Guests will not behave/comply

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

Nemo wrote: 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.
+1! (Cringes to think back ...)
SandyBeaches
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Post by SandyBeaches »

Morristhedog - I haven't read any of your other posts but it sounds as if you are an on-site owner?

We're off site and sometimes I think that's a blessing because I can't see what the guests are doing. And therefore I can't worry about it. Sometimes you just have to turn a blind eye and console yourself with the thought that this time next week they will be gone and you'll probably never see them again. But there will be lots of other, much nicer guests.

Hanging a sign saying 'pool area' and 'no glassware beyond this point/in the pool area' is a good idea I think. If you can make them fun/graphic then it would be better than just text on a laminated piece of paper.

Take deep breaths and cross the days off the calendar until they go.
annedab
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Post by annedab »

Hang in there Morris. I just re-read the thread and I don't think anyone was questioning your professionalism! We live on site too and I know exactly where you are coming from and I have, on one occasion, locked the pool myself (longer term renters as opposed to holiday guests, but nevertheless.....). I have exactly the same dilemma as you re signs and big lists of "don'ts". As e-Richard said, people are on holiday, but unfortunately that often goes hand in hand with switching off their common sense button. We did amend our information pack to include a short explanation of why we have some of our rules. When we do the meet and greet we also re-iterate some of these as we know that many guests don't read the information. However careful Mrs Guest may be, it only takes a sudden gust of wind or an excitable child to knock over a wine glass. Mrs Guest doesn't think through the consequences - she's on holiday after all. It's really hard to find the right balance of setting boundaries for guests without coming over all Basil Fawlty on them. It's something I struggle with a lot - particularly where our games room is concerned, and I have been sorely tempted to lock it on occasion :twisted: I think that "please do not leave children unsupervised in the games room" is fairly clear, but when you go in to find two kids standing on the pool table using the cues to hit each other with parents nowhere in sight you sometimes wonder why you bother :roll: This forum is a great place to find advice and support and you will definitely find that there are often no "one size fits all" answers. Life would be very boring if we were all the same. Hope the rest of your week is friction (and glass!) free and that your next set of guests are lovely ones.
Regards

Anne

If there's no such thing as co-incidence, then why is there a word for it?
kg1
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Post by kg1 »

Don't be offended, I'm sure no one meant to critisice you. We have all been newbies & reticent to confront guests. I still hide from mine when we turn up to clean & they are packing their car, & we've been doing it for 8 years!

Your guest is being deliberatly awkward and obstinate, you have every right to enforce your pool rules. How would she react if she stood in glass left by a previous guest - or are you supposed to hoover the lawn?

You will benefit so much for the sound advice available here, please stay, all opinions & rants welcome :)
Essar
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Post by Essar »

This is a great forum and peeps will give you lots of advice because they love what they do and want to encourage you too.

Some of us may come over as being candid (blunt!), but that's just us being individuals - you'll soon learn who's who, who's full of 8ull$h17, who's blunt, who's tongue in cheek and who's a pain the neck.

Remember "the only good guest is a dead guest".

8)
"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note"
"There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise"
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Bunny
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Post by Bunny »

SandyBeaches wrote: Hanging a sign saying 'pool area' and 'no glassware beyond this point/in the pool area' is a good idea I think. If you can make them fun/graphic then it would be better than just text on a laminated piece of paper.
+1
I can't see a problem with signs at all, so long as there are not too many, are fully justified and especially if they are about safety. We know we cannot rely on guests to read the information brochure. I have a 'please close the gate' sign because we have livestock. I don't think it makes it feel like a prison camp at all. Signs are very common place these days especially in such a litigious world and I think most people now realise that signs are often there to cover owners' liability too. I've stayed in holiday cottages where there have been signs and I've just thought that the owner was having a particular problem with an issue that was important enough to warrant a sign. A sign certainly wouldn't offend me. This woman sounds totally disrespectful and a complete rebel and doesn't like being told anything by anyone. Being on site, I turn a blind eye to a lot of things, but when safety is compromised then I think we have every right to enforce our 'rules'. Good luck.
T.S.
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Post by T.S. »

I must see things differently, but it occurred to me that the woman with the wine glass might consider the Pool Area to be only the section immediately surrounding the pool, while you see the Pool Area as the large (as defined by you) space within the gate. That could explain her brandishing the wine glass while stating that she is not in the pool area. I agree with your desire to limit signs, but in my view, labeling the pool area would fall under the heading of Structuring the Environment for Success, rather than the heading of Imposing Too Many Rules and Signs Upon Guests. When I travel, I often see attractive signs labeling guest areas, such as the pool area, special snacking areas, individual rooms, etc. Done right, this can be an asset, not a detriment. IMHO.
T.S.
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Post by T.S. »

Oops, probably obvious but my comment about seeing things differently was not in reference to Bunny's post. I was typing and did not see that post until afterward.
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

Perhaps you could also change 'pool area' to 'inside pool fence'
rigmover
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Post by rigmover »

How about changing all your glasses to plastic, you can get some very nice one's now.
brendan
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Post by brendan »

This is all solid good advice.
This guest is causing you problems so the question is why?

1. She's a thundering cow (sounds like it).
2. You haven't made things crystal clear.

In another life I took Americans on 'first class' tours of the UK and Ireland and it was a running joke how little info they actually took on board. Fast forward to a time when I took some kind of organised tour (can't remember now) and I realised that I hadn't taken on board half of what I was being told. Shoe on the other foot...a lesson learned!

My advice is to do the following:-

Review the information you send in advance and make sure that your guests read it. Personally I ask them to sign the Ts & Cs and point out that the lead guest is responsible for ensuring that all guests are made aware of these.

During your meet n' greet you need to reiterate all the points. Personally, I've learned that I'm rubbish at meet n' greet cos' I come across too ' welcome to my boot camp' so I say hello and fek off leaving the OH to charm them into doing precisely what he says!

Take a look at the physical layout. Prevention being better than cure. A self-closing gate with a keypad to unlock (out of reach of the sticky finger brigade). Maybe a little map that you send out with the Ts and Cs which delineates the boundaries.

Right now, I'd go and buy lovely plastic wine glasses and a variety of others and then I'd go in and change them all for the glass ones which I'd remove. I wouldn't say one word to madame bovine ... let her whinge if she wants...bet she doesn't ... she's not going to give you a glowing review so make yourself happy.
Wakensea
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Post by Wakensea »

On the subject of plastic glasses ......Wilko does some lovely plastic glasses, I have some for our caravan and they can be easily replaced....... on the subject of signs I have got to put one up in the bathroom to remind people not to put kitchen roll down the loo and although we welcome guests with dogs ...week after week now guests are not clearing up after them in the garden even though I provide bags and I clearly ask these two things in the welcome book......I find a lot of the time these difficult guests make it difficult for you to sort un necessary problems for the next guests coming in , think your all right..... it is defiantly a learning curve and not always an easy one .......some weeks on change over day I feel like I've been slapped round the face with a wet kipper!! :roll: :roll: :roll:
farley
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Post by farley »

Re plastic wine glasses.
Has anyone found some that are dishwasher friendly?
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Good question farley! I suffered from guests putting them in the dishwasher, and ruining them, even though I have a very friendly sign asking them not too.
I finally found the melamine ones were superb. Mine were from m&s in that 50's diner style and they're turquoise. Been going for years now.
Don't think m&s do them anymore but other places have them, just can't remember where :oops: maybe dotcomgiftshop?

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Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

Lakeland have some that look like glass and are dishwasher friendly.
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