Lay My Hat

I had a call from a guest who is booked in over the Christmas period, to request if their dog could stay. I explained that we are a pet free cottage and that I would have to speak with our management company as it clearly states this fact as some of our guests may have allergies etc. She then went on to say well we will just pretend this conversation didn't happen, shall we? what they don't know won't hurt them attitude. I contacted the management company who said they would speak with the guest but advised me if I saw a dog on site, (I live across the road) I am well within my rights to ask them to leave. I can hardly ask guests to leave on Christmas day! Any advice on how to manage this situation?

Just say NO from the outset......period!

What salmoncottage says.

No, you don’t accept pets. Period.

Your rules, and you have good reasons for them.

If you don't fancy a phone conversation (I wouldn't ) then email them and state that if they bring a dog, it will break the terms and conditions under which they booked and you will have no choice but to ask them to leave. I'd also state that you live nearby and will be well aware if a pet is brought on site. Good luck.

you have to stick to your rules. We relaxed ours for a regular guest who stayed this summer & phoned at last minute to ask if they could bring their poorly cat. We agreed as we know them & they agreed to bring a cage, litter box etc...lovely cat who was very friendly & we arranged visit to vets etc, but you guessed it..they had the cat sleep on the bed (unknown to us as we presumed the cat would stay in the cage in bathroom in case of accidents..) Anyway, they left suddenly on 4th morning as cat voided totally on the bed.....right through bedspread, duvet, sheets, mattres protectors etc.... Went home & cat was put down next day..... Have vowed never ever to break my rules again..at least their leaving gave me a couple of days to clean etc, but....

If you don't allow dogs then no.

It's very very close to Christmas if you send an email saying no they may not get it now.

I personally would phone them now and say "No Dogs Allowed, Sorry" before they set off if they haven't already.

They may not be travelling directly to you, they may be calling on friends or family or taking more than one day to travel and don't check there emails.

If you don't accept pets, it's gonna be a short conversation.
"No"
Early days I noticed but better to start as you mean to go on.

rebecca278 wrote:She then went on to say well we will just pretend this conversation didn't happen, shall we? what they don't know won't hurt them attitude.

Stick to your guns, rebecca278. This woman sounds like she is prepared to break any rules and regulations that she doesn't agree with. You set a "no pets" rule for a very good reason. Just because she can't/won't put her precious fur baby into kennels, doesn't entitle her to mess up your future bookings and cost you more - post-hound deep cleaning, upset future guests with allergic reactions, etc etc.

And if she's going to break such an obvious "no" rule before she's even arrived, what else is she going to do? No means no, even at Christmas.

I wouldn't let them have the money back either at such short notice it wont get rebooked now. If it's been booked a while I would suspect they were planning on bringing a dog all along.

its really caused me no end of stress at such a stressful time already. TBH the amount I will make over this period what with all the overhead costs etc, heating on full time etc, if I need to deep clean I will seriously be out of pocket. My real worry is if the dog is sneaked in !

Deal with it asap or you'll get yourself even more stressed. I'd call & email as well just to have a written record. Point out your no pets policy clause (you have got one?) that I assume she must have read when booking & stand firm.
If she then brings the dog covertly, a short walk across the road & awkward conversation awaits.
Your property, your terms.

Any relationship you might have had with this guest was damaged ( or should I say you became aware of what sort of guest she was) by the "let's pretend this conversation didn't take place "comment.

You will never want her back again. You have nothing to lose by standing your ground.
I cannot believe she did not know all along that dogs were not accepted.

Edited to add: I have a clause in my TCs that if my cottage has more people stay than the usual occupancy I have the right to cancel the holiday immediately without any refund. You might want to put something similar in yours about pets if you don't already have it.

zebedee wrote: I have a clause in my TCs that if my cottage has more people stay than the usual occupancy I have the right to cancel the holiday immediately without any refund. You might want to put something similar in yours about pets if you don't already have it.

Simply broaden the clause to become a "breach of contract" clause that covers ANY of the T&Cs. You have to be tough in this business to counter all the try-ons, but you also have to make sure you are being fair to the majority who are perfectly ordinary lovely T&C abiding guests.

A no is a no, even at Christmas.

Your property your rules. As others have suggested a call and send an email confirmation. They bring their dog then they have to leave. I turn down several requests each year for dogs even if it would fill a difficult to sell period.

And why do guests always want to bring small well behaved dogs, don't the large badly behaved dogs want to have a holiday

I reckon 'the large badly behaved dogs' just refuse to pay the service fee, thats all..........