Singapore guests...all lights on, all the time, even overnight and when they leave

Our place has gorgeous views and outside of Australians our main international guests are Singaporean as they love the space, views chickens etc… They are lovely people, clean, quiet and respectful.

The one issue I have is that they turn every light on and leave them on through their entire stay, even at night and when they leave. I’m assuming this is something cultural that I don’t understand. However, as we respect the environment and turn off every light we can and also do this to minimise cost, I find it really disrespectful!

They also crank the heaters up to the maximum of 30 degrees. Whilst I hate this for the same reasons of environment and cost, I can at least understand it given their normal temperatures.

Our last electricity bill where we had a 3 Singapore guests in one month, was double the same period last year. I’m at the point of refusing Singapore guests given our property is booked flat out.

Has anyone else had similar experiences or can suggest how to deal with this?

Inform them about the lights when they arrive.

Put limiters/timers on heating and lights.

My bathroomheaters all run on a 30 minute clock, they cannot run any longer unless a guests resets them.
My heaters cannot heat above 22C.
And many lights have timers, or movement sensors.

And always go into the room when they leave to switch/turn everything off.

5 Likes

Thank you so much for the suggestions Crhis. I’ll really consider those. It would be an expensive job to change the heating, but worth me considering the cost of that versus the electricity bills!

Our property is a separate unit and I work full time. So I can’t always meet guests. Do you think there is a diplomatic way of communicating this message via our email and facebook communications?

Just tell them, turn off lights and keep the heat at whatever temp you tell them, below 25? And do you have LED bulbs? Very little energy use less tha 20% of a standard incandescent and better than CFLs.

Your issue is that you can’t control their behavior in a separate unit. I would try to communicate to the guests, and see if the behavior changes. Maybe set a fine in your house rules that says an excess amount will be taken out of the damage deposit. Then confirm with the guests that they have read this? Even if you technically can’t use the deposit for that, it may help to keep them in line.

If the behavior does not change, and if the rest of the guests from other countries are respecting the electricity, heat, etc., I don’t think you need to go through the expense of installing timers/automatic shut offs, etc. just so you can babysit this particular group. If you can afford to, and it pays off in the long run then great.

Given a choice of two guests…most of us are going to select the one that gives us the less headaches, and costs us less.

If I get two inquiries - one for a couple in their late 50’s. And another for a couple in their early thirties with two toddlers…I already know which I am going to choose.

1 Like

Don’t keep us in suspense!

Maggie - I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic or not :slight_smile:

Of course my late 50s couples - they take care of the rental mostly as if it were their own home. I even texted the other day (it was so hot) and said my partner would be over to water the outdoor plants. She texted back and said she already did it. So now I leave a pitcher out there so other guests will hopefully do the same

4 Likes

I was just joking! Of course, no toddlers! I always find older guests very easy to host and they leave good reviews. But I’m sure there are exceptions.

1 Like

Ok…I wasn’t sure if you were joking because so many people here say their older guests are a PITA and leave not so great reviews. But I think that is more a shared space thing. That’s why I couldn’t tell :slight_smile:

1 Like

I hosted one Singapore couple and they acted the same way. All lights on, always, and the heat was so unbearable when I entered the apartment that I rushed to open a window ! Otherwise, they were very polite and left the place clean.

I get very few Singaporeans (my guests book my place to visit Disneyland Paris so I am very surprised to get requests from Singaporeans), but I got another request from a Singaporean couple right after the first couple checked out and i made it very clear before I approve that I would find it inconsiderate if they leave all lights on and heat to 30 degrees, as “in Europe we are very conservative with resources, we take great pride in engineering houses and appliances that use very little energy and expect people to make a reasonable use of resources.”

I have yet to see if it works (they booked in February for late November)

1 Like

Please keep us posted Barthelemy. And if you find a certain communication that works it would be helpful to share…

1 Like

I will.

I don’t even understand why people living in a tropical climate visit temperate places in the middle of winter ^^.

1 Like

Geez buy a coat! Or a scarf or a hot water bottle :innocent:
C’est bizarre non?

1 Like

Coming originally from a tropical country myself, the weather in temperate climates can feel unbearably dark. Also, many Asian cultures favor home lighting that is very bright. That could explain keeping all the lights on.
As for the heating, when you are used to average 28 degrees C all year, and not wearing/ not having any warm clothes for indoors, even indoor temp of 20-22 degrees can feel cold.
@Barthelemy’s suggestion to let them understand the need to conserve energy, and getting some tech solutions seem the right way to go.

Well, I have no problem with guests using as many lights as they want and heating to the temperature they like to feel comfortable when they’re in the apartment… The problem with these guests (and most Singaporeans guests from what I have read here and on the French CC) is leaving ALL lights on and heating to the MAX in an EMPTY apartment, when they are away for the whole day, it just makes no sense using energy when there’s nobody to feel the heat and see the light. It’s just irresponsible and inconsiderate.

1 Like

I think it is a shared space thing, and generation gap. I don’t think many baby boomers enjoy renting a millenial’s spare bedroom with an air bed. I saw one poor young woman offering a cheap airbed in my city get totally slammed by in her first review by middle-aged guest who was very condescending!
I do have to wonder why the renters didn’t select something else!

Then again I’m hosting my second-to-worst guests right now and they are my age! (30ish.) I have a harder time getting the youngsters to follow house rules including during the lights off that aren’t being used.

1 Like

Oh, but there’s a group on here that slams older guests, so I didn’t know, either!

ps - I’m an ‘older’ guest - 54 - but I got a late start so have kids 11, 15,16. Guess I’m bad on both sides of the equation!

1 Like

Because we love the chance to get away to something completely different! Plus I get to wear my winter fashion items.

1 Like

Thank you everyone for your comments.

It’s fascinating to watch these conversations transform to totally different topics. So I won’t comment on the posts that are off topic, as much as I’d love to.

Our place has 5 star ratings and we try hard for guests to feel at home. I understand that Singaporeans need the extra heat. We aren’t a boarding house with rules and we try to be a bit more up market than most in our category, so things like shower limits, light limits etc don’t fit with what we are offering, but thank you for the suggestions. I think we need to communicate to the guests that we appreciate if they turn lights and appliances off when not in use.

Another funny thing with the Singaporeans. Our property is lovely and light with huge windows and rural views. However, a lot of the time they keep the drapes closed which prevents them from appreciating these. I’m wondering if the lights and the closing drapes, are conditioning from apartment living.

1 Like

I also get guests wanting blackout drape conditions and all windows closed off to ocean breezes here in Hawaii. Whatever floats your boats.