What is the nicest thing a guest ever did or gave you out of gratitude?

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Tim_Toad_HLB

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Hey all,
First, thanks for cutting a little slack the last few days after my unruly first day. Never join a blog when in a bad mood, or ticked off at something unrelated, it colors everything tht day. Sorry for any ruffled feathers.
So instead of complaints or bad guest stories, what is the nicest thing a guest ever did for you?
I'll sort through the piles of touching, vocation choice affirming memories I've gotten in just five short years of doing this and post it tommorrow.
Good night.
 
Guests have:
Left me gift certificates for the really nice dinner restaurant here.
Given me candles, bulbs to plant, nick nacks, sent me thank you cards and christmas cards, called me out of the blue to see how I am doing and what is happening at the B & B, some have helped me clear the table of dirty dishes.
One picked up a breakfast ingredient I needed at the store while they were going there anyways. They always seem to ask me if there is anything I need at the store.
I've had two different guests treat me to dinner at a nice restaurant.
Been given a $200 tip.
 
A $50 tip for a one night stay from a questionable looking biker type and his girlfriend. They were actually nice guests, just looked a little scary. That story often elicits tips from guests who might otherwise not leave them. I tell the story not to generate tips, but to illustrate that you can't always judge a book by its cover.
 
Lots of different small gifts and a couple of large gratuities, but I think one of the nicest gifts is when they call our place "home" :) That means that they're comfortable here.
Actually, the best gift is a good recommendation to other friends or inn-goers!
 
Guests two weeks ago said staying here was like coming home again. That was a nice gift to give this innkeeper. Gratuities are never forgotten of course - We were given $56 from one room last week. Thank you cards in the room that were catered to us, which meant they went out and shopped for it while they were here. A bottle of wine or two. Letters and cards sent when they got home (We keep all of these in a folder and when we are down we look at them and are reminded what a blessing this business can be). Photos of adopted children mailed and emailed. Photos of new births mailed and emailed. Handmade chocolates from their home town. Famous guests recognizing us by name and BnB name from the stage. A Harvard grad who enlisted and went to Iraq and came here on her own, asked us if she could go to church with us. The list goes on and on. Of course great trip advisor reviews are always welcome.
 
Bottles of wine have always nice...especially when people (usually return guests) bring us a bottle from their region.
We've had some very touching baby gifts in the past 7 months that probably top the list for their throughtfullness.
 
The most thoughtful was being given the original Gillum deed to the house.
Best feeling was the man from Staten Island who did a stop gonig and returned a week later going home. As he got out of the car, I neard him say, "It feels so good to be home."
Most life changing was the lady who gave us the gift of telling us about Post-Polio and the name of the book about it. It helped DH understand what was happening and we have been able to pass that peace of mind on to a guest who came several times.
Most touching are the several guests who have sent donations to the Chapel and the Lord's Pantry after they returned home.
We have been left nice tips and given gifts, books, a frame with picture of the successful "house hunt" with spaces for the others but the friendship given - and the lawyer services given to MABB by a former guest for free for our Fire Code battle at the very beginning - have meant the most because money cannot buy friendship.
 
Hi Tim
...... your post last night goes in the "one of the nicest things" categories. Wasn't an easy thing to say but was very much appreciated. You'll also have to forgive me for jumping to the defence of people that I have grown to respect and have helped and supported me on many occasions.
I have been extraordinarily fortunate in the things / gestures / gifts that I've got from my guests. While I always aspire to making guests feel special, it seems as if sometimes they are the ones that make me feel incredible.
 
Having a 45% repeat guest rate means a lot. Other than that we have one couple who bought a house nearby, another couple who invite us to lunch with them when they're here and the funniest one was a $40 tip from a guest who left a note that said, 'THANK YOU for putting up with my parents for 3 days!'
We have one guest from Canada who always leaves us 'Canadian' candy. Other guests have shown up with gifts for the dog. Bottles of wine from where they live.
When we had the flood at 7 AM the guests who offered to go to McD's for food for everyone and then offered to do the laundry at the laundromat were really sweet!
 
Of course we love the bottles of wine, the grits from South Carolina, we even got a Royal Doulton Old Country Rose dog bowl for our pooch (we serve breakfast on Old Country Rose china).
For me, the best gift we ever received is the close friendships. For several years we had a couple that would travel several times a year 6 hours to come stay with us. We developed such a great friendship with them that last year, the 4 of us traveled to Germany together for a vacation. We had a blast and now we're planning another trip together next year!
We've made other lasting friendships also, which we cherish.
 
we get a lot of *moose* related things from guests based on the b&b name. lots of the items are garden things so instead of gnomes we have moose. we can tell when guests have really given this some thought. we use a lot of the items like sugar bowls and salt n pepper shakers.
 
Of course we love the bottles of wine, the grits from South Carolina, we even got a Royal Doulton Old Country Rose dog bowl for our pooch (we serve breakfast on Old Country Rose china).
For me, the best gift we ever received is the close friendships. For several years we had a couple that would travel several times a year 6 hours to come stay with us. We developed such a great friendship with them that last year, the 4 of us traveled to Germany together for a vacation. We had a blast and now we're planning another trip together next year!
We've made other lasting friendships also, which we cherish..
we have a couple who keep asking us to go with them on their boat. luckilu, we can't go during the best sailing times. it would feel like being *trapped* with a the guests on their boat. sweet that they like us that much but being out on the ocean for a week woud not suite.
 
It's such a warm fuzzy feeling to get any gift of gratitude from guests.
ome of our highlights have been: bottles of wine and liqueur, specialty beers, a painting of our inn on a slate tile, a guest book (mailed to us after the guests noticed our current one was nearly full), a Jamie Oliver cookbook (mailed later, after conversation about cooking styles), book of herbs, dvd based on a nickname, ornaments, chocolate, and the doozy was the fully loaded mac laptop.
Recently we had a couple from overseas here for a week. The wife is an ayurvedic/naturopathic physician and she showed me an exercise to help my tennis elbow and it seems to be working. After months of pain, that is a wonderful gift indeed.
But like others have said, the best gifts have been the repeat business, the referrals, the designation of 'home', and especially the friendships that have evolved.
 
Our dog is constantly getting gifts which is so cute. Her pic is on our website so people show up with toys and treats. Our favorite was from a gentleman who is the head custodian at a country club and he brought us a huge bag of used tennis balls for her! He was an instant favorite.
For us personally, the nicest gift was a huge basket of Christmas goodies...from frequent guests who listened and knew our exact tastes in treats (lots of spicy chip and dip combos...yum!).
 
We have been graced with many fine things and have had some very large tips, etc. One thing we notice is that people give us things that are very important to them in some way. They are crazy about wine and they give us their favorite or they have a craft and they present us with a token they made. It always warms the heart to know that they are looking for a way to repay us for something special we have done for them emotionally. It's humbling to have guests do this AFTER happily paying us to be our guest. It transcends our business and is very personal.
Of course, one of the neatest things is the unsolicited invitations to look them up or even stay with them or use their beach house or whatever. You know you have done a good job when they think they owe you something more.
 
Ok, new favorite just came in the door!
Frequent repeat guests, they usually visit twice per year and have started to send friends to us in the interim. The wife and I always love to share recipes because we love baked goodies, and last year we found we have a shared passion for gummy bears. She just presented me with an ENORMOUS bag of her favorite gummies from her home state of Ohio...she made a special trip to get them for me.
SHE's the sweetie!
 
Of course we love the bottles of wine, the grits from South Carolina, we even got a Royal Doulton Old Country Rose dog bowl for our pooch (we serve breakfast on Old Country Rose china).
For me, the best gift we ever received is the close friendships. For several years we had a couple that would travel several times a year 6 hours to come stay with us. We developed such a great friendship with them that last year, the 4 of us traveled to Germany together for a vacation. We had a blast and now we're planning another trip together next year!
We've made other lasting friendships also, which we cherish..
we have a couple who keep asking us to go with them on their boat. luckilu, we can't go during the best sailing times. it would feel like being *trapped* with a the guests on their boat. sweet that they like us that much but being out on the ocean for a week woud not suite.
.
You definitely have to be careful when you cross that line between "guests" and "friends". We have had many guests invite us to go out to dinner or visit them/stay with them when we're in their area, but unless there is a really strong connection, we would just bow out gracefully.
 
Of course we love the bottles of wine, the grits from South Carolina, we even got a Royal Doulton Old Country Rose dog bowl for our pooch (we serve breakfast on Old Country Rose china).
For me, the best gift we ever received is the close friendships. For several years we had a couple that would travel several times a year 6 hours to come stay with us. We developed such a great friendship with them that last year, the 4 of us traveled to Germany together for a vacation. We had a blast and now we're planning another trip together next year!
We've made other lasting friendships also, which we cherish..
we have a couple who keep asking us to go with them on their boat. luckilu, we can't go during the best sailing times. it would feel like being *trapped* with a the guests on their boat. sweet that they like us that much but being out on the ocean for a week woud not suite.
.
You definitely have to be careful when you cross that line between "guests" and "friends". We have had many guests invite us to go out to dinner or visit them/stay with them when we're in their area, but unless there is a really strong connection, we would just bow out gracefully.
.
We have now officially owned this place a year longer than the POs. We have had one couple book with us for 6 years. Every year they go out for dinner with the POs. They have never indicated to us that they would like to do that with us. And we would certainly never ask the guests, no matter how close we felt. We decided we would let the guests decide they felt close enough to us to ask us to be more 'friends' than innkeepers. I don't want to cross that boundary and make a colossal mistake and lose a good guest by mistaking my 'place'.
When I was first setting out to do this, one of the hairdressers where I used to go scoffed and said all of that 'friendliness' at a B&B was a complete put on. It was a business and nothing else. Now, given I had invited MY hairdresser to my wedding, I wondered if she just never got close to her clients at all.
 
Ok, new favorite just came in the door!
Frequent repeat guests, they usually visit twice per year and have started to send friends to us in the interim. The wife and I always love to share recipes because we love baked goodies, and last year we found we have a shared passion for gummy bears. She just presented me with an ENORMOUS bag of her favorite gummies from her home state of Ohio...she made a special trip to get them for me.
SHE's the sweetie!.
InnsiderInfo said:
She just presented me with an ENORMOUS bag of her favorite gummies from her home state of Ohio...she made a special trip to get them for me.
I love gummies, too. Where in Ohio would someone find special gummies??
P.S. I live in Ohio...always on the lookout for cool treats!
 
Of course we love the bottles of wine, the grits from South Carolina, we even got a Royal Doulton Old Country Rose dog bowl for our pooch (we serve breakfast on Old Country Rose china).
For me, the best gift we ever received is the close friendships. For several years we had a couple that would travel several times a year 6 hours to come stay with us. We developed such a great friendship with them that last year, the 4 of us traveled to Germany together for a vacation. We had a blast and now we're planning another trip together next year!
We've made other lasting friendships also, which we cherish..
we have a couple who keep asking us to go with them on their boat. luckilu, we can't go during the best sailing times. it would feel like being *trapped* with a the guests on their boat. sweet that they like us that much but being out on the ocean for a week woud not suite.
.
You definitely have to be careful when you cross that line between "guests" and "friends". We have had many guests invite us to go out to dinner or visit them/stay with them when we're in their area, but unless there is a really strong connection, we would just bow out gracefully.
.
Yes I agree. We had lots of guests we liked, but none I would consider friends, nor go out to dinner with. We never got that close to anyone we ever hosted... that is not what we ever wanted to do. We considered that our guests were there to get away and reconnect..not to get to know us.
 
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