What's with the 'dropping off of the luggage?"

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The Farmers Daughter

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I don't understand this. People will call to request arriving early before 3pm check in. Unfortuately, I can't accommodate that. Then they want to come by anyway and drop off their luggage. Can someone explain this desire to me? What is wrong with keeping it in the car until they check in at 3? This puzzels me. Its like they are packing perishables or something.
 
They probably want to know that the luggage is safe somewhere. It might be that it is visible in the car, and they don't want that, as they will be out and about, not necessarily with the car all the time. Or, it might just be in the way if they are shopping, etc.
 
They also hope that if they can get in to drop off the luggage, they can use the bathroom etc etc..and maybe convince you to let them in their room :-(
 
I generally tell guests they can leave the car (and the luggage) right in the driveway and walk around town. But I'm pretty sure it's the 'get the luggage in the door and we can follow' routine. I have had guests pack perishables that they didn't want to overheat, but it's rare.
The worst were guests who hired a limo to take them everywhere and had to leave the luggage off early and left it all day after they checked out because they had no place else to put it. (Now, when I hear, 'The limo will be dropping us off,' I hope I can convince them to stay elsewhere. Limo people don't belong here. OK, take that back, the big shot Hollywood producer/director/screenwriter had a limo and he was very nice.)
 
I don't mind it and I have no qualms about not letting them into their room or to use a bathroom either. I am actually happy to get them registered, give them a key and get them out of my hair. I tell them when the room will be ready and I move their luggage to their room when I have it ready. It sure beats waiting for check-ins. More often than not if they are in town and show up early and they get sent away I won't see them again until after dinner or well after my check-in times.
 
I don't mind it and I have no qualms about not letting them into their room or to use a bathroom either. I am actually happy to get them registered, give them a key and get them out of my hair. I tell them when the room will be ready and I move their luggage to their room when I have it ready. It sure beats waiting for check-ins. More often than not if they are in town and show up early and they get sent away I won't see them again until after dinner or well after my check-in times..
But don't you find that it interrupts your turning over rooms? I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
 
I don't mind it and I have no qualms about not letting them into their room or to use a bathroom either. I am actually happy to get them registered, give them a key and get them out of my hair. I tell them when the room will be ready and I move their luggage to their room when I have it ready. It sure beats waiting for check-ins. More often than not if they are in town and show up early and they get sent away I won't see them again until after dinner or well after my check-in times..
But don't you find that it interrupts your turning over rooms? I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
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I find it is an issue with taking bags early that I also do not have a secure place to store them. Any other guests or anyone who comes thru the door could walk off with something just sitting there. And cleaning around them is an issue.
Interruptions while cleaning take time which means the rooms may not be ready at 3. And I hate to 'here's your hat, what's your hurry' guests out the door again, but there are no bathrooms to use, I'm sweaty and in a foul mood while cleaning and this person in front of me is not the only person during any given day who will call or ring the bell!
It's why I need to have a housekeeper in the summer! If I can't be pleasant, what's the point of even doing this?
 
I don't mind it and I have no qualms about not letting them into their room or to use a bathroom either. I am actually happy to get them registered, give them a key and get them out of my hair. I tell them when the room will be ready and I move their luggage to their room when I have it ready. It sure beats waiting for check-ins. More often than not if they are in town and show up early and they get sent away I won't see them again until after dinner or well after my check-in times..
But don't you find that it interrupts your turning over rooms? I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
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Breakfast Diva said:
I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
Yep, that's generally how it works.
This is just one of the things that separates us from hotels. We don't have a secure place to store the luggage and we don't have excess staff sitting around to deal with guests who come during cleaning hours.
We end up taking precious time away from chores that won't get done on their own.
No matter how you cut it, it just adds more work to our already full day when guests insist on "dropping off" anything early.
 
I don't mind it and I have no qualms about not letting them into their room or to use a bathroom either. I am actually happy to get them registered, give them a key and get them out of my hair. I tell them when the room will be ready and I move their luggage to their room when I have it ready. It sure beats waiting for check-ins. More often than not if they are in town and show up early and they get sent away I won't see them again until after dinner or well after my check-in times..
But don't you find that it interrupts your turning over rooms? I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
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It interupts my work, yes. I don't take as long to check them in and tell them stuff and I certainly don't do it again when they finally return. I don't want to see them again until breakfast. It's not like it is constantly happening. It's once in awhile and it really does make me happy to have them checked in early so I don't have to worry about them later in the day.
 
I don't mind it and I have no qualms about not letting them into their room or to use a bathroom either. I am actually happy to get them registered, give them a key and get them out of my hair. I tell them when the room will be ready and I move their luggage to their room when I have it ready. It sure beats waiting for check-ins. More often than not if they are in town and show up early and they get sent away I won't see them again until after dinner or well after my check-in times..
But don't you find that it interrupts your turning over rooms? I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
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Breakfast Diva said:
I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
Yep, that's generally how it works.
This is just one of the things that separates us from hotels. We don't have a secure place to store the luggage and we don't have excess staff sitting around to deal with guests who come during cleaning hours.
We end up taking precious time away from chores that won't get done on their own.
No matter how you cut it, it just adds more work to our already full day when guests insist on "dropping off" anything early.
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Interesting article in the latest Consumer Reports on what you can expect to pay for certain things at certain chain hotels. Having anything delivered to your room can run you $2.50-$5. I would think dropping off your luggage and having it delivered to your now-ready room would cost you. But I didn't read the whole thing.
 
I don't mind it and I have no qualms about not letting them into their room or to use a bathroom either. I am actually happy to get them registered, give them a key and get them out of my hair. I tell them when the room will be ready and I move their luggage to their room when I have it ready. It sure beats waiting for check-ins. More often than not if they are in town and show up early and they get sent away I won't see them again until after dinner or well after my check-in times..
But don't you find that it interrupts your turning over rooms? I find that they are never there for just a minute to drop the bags off. They want to use the bathroom, don't know where to go and I have to spend time telling them where attractions are and then I can't spend time showing them the important things I need them to know about their stay here, so I end up having to spend time with them again when they come back. Also, we don't have any good/secure place to store their bags and I don't want to have to clean around them.
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It interupts my work, yes. I don't take as long to check them in and tell them stuff and I certainly don't do it again when they finally return. I don't want to see them again until breakfast. It's not like it is constantly happening. It's once in awhile and it really does make me happy to have them checked in early so I don't have to worry about them later in the day.
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ginocat said:
it really does make me happy to have them checked in early so I don't have to worry about them later in the day.
I totally get that, too.
 
We have that on occassion - someone picks them up and they have no vehicle, someone else is carting them around. So in reality they DO want to check in early and get their keys. Nice try people!
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On our last trip to Ireland, where we stayed in B&Bs, we often requested this. Storing the luggage elsewhere provides security for when you leave your car in a parking lot in tourist areas. It also leaves more room in the car for us, and allows us to shop if we wish. All B&Bs we encountered were happy to let us leave our luggage. We were grateful.
 
The reason people ask to do this here is they do not want to go into 'big city' with luggage in their cars as well as the fact that they then will not be watching the clock for a certain check in time and are able to enjoy their day touring the city.
I ride the fence with this issue...sometimes it IS more beneficial [for me] to allow them to drop off their luggage especially if it then frees my afternoon to have more 'me' time and it prevents me from being ticked when someone calls later in the day and says they will be late checking in because they went to the city [and are having such a good time] so will be arriving late. I would rather have these people distract me from my cleaning then to have them keep me from getting the sleep I need by having to wait up for them. (No I am not one to allow self check-ins, at least not usually as our layout does not make it easy for most rooms).
As far as luggage security, what I usually do is place it in A) the guest room closet - out of the way of my cleaning or B) in another empty room until I finish cleaning. I can understand how some B&B's can't do this or there is no room to do this. Leaving luggage after check-out is another story, as it depends on when they come back as to where I can store it - out of my way and not in a room I am going to fill.
On the other side of the fence are those (like have been mentioned) that abuse the generosity by calling to ask this at 10AM - yes, it happened just yesterday...I did not answer the phone as I was finishing with a late breakfast. The message said "we are about 10 minutes away, please call us if we can come by to drop off our luggage now. If we do not hear from you, we will just see you later tonight - 8-9pm as we are going to the Festival in big city."
Grrr, this coming from a person that said they would be here right at 3. Oh, you would think that these guys were not B&B people, think again! This morning the rambled off a list of B&B's they have stayed in. They are very pleasent, just have on consept of the innkeeper world and that we would like to have some life of our own.
 
On our last trip to Ireland, where we stayed in B&Bs, we often requested this. Storing the luggage elsewhere provides security for when you leave your car in a parking lot in tourist areas. It also leaves more room in the car for us, and allows us to shop if we wish. All B&Bs we encountered were happy to let us leave our luggage. We were grateful..
When we stayed in Ireland that was the number one thing they told us to watch out for...theft from your car or theft OF your car. We fastidiously put our luggage in the trunk every morning before we started off on the day's adventures, parking all over Dublin and the countryside.
At one stop we were coming back to the car and I said to Gomez, 'I think the trunk is unlocked.' Sure enough, we had been driving around with an unlocked trunk for a week!
I guess your story puts another light on things. People don't know what sort of place they are coming into and they worry. (Handbag was grabbed right on Main St at 10 AM the other morning. Woman was walking with 2 men and some guy ran by, grabbed the purse and took off. The 2 men chased him, another guy picked up the chase and the thief ran into a dead end alley. Oops. But I don't think about stuff like that happening here. Ever. But it did so it will.
 
On our last trip to Ireland, where we stayed in B&Bs, we often requested this. Storing the luggage elsewhere provides security for when you leave your car in a parking lot in tourist areas. It also leaves more room in the car for us, and allows us to shop if we wish. All B&Bs we encountered were happy to let us leave our luggage. We were grateful..
When we stayed in Ireland that was the number one thing they told us to watch out for...theft from your car or theft OF your car. We fastidiously put our luggage in the trunk every morning before we started off on the day's adventures, parking all over Dublin and the countryside.
At one stop we were coming back to the car and I said to Gomez, 'I think the trunk is unlocked.' Sure enough, we had been driving around with an unlocked trunk for a week!
I guess your story puts another light on things. People don't know what sort of place they are coming into and they worry. (Handbag was grabbed right on Main St at 10 AM the other morning. Woman was walking with 2 men and some guy ran by, grabbed the purse and took off. The 2 men chased him, another guy picked up the chase and the thief ran into a dead end alley. Oops. But I don't think about stuff like that happening here. Ever. But it did so it will.
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My Dad was just in Ireland visiting my Sister and they went on a drive and were in the absolute middle of nowhere at this bluff/overlook and she said WAIT! and ran back and took her stereo out of her mini van. Dad was shocked as it wasn't anything expensive. He coming from SD border city where they will still pennies from your car ashtray... Ireland is notorious for theft.
We always have to remember WE DO NOT KNOW where our guests live or how they live, we have a guest right now from Philly who said they would as soon cut your arm off to get your purse in his neighborhood.
 
Remember last year when I finally caught that guest who was going up and down the stairs out over the porch every hour? I asked him what he was doing, as he was not a smoker. He said "Checking on my car" I thought, jeez what have you got in there, bullion?
 
On our last trip to Ireland, where we stayed in B&Bs, we often requested this. Storing the luggage elsewhere provides security for when you leave your car in a parking lot in tourist areas. It also leaves more room in the car for us, and allows us to shop if we wish. All B&Bs we encountered were happy to let us leave our luggage. We were grateful..
When we stayed in Ireland that was the number one thing they told us to watch out for...theft from your car or theft OF your car. We fastidiously put our luggage in the trunk every morning before we started off on the day's adventures, parking all over Dublin and the countryside.
At one stop we were coming back to the car and I said to Gomez, 'I think the trunk is unlocked.' Sure enough, we had been driving around with an unlocked trunk for a week!
I guess your story puts another light on things. People don't know what sort of place they are coming into and they worry. (Handbag was grabbed right on Main St at 10 AM the other morning. Woman was walking with 2 men and some guy ran by, grabbed the purse and took off. The 2 men chased him, another guy picked up the chase and the thief ran into a dead end alley. Oops. But I don't think about stuff like that happening here. Ever. But it did so it will.
.
My Dad was just in Ireland visiting my Sister and they went on a drive and were in the absolute middle of nowhere at this bluff/overlook and she said WAIT! and ran back and took her stereo out of her mini van. Dad was shocked as it wasn't anything expensive. He coming from SD border city where they will still pennies from your car ashtray... Ireland is notorious for theft.
We always have to remember WE DO NOT KNOW where our guests live or how they live, we have a guest right now from Philly who said they would as soon cut your arm off to get your purse in his neighborhood.
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Having done what I call a 24-year sentence in Illinois, I am more understanding of the guests who lock their door to come to breakfast - and they were the only guests in-house! They were from the East Coast near Big City so we understood that it is a way of life, not a distrust.
 
I could understand this if I were in a populated urban area. I am not. My village is 1 square mile with 1200 residents. Most folks here don't even lock their cars. This is Mayberry USA.
 
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