Christmas

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
Marks
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Post by Marks »

casasantoestevo wrote:....what happens if you have guests who do not celibate Christmas. Would you not feel you could be offending them?
Oh for goodness sake, no-one is offended by Christmas the same as I am not offended by other religions celebrations but maybe you are. Too much can't do this, can't do that in case we offend someone. Get over yourself.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
Dusty
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Post by Dusty »

SPJ wrote:Thanks Dusty. I wondered whether it felt too "commercial". I hate receiving cards from people with whom I do business - eg insurance broker - it feels so insincere. And I wondered whether my guests might feel the same.
I agree SPJ, I too hate received unsolicited cards etc. but we live on site and work hard at building relationships with our guests and hand write all the cards so they are personalised, so they don't feel too business-like (we hope). We can all think of hundreds of reasons not to make the effort to personalise our human contact (fear of falling foul of a law that has been designed for huge multi-nationals who abuse the access to personal data or fear of hurting someones religious beliefs for instance) but at the end of the day we are all humans and respond well to positive contact.
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

Marks wrote:
casasantoestevo wrote:....what happens if you have guests who do not celibate Christmas. Would you not feel you could be offending them?
Oh for goodness sake, no-one is offended by Christmas the same as I am not offended by other religions celebrations but maybe you are. Too much can't do this, can't do that in case we offend someone. Get over yourself.

Marks, of course, trying to consider all your guests' beliefs, expectations and whether you would offend them is near impossible. We have tried to do this in the past, but it became an almost impossible task.

We used to advise guests coming for Christmas that there would be a Christmas tree and decorations in the accommodation. If they would rather not see this, then would they please let us know. No one ever asked us not to put up Christmas decorations, which could have caused problems for the following guests, if someone had told us not to put them up, as we normally get direct same day changeovers around that time.

We do try and think whether certain nationalities could be offended by something we do or do not do, but in the end they know when they book (they see photos of ourselves on various sites and can see by our names that we are more likely than not to be Christians, whether church-going or not) and should therefore know what to expect.

Yet, we have gone out of our way in the past to make sure we don't unintentionally offend guests. Over the years, we have had several families and groups of young people from Israel stay and have always asked if there is anything that they would like/would not like to have in the Welcome Pack.

Actually, our biggest challenge was a camel dealer from Saudi Arabia who appeared with his whole family in tow. The father was very happy when I gave him details of the nearest mosque and a halal butcher in the city, but when they left we found that they had removed most of the picture frames from the walls and placed them inverted on the floor. These were art works of (minimalist) line sketches of nudes, which had obviously offended them. We hadn't even thought about it, but seeing the problem and offense that could be caused, we decided to remove them all and have since replaced them with photos of the surrounding countryside (you can't go wrong there!)

But we do draw the line at the possibility of offending someone by sending a Christmas card. We purposely choose non-religious cards anyway (no pictures of a Bethlehem manger or religious text) and anybody who cares to open it can see that we are just thanking them for their stay as the year draws to a close...
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Marks wrote: Oh for goodness sake, no-one is offended by Christmas the same as I am not offended by other religions celebrations but maybe you are. Too much can't do this, can't do that in case we offend someone. Get over yourself.
You are obvious offended by what is written. Have you not seen that as being a bit ironic?
You do not speak for "others", the post was not about US.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

SPJ wrote:
Mouse wrote:I've sent an e Christmas card out every year for the past 12 yrs. It really does help keep that connection and is instrumental in getting bookings. I use the Jackie Lawson website to send the cards so it's easy peasy.

Mousie
x
I love the JL website as well. Do you continue to send to people who haven't stayed for a year or two? I wondered about sending to those who stayed this last year and to those who have booked for this coming year and leaving it at that.
I do SPJ. It is easy for anyone who isn't interested to just ignore it, and it is the only thing I send. Given that we have built up a relationship with guests then for me, it's a nice inoffensive gesture.
I tend to send the xmas notecards these days to new people. Old guests get an e card. I also include people who have booked for next summer.

In 12 yrs I've never had a complaint, I've had several thank you replies back (for many it reminds them of a happy time) and I reckon that it has helped keep our repeat business % quite high.

Mousie
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Last edited by Mouse on Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Marks
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Post by Marks »

casasantoestevo wrote:
Marks wrote: Oh for goodness sake, no-one is offended by Christmas the same as I am not offended by other religions celebrations but maybe you are. Too much can't do this, can't do that in case we offend someone. Get over yourself.
You are obvious offended by what is written. Have you not seen that as being a bit ironic?
You do not speak for "others", the post was not about US.
I am not offended by what you have written so not in the least ironic.

Where do you draw the line about not "offending" people? I offer ham in my welcome pack, do I exclude it in case I "offend" someone or do I leave it to them to ask for a replacement or simply not order? Most people can think for themselves.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
teba18
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Post by teba18 »

Doesn't this thread just show the sad way of the world these days? (apologies if I offend anyone and hope I haven't broken any laws :wink:)
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

I doubt you have broken any laws Teba18. In any legal situation, the key question is “what would a reasonable person/practitioner etc do in that situation?”

Is it reasonable for a professional company who regularly cater food for groups to serve pork to a group who they would be aware their religion forbids it? No. That is not what is reasonable under the circumstances.

Is it reasonable to send a greetings card to a guest? I would argue it is like comparing apples with pears and yes, it is reasonable to send a simple greeting card. I doubt any court or governing body would be interested in pursuing this unless there were extenuating circumstances prior to the card being sent.

Sometimes it is not the letter of the law that counts, but the spirit of a specific law. You will see this referred to in appeal judgments.

I think some people enjoy provoking a debate on what they see as the letter of the law, but that doesn’t make them correct in their interpretations or arguments.
Norfolk Canary
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Post by Norfolk Canary »

I don’t send anybody a Christmas card, never mind guests. The sooner the card thing ends the better. A waste of money and environmentally unfriendly.
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Norfolk Canary wrote:I don’t send anybody a Christmas card, never mind guests. The sooner the card thing ends the better. A waste of money and environmentally unfriendly.
Aww what a shame. I love receiving cards from people I've met over the years. It's nice to think that they've remembered us and taken a few minutes to choose and write out a card.
I love to have them displayed in the house too and remember the joy as a child, when they dropped through the letterbox..
I feel it's quite sad that it does seem to be dying out.

Paper is recyclable and often from sustainable sources if you look for it.

Mousie (who has raised a lot of money over the years selling handmade xmas cards for charity.)
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Dusty
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Post by Dusty »

+1 and they keep our postman in a job.
GillianF
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Post by GillianF »

I agree it is nice to receive a card and I display them in the house. Sometimes, the Christmas card is the only contact I might have with someone in the whole year and it is important to me. The cards I receive are re-cycled for a local charity and the stamps go to raise money for a UK charity so I consider it time and money well spent in many ways.

I do now send an e-mail greeting to most family and friends but a few still receive a hand-written card - usually older relatives who don't appreciate e-mail, someone who has had a tough year for one reason or another or someone who has been particularly special to me in the year.

I have just had six pages of hand-written news from a friend who left France for the UK 20 years ago. She is 86 and would certainly prefer a card and our news ………… Her 87 year old husband recycles the cards for making new ones for next year!
Giuliano
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Post by Giuliano »

I send a whatsapp greeting to selected guests (those who stayed more than once or are more likely to return).
Giuliano
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Post by Giuliano »

Norfolk Canary wrote:I don’t send anybody a Christmas card, never mind guests. The sooner the card thing ends the better. A waste of money and environmentally unfriendly.
interesting.....Christmas cards are totally out of fashion in Italy, except for businesses
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