Yup…same in Hawaii. It’s said that is part of our paradise tax when we first relocate here-- that we must all do our share of hosting friends and taking them sightseeing. Fortunately, the sights never get old.
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We’ll show you ours if you show us yours lol
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Thanks everyone for suggestions, and understanding.
I truly admire you hosts that do this on a more consistent basis than I do, you have way more patience than I do!
I guess I just needed to vent, thanks 
Brook - don’t think you may not be patient. Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t…lol. But you do host in a shared space. Many of us don’t, and we have a different set of issues to deal with. Like my last guest who broke the damn toilet and almost dried up the well. Being on site I would have known there was an issue…but it was only mentioned that the water was low after I mentioned guests were checking in same day they were leaving. I have a feeling one of the young adult kids did not mention a word…who knows. So I deal with the aftermath of behavior that has gone on for days (whether guest was piggish, etc.) - but you deal with them in your face on a daily basis.
Also, markets tend to vary too with different types of guests that seem attracted to certain areas.
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I have found that no matter how I screen guests either upon the booking request or immediately upon their arrival, there is just no way to tell how needy they are really going to be. They may sound like they have a full itinerary and have their act together but then they get here and it’s a completely different story
–even though they said they read that cell service was sketchy, they didn’t know what that meant (even though I spell it out for them in house rules—your cell phone may not work unless connected to my internet)
–they didn’t even know how to connect their phone to an internet, wow, can I teach them?
–They travel to a different town for dinner, after dinner, start typing address into their GPS, but they choose the same street name in a completely different town and actually go there, 30 minutes longer than it took them to get from my house to the restaurant I directed them to, then send me an email at 1030pm asking what town my home is in, even though they had already been here!!! (they told me they had no idea that 2 towns so close together would have streets with the same names!!) Not to mention that the name of my town is all over their emails from ABB.
Those are just a few examples.
The thing is, I love to give guests ideas on where to go and what to do in my immediate area, but once they start traveling to the bigger tourist attractions, they are NOT going to find the peace and solitude that my little has to offer.
One of my last set of guests was here for the motorcycle rally, my town is a 15 minute drive from the major town that event is in. They had friends they would be meeting each day in that town. Now, my town is also filled with bikers during this event because there are suddenly 100.000 bikers in the area. Anyway, they told me they found it ‘stressful’ because they tended to oversleep each day because the mattress was nicer than theirs, then they would have to hurry to meet their friends, and of course, they were completely anal with the bike preparations (washing it down before each use etc).
I tried redirecting them to the fact that they mentioned how comfortable the bed was, but instead, they focused on their stress—caused by themselves, not me.
Just really frustrating.
Yes, and the hand holding may even be more pronounced because you host them inside your home, whereas my guests rent a separate apartment. I really don’t get that much dependence once they are here and checked in.
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I hope you find your break restful. Is it always like this? Or are you just in a bad patch?
I do get a lot of helpless people too - and my guidebook is fat, and the website I send them complete, and the books on the table in their room are in several languages. They still don’t know what to do and need me to tell them. Did you see my story of the two couples that got lost and called ME for directions? They had several other options to solve the problem, but though they barely spoke English, they called me personally.
I just really hope this is just a rough patch and your next guests will be two very polite, clean and fascinating folks.
As you know I love the Adirondacks and lived there for a bit - but now as a suburbanite I can imagine that it is overwhelming to get lost in an area that is so dark at night. When you know your way around cruising along those mountain roads is awesome. But when you’re lost and confused it’s quite daunting.
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I had to laugh reading this.
Because remember don’t go there…
I agree with the previous comments. I would soften the message a tad, especially the “don’t bother me” part Although we’ve all been there!
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I too have limited energy for interacting with guests. I completely filled out the Guidebook section in my listing with all the restaurants and attractions. I put a one page welcome letter in the room. It has the wi-fi password and directions to nearby stores. I’ve found that younger people automatically turn to Google for local details, and I appreciate that very much. My current guest has been here three months and I’ve only seen her twice. My kind of guest.
I think the word self-sufficient is key in your listing, it sounds like a compliment and also conveys that you aren’t seeking to be needed by your guests.
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