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Last week I had a couple check out and noticed wheel marks from their luggage on the kitchen table! This resulted in me adding a new rule "Do not place luggage on the bed or any other furniture. "
Today I’m inspecting the bedroom and noticed the (rather heavy) queen size bed was moved away from the wall by a metre, apparently single–handedly by a guest who I think wanted to see the stars from the bed (at least that is the only plausible conclusion I can think of). Now I’m contemplating adding a new rule: “Do not move any of the furniture.”
Does this ever end or should I resort back to just “treat my apartment as you would treat your own home”?
Well, treating the rule ‘treat my home as you would your own’ means for some guests, moving furniture for their comfort is perfectly acceptable. As is luggage on the table.
Do you have a luggage rack? Although I totally agree suitcases on the table is not ok, I do feel like it’s a hard rule to enforce if you don’t provide a luggage rack. Give them some alternative to just putting it on the floor and I’m sure they will be more accepting of the rule
For many people, leaning over to reach a bag on the floor or sitting on the floor is not really an option. They have bad backs, get dizzy, etc. For short stays, very few guests actually unpack their bags. The suitcase racks are used regularly.
My rule of thumb is that if a guest does something that I don’t want done and many might find reasonable; I make a rule. Moving furniture and putting luggage on furniture are both things that many guests will do. I permit both these things. Our bed is on sliders so that guests can move it if they prefer a different set up. You will get guests who do strange things for which you don’t need to make a new rule. For example, we had a guest who fell asleep with an open bottle of tea tree oil on his chest. It stunk up the entire guest room. I didn’t make a rule, “No falling asleep with open bottles of liquid on your chest.”
Good that you are considering a luggage rack.
Even if a guest does not want to bend over to unpack due to discomfort, one of my travel rules is do not put your luggage on the floor. Well at least in the Vancouver area is where the bed bug issue first came up for me.
The advice was never put your luggage on the floor as critters could crawl in
Side note: A travel companion did not heed my advice and had his suitcase on the floor for a week in the Riviera Maya. Put his coat on once he got to Vancouver and once we got to the hotel room took the jacket off and a big old cockroach crawled out of the sleeve !
No you don’t need to create new rules, you simply have to expect your guests to be respectful and also keep a close eye on them for any irregularities you might see before departure so you can head them off at the pass. And yes, a luggage rack is essential.
If I added house rules all the time they would include:
Do not leave tomatoes under the ottoman
Do not rearrange the furniture
Do not leave your own plastic clothes hangers
Do not dye your purple hair anywhere near my white shower curtain
Do not ‘help me out’ by starting the wash - all colours in together at high temps
Do not leave syringes under the sofa
Do not use a beer bottle as an ashtray on the dock
Do not leave the loo unflushed
Do not deposit half of the local beach in my bathtub
Do not eat pizza (or anything else) in bed
Do not leave dog hairs in the kitchen sink
Do not put the washing up bowl on top of the fridge (this is quite commonplace)
Do not shove two pillows between the headboard and the wall to muffle the sounds of your bedtime activities
Do not yap like a dog during same
Do not leave the supplied books and magazines all over the apartment
Do not leave the bloodthirsty results of your fishing trip in the fridge
Do not leave used condoms floating in the loo
Oh and so many more. But I’ve been doing this a long time…
Regarding the bed or furniture moving… I have had to ask guests to not do this. The small table I have for a breakfast nook was moved and broken when a guest did not put the leaf down properly. I claimed it and Air paid. When my son got home from college, he fixed it. Another guest moved my king platform, which destabilized the leg and somehow… stripped the screw! It’s not meant to move with the mattress on it. I have to tell guests about this. I can’t have them breaking furniture. The rule says, “please don’t move furniture, or come get my help if you really want to move something. Furniture moved improperly can and will break.”
The most recent rule I have made up concerns dragging their dive gear in the house and washing it in the bathtub. I seriously don’t want all that salt water down my pipes and salty crap dragged through the house. They can rinse their gear at the dock where their charters are or at the local water spigot. It happened at least three times so it needed to become a rule.
I find that I tend to mention things during the house tour rather than impose rules. Yes, there are various (short) rules on the listing but who reads those?
During the house tour I can play it by ear a bit. If they ask me where’s a good place to go out dancing, I can remind them (in a friendly way!) that the quiet time here is from 10 pm to 8 am, for example. If they look as though they are going to shove the pillows behind the headboard or yap like a dog. I point out that there’s no-one in the apartment next door.
I purchased a luggage rack yesterday from Bed Bath and Beyond. I am strangely excited about it!
Another idea I have had is to purchase a long padded stool which could be used to sit on or place luggage on.
I remember that feeling about getting something nice for the guest room! I don’t want to pee on your parade but you do know that they will still put the cases on the bed/table and use the luggage rack to dry their towels, right?
