Help me edit my House Manual

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too long, too redundant, anything missing?

Welcome!! This is the House Manual that came with your confirmation email. Please read this NOW if you have not already done so…

Check in is 3pm, check out is 10am. I cannot offer later checkout so please be considerate of the time in the morning, as I need to clean and prepare for the next guest.

To enter the house: At the front door is the KEVO lock; it is what you would normally put the key into. Touch the lock ‘surround’ for a few seconds with your finger, and it will light up blue and it will automatically open. Once inside, close and then lock the door behind you by hand manually by turning it to the left.

To leave the house: Close the door behind you, turn back and touch the Kevo THREE TIMES SLOWLY and it will lock the door behind you. Please always make sure the door is locked when you are inside or when you leave (when you leave you have to hear the motor sound).

Nest Cam: For your protection, there is a Nest Cam that covers this main area. It’s always on.

No smoking or vaping in the house or on the property, or eating or drinking in the house. No shoes in the house – leave them on the black mat.

Bathroom: At the top of the stairs on the second floor is your shared full bathroom. You may use one towel (per person) for your stay, from the glass cabinet in the bathroom. When you have used the towel, don’t bring it to your room, but please hang it up on the hook behind the bathroom door. Do not use the towels for makeup removal or for anything that could stain them. Please do NOT remove the hair catcher that covers the drain - it is not to be taken out.

As it is a shared bathroom, turn the lights out and leave the door wide open when you are not using it, so we know you are through.

You can tell us when you will need the bathroom in the morning and we will work around everyone’s time as best as we can

In your room is a hair dryer and mirror. Please use them in your room and not in the bathroom so that we can accommodate everyone.

This house is 95 years old, so yes, sometimes the floorboards creak and groan. It’s not a problem, it’s a feature haha. No need to tiptoe - I’m used to it. In the drawer of the nightstand are throwaway earplugs - they get rid of squeaks as well as snoring bedmates lol. Please enjoy.

Again, please, no eating or drinking anywhere in the house.

The house is spotless and we would like you to keep it that way. Thanks so much for reading all this… please enjoy your evening!

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I would just add “help us” keep it that way. Otherwise sounds good!

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I am a very fussy, clean person with high expectations, but it almost sounds like you don’t want people in your house. If I am on vacation, I may not expect to cook meals, but when you’re on a road trip and you’ve arrived after a long hot day, it’s nice to have access to a refreshing drink, or have somewhere to store a few snacks, or warm up a frozen meal. One towel might be fine for some, but if you have long hair and need another for that, it seems skimpy. Towels are cheap at Walmart. What about the facecloth and bath foot mat? And is the black shoe mat outside? I would never leave my expensive shoes to be exposed to potential rain or be stolen. I realize you are protecting your investment. We find, since we live in the house with our guests, 99% of them are very respectful and for those that forgot to read the manual we gently remind them. We cover our valuable furniture in their room. Ie, coverlets over their couch, and clear table cloth over their desk/table so if there is a spill, it’s no big deal. Good luck with your listing. I would add that no personal rooms or bathrooms are on your web cam too.

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Thank you for your insights, but please note that i am not a whole house, but dimply a room adnshared bathroom, not a ‘destination’ since the max stay is 2 nights. I seem to attract a lot of business people who show after work and leave early in the am.

Good thinking about the towles, i will leave. Astack of them and perhaps not mention quantity?

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Personally think that you cannot tell people not to eat or drink in accommodation that they have paid for. Not even a glass of water, a cup of tea?? If you are going to do this I think you need to make people aware before they book. it would certainly stop me from staying.

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Agree with most others here. As Kona will tell you, I tend to be sensitive to feeling like I am staying at my OCD grandma’s house when I am supposed to be on holiday…even if I am traveling on business, I still want to be able to relax a bit. So, here it is: your manual makes you sound unreasonably uptight. I would not feel good about staying with you.

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Yes… agree with Jack. If I saw all these rules before booking, I’d probably move on.

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Hi Bob_Blank,

I agree with the other posters. I hope that you make most of these rules clear in your listing; not just after the guest books. I would never stay somewhere if I couldn’t eat and drink or where I was only permitted one towel. I believe that 10:00 A.M. is a pretty early check out time. Many of our guests bring their towels to the bedroom as that is what is covering them. Otherwise, they’d have to get dressed in the bathroom.

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Wow, this has been really helpful!

FYI, my 2 rooms are almost 100% booked with 1 or 2 night stays (I an in an area where I get a lot of folks who come in around 8 or 9 and then leave at 8am for work), and I am very concerned that my manual was too detailed, and I see that most agree! And yes, I mentioned no food or drink as part of the description. Locally, people want to go out and eat (and the room does not come with common access or a kitchen anyway)

Here is how it has edited down so far; any comments on THIS:?

Welcome!! Thanks for taking a moment to read this…

Check in is 3pm, check out is 10am.

Nest Cam: For your protection, there is a Nest Cam that covers this main area. It’s always on.
No smoking or vaping in the house or on the property, or eating or drinking in the house. No shoes in the house – leave them on the black mats inside the front door.

Bathroom: At the top of the stairs on the second floor is your shared full bathroom. The towels are in the glass cabinet – please hang the wet towel in the bathroom, and not bring it back in the room. Also, please don’t remove the hair catcher that covers the drain - it is not to be taken out.
Turn the lights out and leave the door wide open when you are not using it, so others will know you are through.
You can tell us when you will need the bathroom in the morning and we will work around everyone’s time as best as we can

This house is 95 years old, so yes, sometimes the floorboards creak and groan. It’s not a problem, it’s a feature haha. No need to tiptoe - I’m used to it. In the drawer of the nightstand are throwaway earplugs - they get rid of squeaks as well as snoring bedmates lol. Please enjoy.

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No drinking or eating is way too much. It’s basic human need. I can understand no cooking rule, but not to allow people to have tea, coffee, or eat food they took out, is too much.

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Yes, limiting use of towels for me it seems a bit…weird. If I do laundry it doesn’t matter to me how many towels were used. Most people don’t use fresh towel everyday anyway.

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Agreed about the towels - I only use one, but would hate to be felt like someone will slap my hand if I need a second one -

But on the eating - could you provide a space in your kitchen or dining room for guests to eat? I understand not wanting people to eat in their rooms, but, really, people need to eat! You could even try to make it special so, though they are restricted as to where they eat, they feel like you still want to treat them like…guests…

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One more thing to add: though we have house rules they still have to be human friendly. I think we must offer accommodations that at least correspond with basic human needs. I am being very carefull on how i word my house rules and try to look at them from a guest side.
I also limited laundry and kitchen use to prevent unreasonable use of it, buti didnt forbid it altogether .
The other thing I wanted to ask, why only 2 days max, just curious

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I posted a quite edited version based on all the comments so far. I am so grateful formthe support and help!

Yana, i made the max stay 2 nights on the theory that longer stays would require more room for the guest. My tiny house and small kitchen would i think be overwhelmed if guests were esting and hanging out. Also, i noticed that when guests are around during the day, it becomes more of a vacation /. Hotel situation and neediness skyrockets. Right now, i am almost 100% booked with one and two night folks, mostly people who work in the area and live out of the area.

That said, i do realize how draconian my rules were and am reducing them a lot, as you can see.

Folks totally ignore my no drinking rule anyway, as they are always bringing in a bottle of water (i find them in the garbage all the time). I suppose that i was concerned with stains and alcohol; however, nobody has complained or asked for dispensation haha so i guess all is well.

Please continue the discussion… One question i have is smartkeys… I have the kevo, and it seems anyone under 30 ‘gets it’ and needs no help, while older folks (back off haters lol i am 64!) seem to need a lot of explanation. Also, when explaining something to a less tech person, why is it that they totally ignore something explicit like ‘lock the door behind you when you enter’?

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I did not find the original to be too detailed. You need to be clear to guests what your expectations are. But I find the no eating /drinking to be over kill. I understand about staining and you don’t want people getting drunk but you can address those in separate rules.

If you are not on instant book, I would confirm with guest that they have read the entire house manual and agree to all rules before you accept their request. For example with the shoes, will people feel uncomfortable having to take off their shoes if they didn’t bother to read the manual. They may want to bring a pair of slippers if they have to take off shoes. And also they may not feel comfortable if other guests can just grab their expensive shoes…btw - how many guests do you sleep and is the bedroom shared?

Ok…I have always slept with a glass of water next to my beside so that I don’t have to get up and go to the kitchen if I want a drink in the middle of the night. You are not trying to limit water are you? And about the eating…some people may eat a large late lunch, and want to bring back some snacks for later. Some people just eat something small every few hours. What is the set up in their bedroom? I totally get where you are coming from. I used to find pizza stains on sheets and on the rug,

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I think that your changes are going well Bob, and the suggestions have all been good. I also agree. I like people to take their shoes off but feel embarrassed enforcing the rule and pretty much no one obeys it. They might on the arrival when they know I’m there, but once they think I’m out of sight, I hear them clunking around in their shoes, and catch the, in their shoes - totally shameless too. I guess they think ’ oh, we’re cool right? You don’t mean me?’. When actually all people bringing dirt and mud and damaging my hardwood floor and rugs are equally required, just like I do myself. I need to find a way to crack down.

Regarding towels, I like your change. Women with longer hair do sometimes require a second towel. Many gussets just use the one though.

In regards to the no eating /drinking, that sounds like a museum or theatre, however I completely understand your desire to cut down on stains, and also watermarks on wood furniture. These are a big problem for me. These need to be addressed more directly, by saying that food and beverage stains or damage to the surface of furniture will be dealt with by taking $10-100 from the deposit, depending on the stain or damage. Please be careful if choosing to eat or drink in the rooms. Something to dissuade guests strongly. That way people know they can eat and drink, but are careful to not slop it about, and to put their drinks on the coasters you hopefully provide.

I agree the older customers have trouble getting their head around things and can be more trouble. I have no suggestions other than smile and act happy to help. That seems to be what they like :slight_smile: