision on whether or not their guests will be happy here. I'd rather they looked around, decided we're not what they want than have them reserve the whole place and hate it for a weekend.
No one thinks to call ahead because they didn't even know we were here until they got to town. They found all of the hotels and in driving around to see if those are close enough to the event location they see us. They stop, they explain, I let them in. If it's afternoon, they might just get cookies, too. If not, they can have tea while they look.
NONE of this takes more than 20 minutes of my time and has made me thousands of dollars.
If nothing else, I have made this TOWN seem like a good place to have their escape wedding.
We've had a bunch of open houses, too. The nosy parkers all show up for those. I get more than I give. I get the history of the house, and inside look at the people who lived here, how they were liked or not. What I give is a little bit of someone's past back to them and a couple of biscuits.
Of course it takes a lot out of me in the middle of July to do a house tour, but most lookie lous come now when it's quiet.
I need to explain, also, that a LOT of my business is walk-in so I must do this. This is a walk-in town. People get here with the idea they are going to stop for a couple of hours on the way to somewhere else and then they decide to stay.
.

I live in the inner city... I refuse almost all walk-up business. In the summer I sometimes will call other B&Bs to find people a place if the person on my doorstep impress me. But for the most part, I'm booked for the summer. I'm over three-quarters booked for May already... I'm trying to fill holes, but walk-ups are generally too late. But I do pass them on to other B&Bs.
At least once every summer someone will come to the door with a GC from a 3rd party that I accept and ask me if I accept them. Yes, I do. Do you have a room available? Nope.
How do you handle walk-up business? What kind of information do you take from them? (When I have taken walk-up business, they have to provide a passport of government issued ID at a minimum.) Must they pay by CC or do you accept cash?
.

I take their address. They could make it up for all I know. (But so could someone booking on the phone or online.) I don't need an email because I'm not sending them anything. Don't need a phone because I'm not calling them. Foreigners offer their passports all the time. It's usually easier to get their address that way because none of them write anything I can read!
If they would rather pay cash, all fine and dandy. If they pay via cc I still only have the receipt I don't write the number down.
I know it all sounds very casual to someone from the city. But this is a casual place and if someone is going to lie, they generally have some proof of the lie. ie- if they've stolen the cc, they'll probably have a license from the same wallet.
My 'season' is still wide open. It usually is until the week of, sometimes I fill an empty house with walk-ins. We've adapted to this kind of biz model to survive. Sure, I'd rather know well in advance but that isn't going to happen here.
.

I see this new forum poster watching as her orig thread goes into innkeeping land...far far away. haha
BTW I have guests here (one nighter) who have a home just north of you Ike.

 

[Alibi Ike]

I absolutely refuse anyone who shows up at the door for a look. I've done it once or twice and every time I do I regret it more than the last.
That being said, one of our favourite guests is the daughter of someone who lives in town and called and asked to see the rooms for her mother. And yes, the daughter is a real estate agent.
We have had a few people who have asked to see the B&B for relatives. As long as they call and arrange, that's fine. They get to see the B&B... but only the public areas that I want to show them. Not occupied guests rooms and certainly not the private areas.
As for the tall tale. Just say something like, my condolences on the passing of your mother. And she knows that the cat is out of the bag. Don't worry, she will get the message that she was caught in a lie. People lie for many reasons and sometimes it's just simply to avoid long explanations..

It's all perspective and location. If I'm here and the house is in decent shape, come on in. I have shown the building dozens of times to people who are just in town in the planning stages of a wedding. Do they book? Some do, some don't but they've all had the chance to make an informed decision on whether or not their guests will be happy here. I'd rather they looked around, decided we're not what they want than have them reserve the whole place and hate it for a weekend.
No one thinks to call ahead because they didn't even know we were here until they got to town. They found all of the hotels and in driving around to see if those are close enough to the event location they see us. They stop, they explain, I let them in. If it's afternoon, they might just get cookies, too. If not, they can have tea while they look.
NONE of this takes more than 20 minutes of my time and has made me thousands of dollars.
If nothing else, I have made this TOWN seem like a good place to have their escape wedding.
We've had a bunch of open houses, too. The nosy parkers all show up for those. I get more than I give. I get the history of the house, and inside look at the people who lived here, how they were liked or not. What I give is a little bit of someone's past back to them and a couple of biscuits.
Of course it takes a lot out of me in the middle of July to do a house tour, but most lookie lous come now when it's quiet.
I need to explain, also, that a LOT of my business is walk-in so I must do this. This is a walk-in town. People get here with the idea they are going to stop for a couple of hours on the way to somewhere else and then they decide to stay.
.

I live in the inner city... I refuse almost all walk-up business. In the summer I sometimes will call other B&Bs to find people a place if the person on my doorstep impress me. But for the most part, I'm booked for the summer. I'm over three-quarters booked for May already... I'm trying to fill holes, but walk-ups are generally too late. But I do pass them on to other B&Bs.
At least once every summer someone will come to the door with a GC from a 3rd party that I accept and ask me if I accept them. Yes, I do. Do you have a room available? Nope.
How do you handle walk-up business? What kind of information do you take from them? (When I have taken walk-up business, they have to provide a passport of government issued ID at a minimum.) Must they pay by CC or do you accept cash?
.

I take their address. They could make it up for all I know. (But so could someone booking on the phone or online.) I don't need an email because I'm not sending them anything. Don't need a phone because I'm not calling them. Foreigners offer their passports all the time. It's usually easier to get their address that way because none of them write anything I can read!
If they would rather pay cash, all fine and dandy. If they pay via cc I still only have the receipt I don't write the number down.
I know it all sounds very casual to someone from the city. But this is a casual place and if someone is going to lie, they generally have some proof of the lie. ie- if they've stolen the cc, they'll probably have a license from the same wallet.
My 'season' is still wide open. It usually is until the week of, sometimes I fill an empty house with walk-ins. We've adapted to this kind of biz model to survive. Sure, I'd rather know well in advance but that isn't going to happen here.
.

I see this new forum poster watching as her orig thread goes into innkeeping land...far far away. haha
BTW I have guests here (one nighter) who have a home just north of you Ike.
.

You can tell them it is overcast but judging by what the postman is wearing it is warmish out there.

 

[toddburme]

What if she has an out of state client who will pay anything to own your B&B and she is trying to get a peak to get a feel for it. It could be a good thing.

 

[white pine]

I absolutely refuse anyone who shows up at the door for a look. I've done it once or twice and every time I do I regret it more than the last.
That being said, one of our favourite guests is the daughter of someone who lives in town and called and asked to see the rooms for her mother. And yes, the daughter is a real estate agent.
We have had a few people who have asked to see the B&B for relatives. As long as they call and arrange, that's fine. They get to see the B&B... but only the public areas that I want to show them. Not occupied guests rooms and certainly not the private areas.
As for the tall tale. Just say something like, my condolences on the passing of your mother. And she knows that the cat is out of the bag. Don't worry, she will get the message that she was caught in a lie. People lie for many reasons and sometimes it's just simply to avoid long explanations..

It's all perspective and location. If I'm here and the house is in decent shape, come on in. I have shown the building dozens of times to people who are just in town in the planning stages of a wedding. Do they book? Some do, some don't but they've all had the chance to make an informed decision on whether or not their guests will be happy here. I'd rather they looked around, decided we're not what they want than have them reserve the whole place and hate it for a weekend.
No one thinks to call ahead because they didn't even know we were here until they got to town. They found all of the hotels and in driving around to see if those are close enough to the event location they see us. They stop, they explain, I let them in. If it's afternoon, they might just get cookies, too. If not, they can have tea while they look.
NONE of this takes more than 20 minutes of my time and has made me thousands of dollars.
If nothing else, I have made this TOWN seem like a good place to have their escape wedding.
We've had a bunch of open houses, too. The nosy parkers all show up for those. I get more than I give. I get the history of the house, and inside look at the people who lived here, how they were liked or not. What I give is a little bit of someone's past back to them and a couple of biscuits.
Of course it takes a lot out of me in the middle of July to do a house tour, but most lookie lous come now when it's quiet.
I need to explain, also, that a LOT of my business is walk-in so I must do this. This is a walk-in town. People get here with the idea they are going to stop for a couple of hours on the way to somewhere else and then they decide to stay.
.

I live in the inner city... I refuse almost all walk-up business. In the summer I sometimes will call other B&Bs to find people a place if the person on my doorstep impress me. But for the most part, I'm booked for the summer. I'm over three-quarters booked for May already... I'm trying to fill holes, but walk-ups are generally too late. But I do pass them on to other B&Bs.
At least once every summer someone will come to the door with a GC from a 3rd party that I accept and ask me if I accept them. Yes, I do. Do you have a room available? Nope.
How do you handle walk-up business? What kind of information do you take from them? (When I have taken walk-up business, they have to provide a passport of government issued ID at a minimum.) Must they pay by CC or do you accept cash?
.

Actual "walk-up" is almost non-exisient here because I am 6+ miles off the Interstate. the few times it has been knock on the door, I am usually unready and tell them they have to come back after 4 (or go to dinner and come back so I can be ready). No, I am NOT ready at all times because most of my "walk-ins" are calling from the highway and that gives me time.
We do not need passports or ID cards other than those that say Visa or Mastercard. That is all the ID I require. I rarely turn down a potential guest. I need to hear that lovely sound - ka-ching!
I had to write a love peom as a junbior in high school. I got an A++ on it. It begins.....
Talk about hair, talk about eyes
Talk about girls, talk about guys.
This is that love that really lingers
The feel of greenbacks through my fingers.
.

LOVE, Greenbacks through my fingers....gonna write that down!

 

[gillumhouse]

I absolutely refuse anyone who shows up at the door for a look. I've done it once or twice and every time I do I regret it more than the last.
That being said, one of our favourite guests is the daughter of someone who lives in town and called and asked to see the rooms for her mother. And yes, the daughter is a real estate agent.
We have had a few people who have asked to see the B&B for relatives. As long as they call and arrange, that's fine. They get to see the B&B... but only the public areas that I want to show them. Not occupied guests rooms and certainly not the private areas.
As for the tall tale. Just say something like, my condolences on the passing of your mother. And she knows that the cat is out of the bag. Don't worry, she will get the message that she was caught in a lie. People lie for many reasons and sometimes it's just simply to avoid long explanations..

It's all perspective and location. If I'm here and the house is in decent shape, come on in. I have shown the building dozens of times to people who are just in town in the planning stages of a wedding. Do they book? Some do, some don't but they've all had the chance to make an informed decision on whether or not their guests will be happy here. I'd rather they looked around, decided we're not what they want than have them reserve the whole place and hate it for a weekend.
No one thinks to call ahead because they didn't even know we were here until they got to town. They found all of the hotels and in driving around to see if those are close enough to the event location they see us. They stop, they explain, I let them in. If it's afternoon, they might just get cookies, too. If not, they can have tea while they look.
NONE of this takes more than 20 minutes of my time and has made me thousands of dollars.
If nothing else, I have made this TOWN seem like a good place to have their escape wedding.
We've had a bunch of open houses, too. The nosy parkers all show up for those. I get more than I give. I get the history of the house, and inside look at the people who lived here, how they were liked or not. What I give is a little bit of someone's past back to them and a couple of biscuits.
Of course it takes a lot out of me in the middle of July to do a house tour, but most lookie lous come now when it's quiet.
I need to explain, also, that a LOT of my business is walk-in so I must do this. This is a walk-in town. People get here with the idea they are going to stop for a couple of hours on the way to somewhere else and then they decide to stay.
.

I live in the inner city... I refuse almost all walk-up business. In the summer I sometimes will call other B&Bs to find people a place if the person on my doorstep impress me. But for the most part, I'm booked for the summer. I'm over three-quarters booked for May already... I'm trying to fill holes, but walk-ups are generally too late. But I do pass them on to other B&Bs.
At least once every summer someone will come to the door with a GC from a 3rd party that I accept and ask me if I accept them. Yes, I do. Do you have a room available? Nope.
How do you handle walk-up business? What kind of information do you take from them? (When I have taken walk-up business, they have to provide a passport of government issued ID at a minimum.) Must they pay by CC or do you accept cash?
.

Actual "walk-up" is almost non-exisient here because I am 6+ miles off the Interstate. the few times it has been knock on the door, I am usually unready and tell them they have to come back after 4 (or go to dinner and come back so I can be ready). No, I am NOT ready at all times because most of my "walk-ins" are calling from the highway and that gives me time.
We do not need passports or ID cards other than those that say Visa or Mastercard. That is all the ID I require. I rarely turn down a potential guest. I need to hear that lovely sound - ka-ching!
I had to write a love peom as a junbior in high school. I got an A++ on it. It begins.....
Talk about hair, talk about eyes
Talk about girls, talk about guys.
This is that love that really lingers
The feel of greenbacks through my fingers.
.

LOVE, Greenbacks through my fingers....gonna write that down!

.

And
Tinkle, Tinkle little coin
Could it be to me you're going?
Denominations on the ends
Is the love that really sends.

 

[The Tipsy Butler]

I know this doesn't help with the issues specific to this particular realtor, but I get ALOT of business during the off-season from our local realtors, usually multiple night stays and repeat guests who are looking to move to, or buy a vacation home in, the area.

 

[bbinnsitters]

What if she has an out of state client who will pay anything to own your B&B and she is trying to get a peak to get a feel for it. It could be a good thing..

It could definitely be a good thing, but why lie?!

 

[Don Draper]

What if she has an out of state client who will pay anything to own your B&B and she is trying to get a peak to get a feel for it. It could be a good thing..

If that's the case just be up front about it. Or just book a room and stay there.

 

[Generic]

What if she has an out of state client who will pay anything to own your B&B and she is trying to get a peak to get a feel for it. It could be a good thing..

It could definitely be a good thing, but why lie?!
.

How many guests do you get that tell you that they are allergic to something but in reality just don't like it and figured that saying they are allergic just gives less resistance? It's easy to argue with "I don't like mushrooms" but hard to argue with "I'm allergic to mushrooms".
That's one of the problems with cancellation, so many people think it's perfectly acceptable to tell you that it's for medical purposes in hopes that you will empathize and not charge them. It's just so easy to say it. Tell them that you are charging, but if they get the doctor to fax you a letter and nine times out of ten you will never hear from them again.
People lie all the time. It's easy. Especially on the telephone where you can't see the signals. Why do you think corporations record all phone calls... but magically can't seem to find the recordings when you call them out on something they promised on the telephone. But can magically pull out the recording if they need to prove something you said on the telephone?

 

[user 26]

give her the tour, a brief one ... but how will you get her OUT once she's in? you have to be firm about that.
yes, please DO lock up every area you don't want to show her. just like a guest you are showing round ... no access to kitchen, private areas, zip. and if rooms are occupied so that they need fluffs, you won't be showing those. period. they are in use and off limits because they have guests' personal belongings in them. actually, i'd probably only show her a couple of the rooms (my best) and the other areas guests have access to.
if you feel the need to mention that you must have misunderstood why she wanted to see the rooms because her mom had passed, go ahead and say it. could be mom in law ... but i think she just wants to see the place.
sorry, i just don't get the 'fibbing' .
and welcome!