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A good number of guests are mindful enough to respect our studios and behave like civilized human beings.
However, every now and then we get some special guests who do not possess the proper comprehension of how other people’s property needs to be treated.
In our case it’s a recurring issue of guests not realising that due to the vertical force of gravity on this planet, rain has a tendency to fall from the sky down towards the ground. This poses severe difficulties to guests to realize that opening roof windows while it rains leads to flooding and damage inside the studio.
Since smoke detectors are considered a life saving device by beeping loudly in case of fire, I was wondering if it is allowed for hosts to implement similar warning systems for potential water damage due to left open roof windows?
I’ve started tinkering with Smart Home devices (Home Assistant) and it wouldn’t be too complicated to set up window and rain sensors to alarm guests when it starts to rain so that they close the f****** windows.
I really hate to go this far but we’ve put a good chunk of money into the construction of one of our studios and it’s just painful to see guests come home (in the rain) and opening the windows as soon as they’re inside. I was wondering if a ship’s horn might suffice to make them understand that they should close the windows…
Yes, you need to ‘guest proof’ wherever possible. We have sensors on all the windows (that say ‘please keep closed - alarmed’) so we can get them closed if a wonderful guest leaves them open during a heat wave (central ac) or when rain happens. We have water sensors next to every toilet and shower stall for the same reason.
I suggest, tho, that your ‘roof windows’ (are they what are also called ‘skylights’?) be replaced with remote controlled motors. The cost is cheap compared to replacing flooring etc when the guest leaves it open and goes off for the evening.
This is the type of roof windows that we have. Easy to access and open for guests to air out or for a nice breeze of fresh air when all three windows are opened.
I previously never thought of installing fully motorized windows due to the added risk of failure but, obviously, if the human is already a point of failure a motor would still reduce the risk…
Those windows were expensive enough already. Adding a motorized version with rain sensors built-in would have broken our bank.
Like I just mentioned - it never occurred to me that people would intentionally open the roof windows during rain. It’s just something that’s unnatural to me.
Even the fact that the guests go to bed with all windows open (we have A/C !!!) sends shiver down my spine - one would think they’d learn when in the middle of the night I hear them slapping the windows closed in a hurry because it was raining on their faces.
Situational awareness seems to be rare these days and make no mistake - we welcome all of our guests personally. We demonstrate the window operation and explicitly mention that the windows are supposed to be closed when they leave or before going to bed to prevent any water damage or flooding. In one ear, out the other.
I don’t think the local building code where I live even allows windows like that. (Of coyrse, years ago this entire region was old-growth temperate rainforest.
Interesting. All over Europe you mostly see these windows. They are very much up to code here. What could be the reason that they are not allowed in your area?
We (the Mr. And me) just had a “discussion” about guest behavior this past week.
He was very upset a guest left a bit of trash (trash service is not available at our location, a transfer station is close by. taking your trash with you on departure is required) and one of the doors unlocked.
I am of the mindset that some people are clueless at best and careless at worst.
To some guests it appears unreasonable to ask them to take care of their trash and dispose it properly. Locking doors should be a given but again, it’s one of those things where I try to figure out better ways to educate guests, remind them and maybe even install sensors to keep me up to date of the situation.
We live on site so most issues can be taken care of instantly. In your case it sounds a bit more complicated.
In social media I regularly see those Anti-Airbnb comments ridiculing house rules that require “doing the dishes” and “taking out the trash” emphasizing “why do I pay a cleaning fee then?” with the subsequent statement “I only stay in hotels from now on where I can leave the trash on the floor”.
Definately unique to our area, which is inside a state forest. No trash service, no cell service, no cable, very isolated. It is the only thing (aside from locking doors) I ask of a guest and I have a sign explaining why. Bears are present as well.
It wasn’t even food, it looked like a few paper towels and a package wrapper, which is why I thought the Mr. was unnecessarily upset. I suspect one person took out the trash and put in another bag and the other guest threw away the paper he found.
My DH frequently starts foaming at the mouth when a guest does something he doesn’t like. At least once a month he tells me “You need to stop guests from…” It’s usually something pretty minor like scuffing the wall paint with their luggage. 90% of the time I just say “thank you, dear” and do nothing at all.
Mine wanted me to email the guests to scold them for the minor infractions. I did not.
I pointed out that if this is the “worst” thing that happened in three years of doing this, consider us lucky.
I try to keep my husband away from the cottage and its guests as when he does need to drop something off for guests or they need assistance with something (like turning on the gas grill) he comes back with lots of OPINIONS on how they are storing their groceries, not openning the blinds, etc.
10 years of hosting and the only damage we’ve had is one broken television (which AirCover reimbursed us for half) and one cracked cooktop - which was covered by insurance I buy for the guests. All the rest is minor - a broken dish or salt shaker, missing beach towel, broken figurine, etc. I long ago learned to not buy fragile and expensive items.
A few decades ago I attended a parenting group when I was having problems with my oldest daughter, who was a teenager at the time.
All the parents in the group were moms, except for one single dad. When a lot of these moms described the issues they were having at home, supposedly with their teenagers, I thought "It isn’t your teenager who’s the problem, it’s your husband, who is undermining your quite appropriate parenting strategies ".
Do you leave written notes around the room for guests telling them to close the windows when they leave the apartment or when it rains? Even have them sign a statement agreeing to that upon or before check-in? This is damage from negligence that you should be able to pass onto them.
We do have warning stickers on the windows themselves in 4 languages and a “fun” canvas collage at the exit stairs that every guest is forced to look at walking down the stairs before exiting the studio, mentioning the windows to be closed before leaving.
We do in-person check-ins and demonstrate the guests how the windows work and the importance of closing them completely when leaving or before going to bed.
Needless to say, there are people who are immune to these things and in the worst case they even open the windows during rain.
We’ve already a very tight requirement for our guests who book with us. All personal details are recorded and copies of their government IDs are made which is also a legal requirement here in France. However, this obviously doesn’t cure the indifference of some guests.
To go as far as making the guests sign an additional statement/waiver is making a stay with us more like prison registration procedure. It’s already a lot that we ask of our guests, after NOT asking for these things before and having some of them behaving a lot more disrespectful towards our property.
There is still a majority of sane and mindful guests don’t get me wrong. But it only takes one to cause major damage that can put us out of business for weeks or months because of such negligence. To make all guests “pay” for that seems a bit too much - but perhaps we might have to consider it…
do you emphasize to the guests when they arrive- that you have to charge them a fee if rain damage occurs- this will more than likely wake them up when their pocketbook is involved.
I will have to look into that. We’re already treating our guests like children, putting stickers everywhere because there are just “these” guests who really, really need them. smh.
Any way you can “child-proof” your property to reduce the number of stickers? No matter how well you make notes, there are still going to be guests that ignore them, either on purpose or because they aren’t paying attention. I call it “vacation brain”, and often that is accompanied by “booze brain”.
This poses severe difficulties to guests to realize that opening roof windows while it rains leads to flooding and damage inside the studio.
