No that was a hotel and it was about 5 years ago.
It was pretty funny because after telling me she could arrange for some she said : so would you like to book? Errr ā¦ Iāll think about it
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Growing up I had terrible asthma and allergies. Mowing the lawn or exercise or petting a cat would set me off. I was on daily medication. Apparently I had pneumonia twice and once āalmost died.ā Now Iām almost completely allergy free and I owned a cat for 15 years. The difference? My parents smoked. When I grew up and got out of the house it cleared up.
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Speaking of germ management, here is good (but lengthy) blog or article or whatever by a mom-biologist (she made her own petri dish incubator!) who seems to have tested every cleaning product known to man, and here are her scary laundry results: http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/does-clean-laundry-have-germs-1
Other sections compare cleaning products, talk about sponges and e-cloths, etc. I completely revamped my cleaning supplies and methods after a good read.
unless you wash at a high enough temperature ā¦ or with Milton or bleachā¦ yep it has germs. Thereās a fashion for washing at 30 here ā¦ itās ecologically sound but germs love it tooā¦
Anyway not going to get sucked into paranoiaā¦ 
Fascinating stuff. A quick perusal of the site and I learned several things. One Iām glad to know hanging stuff to dry outside is almost as good as the dryer. Most surprising is that essential oils really do kill bacteria. Iāve never had stomach flu but it sounds awful.
Yes, she is careful to talk about the fallacy of germ free = healthy
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Wowāwashcloths and hand towels could be the duvet cover and electric kettle of 2017! 
Back to the house rules thing for a moment. I have a āhouse manualā in a binder standing up on the kitchen table. I show it to nearly every guest (except for self check-ins), under the guise of showing them the wifi information, maps, menus, etcā¦ I put everything in those sheet protector pages. Almost all guests read it at some point because they leave the laundry basket outside when they checkoutāas requested in the manual. I try to mix helpful info with stuff Iād like them to do. I donāt know if this is a good tactic, but it works for me.
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āGuidelinesā is the name l use for my non-mandatory ārules.ā
Its in my house rules to use the disposable makeup remover clothes provided before using washcloths.
I donāt think a book is an effective tool to help people following your rules. Nobody will open the manners book. You should pick the 2 or 3 things that are common mistakes and generally remind people not to make them. Put this info into a compliment as it works as a suggestions for the guests in a positive way. I think suggestions should go along with showing your place. You can say, āAll my guests are awesome and I never really ask but everyone has been doing their dishes and I think itās really a kind of themā If you want to write it down and you actually care that people follow your rules make them clear and pleasant. write on paper āhelpful infoā write down your phone number, wifi password, perhaps a restaurant suggestion and house rules. 1. Wash dishes after you cook. 2. Shoes off in the house. 3. No smoking. I think itās ok to give a short list of rules. People will read them and follow them. Itās definitely not ok to give a long list of suggestions. I say this because when entering a new place there is a lot of learning going on. If you give someone 10 things to remember then they just forget 1/2 of them and the half just confuses them. Just give basic info and basic rules.
I supply towelling shower mitts. Unfortunately the last guests used the mitts to apply fake tan lotion and then left horrendous stains on my pristine white Egyptian cotton sheets. You cannot win, people just do not think.
My only advice is to be careful to not seem over the top with Rules. Some guests might pass over your booking, or might even get offended during their stay and leave you less stars, if your rules make them feel unwelcome.
My first experience at booking an ABB last weekend was an eye opener. Some peopleās House Rules were so militant that I told myself never in a million years would I stay there.
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Shower mitts??? Wow! Could you get the stains out of everything? Also, they didnāt give it a second thought about the outcome of their actions. Meh. Theyāre on vacation and itās just what people do.
What I hate is when they use spray on oils or lotions.
The unfortunate thing is shower mitts look like tanning mitts.
Hereās a tanning mitt:
Hereās a shower mitt:
Soā¦ itās a reasonable mistake. Personally I wouldnāt expect to be provided anything to be used to clean intimate areas. I guess the guest figured the same !
Right. THis is a tricky business, because there are certain things that are non-negotiables (like no smoking, kids dogs, parties) and you want to make them clearly understood without sounding overbearing or uptight. I frame mine int he positive. For exampleā¦
While the house is non-smoking, we have a garden in the back where you can smoke to your heartās content (ironic)
and
While we love children, our home is not a safe and suitable environment for them. Therefore, all guests should be at least 18 years old.
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Jeez the exfoliator thing looks menacing.
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Oh Jack, why mince words?
NO screaming kids.
NO smoking
NO ā¦whatever
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Jack is a man after my own heart! 
LOL. Well, yes of course. Thatās what I mean. I just make sure to frame things in the positive, because saying āno thisā¦no thatā¦no the otherā¦ā can be off putting to guests.
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