Lay My Hat

I would be grateful for advice here.

Guests have been given, before they paid, a contract which states that the pool is fenced and kept locked at all times to meet the local regulations.

I also request that glass ware is not taken into the pool area and state that plastic wine glasses and other equipment is provided.

The contract states that linen is replaced weekly, when dirty linen is collected.

Current guests are driving me mad. They leave the gate to the pool open all the time, even when they go out.

The woman insists on drinking wine from a glass in the pool area, telling me plastic is for children.

The woman also tells me she expects mid-week cleaning which she is normally used to in Greece. (I mentioned this in another post)

I wish by now she was in Greece.

I do not want to become officious with the family, but I am gritting my teeth.

One of their boys has now got an ear infection and they texted me to come up with medical solutions which I did.

There is a book to help them that I wrote, but I think they do not read any darned thing. I reproduced pages on local doctors for them.

I am now into avoiding them like the plague. Apart from running round to lock up the pool, and put down the parasols.

Oh hark! I hear rubber on gravel. They are back.

Glass and water do not mix. If broken glass is in the pool nobody will see it.
Pool area must be kept locked.
Both points blindingly obvious.
I would tell the guests firmly that if these rules are not obeyed you will lock them out of the pool entirely.

Can you lock the gate to the pool? I think I might!

cysgod y coed wrote:Glass and water do not mix. If broken glass is in the pool nobody will see it.
Pool area must be kept locked.
Both points blindingly obvious.
I would tell the guests firmly that if these rules are not obeyed you will lock them out of the pool entirely.

+1

Also, unless your contract expressly states mid-week cleaning, or you have promised them mid-week cleaning prior to booking, then they don't get mid-week cleaning! Demanding what they are not entitled to, and then making a big fuss if they don't get it, sounds all Greek to me.

You know, sometimes you just have to take control back from the guests. It isn't confrontational, it is getting across to them that you are not to be taken advantage of. Yes they have paid....but they also have to adhere to common sense rules/advice.
Have they paid a DD? If so explain how their carelessness might impact in that.

Mouse
x

Oh thank you all so much for your replies.

The pool area is locked by a padlock to which they and I have keys.

Once they have gained access they fail to lock it after they have left the area. I keep going down and locking up.

The woman, as she entered brandishing her glass of wine at me, told me she was not in the pool area.

Darn it she is in the pool area. She has passed the fence.

The pool area is big. It comprises a gravel area, a lawn area and a deck area around the pool. For me the whole darned lot is the pool area since it is beyond the locked gate.

I don't want next weeks's guests feet cut on this week's guest's little glass accident.

I begin to think my female guest is hard nosed, or stupid, or simply naive. I felt a confrontation coming on when she waved the wine glass at me and entered anyway as we stood in the gateway.

When the next guests arrive, do I have signs everywhere declaring my RULES like a war zone? I have plainly not handled this correctly, but I do want them to understand what is required. What does anyone else do?

How do I insist they read the darned paper work?

Not an easy situation but you might have to say that it IS a safety issue and unless she / they comply they will not have access to the pool . i.e. get a different lock.

Mouse wrote:You know, sometimes you just have to take control back from the guests.

That's very good advice from Mouse. Morristhedog, I know all this is very new to you, and with the greatest respect (and we've all been there!), until you've got a few more rental weeks under your belt that is going to be shining out of you. So if you happen to have guests who are - how can I put it? - of rather independent spirit - they are more than likely going to be aware of your lack of confidence and experience ... and so you end up in a kind of downward spiral.

Once you've been doing this a bit longer, your welcome and introduction will take on more authority and your guests will know that the 'container' of what they can and can't do and expect is for real.

Your guests are testing your boundaries because they sense you're not yet confident of them, just as a child does with an uncertain parent. You need to take a deep breath, and when you next find yourself face to face with your guests, breathe out your calm, collected authority. Easier said than done, but it will come, with time! Listen to them (very important!), don't get defensive or annoyed, but don't let them control you either.

Once you've got these guests over with, find some time to sit down and look at how you're presenting yourself to your guests, both in person on arrival, and on paper/by email or however you deal with bookings, contracts, how you word and present your book of the house, etc etc. Your authority comes, ultimately, from your professionalism - which takes some time to be able to step into.

Don't lose heart!

Great advice FC.

Loads of sympathy for having to put up with what seems like ignorant and stupid guests, but (mostly) I agree with the advice from FC.

Actually, in particular, I'd take a serious re-look at the title of this topic.

Your guests are on holiday and not in a prison camp.

Asking them to "behave and comply with your rules" is not the optimal way to approach people on their annual holidays. Confrontation should be at the very bottom of our priority list, and assistance near the very top.

Your guests need some help understanding a different life style than that which they have at home. They probably do not have a pool, so a fence and glasses are not part of their day to day thought process and they just need guidance.

You rules sound like basic, sensible safety guidelines - some of which may even be legal requirements for holiday lettings.

Not sure about where you are but in some countries pools are required to have a fence of a certain height with a self-closing gate that a child cannot open. We all know of the tragedies that happen every single year to young children - very often in holiday villas.

Can you explain that it's a legal requirement? Can you explain that your insurance company requires you to comply with certain management rules?

Similarly with glass and pools. Public pools, water parks etc here...simply do not allow glass through the gate not even in the form of drinks for a picnic. You could be sued by the next guests when their child cuts their foot on a piece of glass, especially in this litigious age.

I think mouse is right you must take back some authority here, and inform her that you are simply not prepared to have your business and safety compromised by her actions. She signed a contract. Would you be prepared to ask her to leave - if she's unable to comply, even to refund her some days of her holiday. That might make her understand you are serious.

On a more constructive note, is there an area where she can sit with her crystal wine glass as an alternative to the pool area but not far away. Can you go out and buy a self closing hinge for the gate?

And maybe hang an attractive sign that says "Pool Area" on the gate with the new self-closing hinges.

T.S. wrote:And maybe hang an attractive sign that says "Pool Area" on the gate with the new self-closing hinges.

And perhaps add: "No glassware beyond this point please".

Considering signs was my starting point. I am considering making signs, but had hoped to avoid these because of the stazi like atmosphere signs create. Hence the title of the piece.

The gate is self closing, but not self locking.

Questioning my professionalism is not helpful.

Thank you for your advice, I think we will leave it there.

Don't take offence Morristhedog. We don't know you, so these are not personal comments; they are guesswork based on the facts that you've given us so far. One of your first posts was titled new to this lark, so it's a reasonable assumption to say you're finding your feet as an owner.

It would be arrogant of any of us to think that at the beginning of our career as a rental owner we can know all we need to know or present ourselves in the best possible light to our guests. When I think back to how nervous I was at even speaking to guests on the phone in the first couple of years - yes years, not even months, then I have unquestionably come on in leaps and bounds.

We all develop as owners throughout the life of our business. I, for one, will never stop learning and hopefully getting better and better at what I do. I hope you feel the same way about your business in years to come. It's a very positive business to be in, helping people enjoy their holidays, despite the challenges we are all thrown.