What does your registration form consist of ?

[Rolacoy]

As you may remember we were thinking of starting a B&B, but reading your comments made us change our mind. We still plan to open as a guest house. May question is do you have your quests sign anything upon arrival that protects you legally. As I have stated before we had just under 20 rental properties for some 25 years and had a lease that was prepared by "New York" lawyers that covered use for many things. Something like 20 pages of legal mom-bo-jum-bo. One of the most important was the right to get a renter out of our house. Sometimes even with the lease it took a couple of months.
You have told me that your have their credit card number and can continue to charge them. Sometimes charging and getting is two different stories however. Your guests must sign something when they arrive at your B&B. How extensive is it ?

 

[EmptyNest]

Nope ..not here... we take their card when they arrive and charge it for the full stay. I know there are some innkeepers who do have a form which guests must sign. Usually has some of the policies on it...such as NO Smoking, or else they can be charged for the cleaning of the room, no pets and probably something like a damage clause ..ie if guests spills wine all over the place you can charge them for the cleaning.

 

[greyswan]

We have a registration form that is generated by SuperInn and that we have check-out times, parking/access info, no pets, no smoking and that we are not responsible for any loss of money or valuables. We have the guests sign that when they check in and we collect their payment at that time.

 

[EmptyNest]

CLick here to see a rental agreement you could adapt.

 

[Morticia]

What makes you think a B&B guest would not leave? When they reserve, they reserve a set number of days. THAT MUST be on the registration form as they do not have to leave if you don't specify an ending date that they sign. Some guests may request longer (or shorter) stays than what they booked. You grant that at your convenience.
So, the guest arrives, planning to spend 3 days with you. The form they sign has their name, address, phone. The start and stop dates of their stay. The amount they will pay for that with tax and any other charges (gratuities, pool fees, etc). The room they selected. The number of people in the party. Car info, if you want that.
Then you can list your policies:

• no smoking (or this will happen_________)
• no pets
• no guests of guests
• extra cleaning fees or 'loss of income' charges that may apply if the room needs lots of work.
• no responsible for lost or stolen items
• check-out time

You really should reconsider this. You have spent waaaaay too much time with people who don't hold up their end of the agreement. You're jaded. It will come out in every interaction you have with a guest. And these are 'guests' not 'renters'.
Once you allow guests to stay over 30 days, you enter a whole other realm...the renter. So if you are doing a real B&B, you should have noo problems such as you are envisioning. If you're doing short term rentals, you need your NYC lawyer.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Actually we did not tell you we have a cc and continue to charge them. We cannot charge them for damages at all on their credit card.
We told you we have their credit card.

 

[YellowSocks]

I don't have one.
When I take their reservation I get name, address, phone, whether they want an email confirmation, cc number and expiration. I run a one night deposit immediately. When they arrive they pay their balance (if any) and sign both slips. They keep the yellow, I keep the white.
If they reserve onine they have to check a box that says they've read and agreed to my policies. When I send a confirmation it says they can review our policies online. Our policies aren't that complicated. No smoke or candles in the rooms, no pets, kids OK, we take a one night deposit refundable if canceled at least a week in advance. We only have four rooms. It's clearly a house, not a hotel. I've seen a couple of votive candles in the rooms, but adding battery votives helped. Everyone has been respectful and enjoyable so far. I did have a couple cancel their second night... after paying both nights as a deposit. I was on the verge of caving and refunding, but they said they would honor my policy... They have a daughter my age and if it were her in my place they'd want her business to do well.
When they arrive I give them a tour, show them where they can smoke (few actually do), figure out what time they want breakfast, give them the codes for the front and room doors, let them know where I'll be. In the morning I serve them breakfast, enjoy a nice chat, and wave bye bye. Our goal is to charge enough that we don't get cheapos who abuse us, and it seems to be working.
=)
Kk.

 

[IronGate]

I don't have one.
When I take their reservation I get name, address, phone, whether they want an email confirmation, cc number and expiration. I run a one night deposit immediately. When they arrive they pay their balance (if any) and sign both slips. They keep the yellow, I keep the white.
If they reserve onine they have to check a box that says they've read and agreed to my policies. When I send a confirmation it says they can review our policies online. Our policies aren't that complicated. No smoke or candles in the rooms, no pets, kids OK, we take a one night deposit refundable if canceled at least a week in advance. We only have four rooms. It's clearly a house, not a hotel. I've seen a couple of votive candles in the rooms, but adding battery votives helped. Everyone has been respectful and enjoyable so far. I did have a couple cancel their second night... after paying both nights as a deposit. I was on the verge of caving and refunding, but they said they would honor my policy... They have a daughter my age and if it were her in my place they'd want her business to do well.
When they arrive I give them a tour, show them where they can smoke (few actually do), figure out what time they want breakfast, give them the codes for the front and room doors, let them know where I'll be. In the morning I serve them breakfast, enjoy a nice chat, and wave bye bye. Our goal is to charge enough that we don't get cheapos who abuse us, and it seems to be working.
=)
Kk..

. . . If they reserve onine they have to check a box that says they've read and agreed to my policies. . . .
=)
Kk.

How do you make sure that those who don't reserve online are aware of your policies? Are they rare enough that it is not that big a deal?

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

I don't have one.
When I take their reservation I get name, address, phone, whether they want an email confirmation, cc number and expiration. I run a one night deposit immediately. When they arrive they pay their balance (if any) and sign both slips. They keep the yellow, I keep the white.
If they reserve onine they have to check a box that says they've read and agreed to my policies. When I send a confirmation it says they can review our policies online. Our policies aren't that complicated. No smoke or candles in the rooms, no pets, kids OK, we take a one night deposit refundable if canceled at least a week in advance. We only have four rooms. It's clearly a house, not a hotel. I've seen a couple of votive candles in the rooms, but adding battery votives helped. Everyone has been respectful and enjoyable so far. I did have a couple cancel their second night... after paying both nights as a deposit. I was on the verge of caving and refunding, but they said they would honor my policy... They have a daughter my age and if it were her in my place they'd want her business to do well.
When they arrive I give them a tour, show them where they can smoke (few actually do), figure out what time they want breakfast, give them the codes for the front and room doors, let them know where I'll be. In the morning I serve them breakfast, enjoy a nice chat, and wave bye bye. Our goal is to charge enough that we don't get cheapos who abuse us, and it seems to be working.
=)
Kk..

. . . If they reserve onine they have to check a box that says they've read and agreed to my policies. . . .
=)
Kk.

How do you make sure that those who don't reserve online are aware of your policies? Are they rare enough that it is not that big a deal?
.

. . . If they reserve onine they have to check a box that says they've read and agreed to my policies. . . .
=)
Kk.

How do you make sure that those who don't reserve online are aware of your policies? Are they rare enough that it is not that big a deal?

I just took a 3 night booking for a 57th anniversary. On the CONFIRMATION I have the policies clearly stated as well as cancellation/damage information. That is all I am going to do, they have it and that is it. We have STRANGERS IN OUR HOMES and most of them are regular B&B goers and TOP PEOPLE. They are not room thrashers. If something comes up you deal with it case per case.
Keep is simple. The more you put on there, the more notes, rules, the less people read or obey them. Then do what you can to safegaurd your home with common sense measures, like locking areas at night guests should not go into.

 

[Samster]

Our reservation system has a registration form that can be customized that we have our guests sign on check-in when they pay. We have a credit card on file to hold the room. I think you need to do a search on guest house rental to see if you can find what you're looking for.
People that call to reserve a room receive the same email confirmation as those that book online - all the policies are there.