Many of you have told me that you like my posts about my odd inn guests. If that’s you, you’re welcome because today I’ve got another one. The people who stay here are certainly entertaining at times. There is never a dull moment when you deal with the public. Especially when said “public” often have a warped understanding about what exactly a B & B is.
Are we a hotel? Sort of but not really. Are we a public place? Sort of but not really. Do we provide hotel services? Sort of but not really. It’s hard to describe a B & B to folks who have never stayed in one before. A B & B is really just a very large house that rents rooms and provides breakfast in the morning. That’s it. No laundry facility. No concierge. No valet parking. What you see is what you get. If you don’t see it, it’s probably not available.
Some B & B’s are owned by a corporation and run by management teams. Some are owned by private parties but run by management teams. Some are privately owned and run by the owners. We fall into the last category, which makes us an even more specialized type of overnight accommodation. We live here. Full time. If you rent a room here, you truly are a guest in my house.
Yes we rent rooms the same as hotels rent rooms. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end. We don’t have room service. We don’t have on-site housekeeping. We don’t have a maintenance department. We don’t have a front desk. We do provide breakfast but we are not a restaurant. And, most importantly, THIS IS OUR HOME. We. Live. Here. We treat you like a guest. We expect you to act like one. Some people fail miserably at this.
About two weeks ago we had a couple of gals from out of town arrive and check in for 2 days. They were very personable and had lots of questions when they first arrived. I did my best to entertain them and answer all of their questions even though it ate up a lot of my time. Being overly friendly was my first mistake. It didn’t take long before they started asking for “extra” things. Nothing weird and nothing that hasn’t been asked for by a guest before, but asking for things that we don’t offer.
Because it’s our home, the house does have a kitchen. But the kitchen is off-limits to guests. Some guests don’t “get” this. Some ask for kitcheny things, like utensils, plates, a pot of hot water so they can have tea in the evening. Nothing really weird, but things that would definitely NOT be available in a hotel.
We do our best to comply, but some guests think that because we are NOT a hotel, they can have special stuff. This is where we get back to my chatty girls. They wanted plates and utensils to eat the food they’d brought with them. Okay. I handed over said items. Then they wanted me to heat up their food in the microwave. (sigh) I did because I’m a nice person, but here is where I made my second mistake.
The next day, same thing, only earlier in the day. Can we use the microwave? Can we have plates? Can we have extra wine glasses? Later that same day, after I’d again provided the requested items, both ladies came back from wherever they had been with a third person. A man. Oookkkkaaaay. I smiled and said “hello,” but gave them my squinty-eye. No explanation was offered about the acquisition of this new person. A few minutes later they all went into the billiard room and started shooting pool. Hmmm. If you were a guest in someone’s home, would you in turn invite your own guests? Especially without asking your host or hostess if that would be okay before you did the inviting?
Later that same night, I went upstairs to turn off some of the lamps in the hallway. One of the gals was in their room. The other was out on the front veranda with the man. They smiled and waved. I smiled and waved. Should I ask him to leave? They weren’t doing anything disruptive, but . . . . It didn’t feel right and it was awkward, but I decided to just go to bed and hope there were no problems. Probably my third mistake, but I truly did not know what to do in this instance since they weren’t causing any problems.
The next morning, none of them showed up for breakfast but my husband saw the man loading luggage into their car. The car that the women arrived in. Hmmm. About thirty minutes later I ran into 1 of the gals and the man in the hallway. I asked if they wanted breakfast, even though all of the other guests were already almost finished eating. They both said yes if it wasn’t too late. I told them I only had enough food for 2 (because that’s how many people I thought I was feeding.) They said that was okay.
Because I am who I am, I said something to the effect of their room being magical because it turned the other woman into a man overnight. They laughed. I asked what happened to the other woman and they said she “had things to do and places to go.” Say what? So you go someplace with your girlfriend then ditch her so you can spend the night with a man? That’s so not cool.
Anyway, I’m not sure how many people actually slept in that room, or on the porch, or wherever, but I think the whole situation was a little too trashy hotelish for me. I repeat, we are NOT a hotel. Instead of sneaking around, why didn’t they just say that one gal was leaving but a man would be staying instead? What would have been so hard about that? They didn’t ask for clean sheets or towels or anything and they paid for double occupancy in the room so as long as there were only 2 people there, what’s the big deal? Aside from it being super weird. If the other gal did spend the night in the same room, where did she go? Did I have another disappearing guest? Is there a black hole upstairs that sucks people up randomly?
I have to wonder, if they had been staying at their mother’s house, or their grandmother’s house, or their aunt’s house, or even their best friend’s house, would they have pulled the same stunt? I can see – maybe – doing that in a hotel room, but not in someone’s house. I’m not even sure if they even knew this guy before they came to town or if he’s someone they met the night before at one of our local bars. I’ve got questions but, honestly, I don’t think I want to know the answers.
I’ll never figure people out. And, it’s all in the past now. It was just another weird guest experience that happened and gave me good blog fodder.
So tell me, what’s your opinion about this occurrence? Should I have asked the third person to leave as soon as I’d seen him? I’d love some advice about how you would have handled it.
Word of the Day: Quillwort
Fun fact about me: I think I need to start staying at some other B & B’s to see how they handle things.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, December 2019. Images by Google and giphy.com.
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Do you know The Hook? He is a bell hop in Niagara Falls. He has some WILD stories!
I think people forget that it’s your home not a no-tell motel. LOL!
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I do not know the Hook. I’ll do some investigating. I’m so not good at confrontation so I really don’t now how I should graciously handle these types of situations. It makes me feel prickly.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you understand my predicament.
Patricia
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The Hook – https://youvebeenhooked.wordpress.com/category/hotel-employees/hotel-life/ Feel free to delete this link if you want! Thought I would make it easy for you.
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Thank you.
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Sound to me like these people have more gall than common decency. It also sounds like that guy may have had a pretty good 2 for 1 deal. lol BTW, I hope you’re saving up all these weird stories to write a book about them.
I looked up Quillwort, but I didn’t understand most of the names used in describing it. Oh, well, I’m not about to start a garden anyhow.
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It never ceases to amaze me how much gall people have, Nothing actually surprises me any more thought. Just about the time I think I’ve seen it all, I’ll see something weirder. Keeps life interesting.
I’m not even really sure what quillwort is either, but it’s a fun word.
Thanks for visiting today. Have a great count down to Christmas.
Patricia
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If a guest invited some stranger to my house without asking me, that would be a hard no. But I’m guessing these people probably thought since they were paying for a room, they’re not really guests, even if it’s in your house, so they could do what they want. Some people will take advantage of anything they can! I’m glad that no trouble came of it though, so that’s a bonus. You should have sicced your husband on them (that’s what husband’s are for, right?). 🙂
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My husband and I talked about it and decided since they weren’t causing any trouble we’d just let it go, but we both thought it was a bit bold. People really don’t understand that they are guests in my house. Because they can book a room on the same hotel search engines as hotels, I guess they figure, we’re in the same category.
Oh well. We all all know, people have not common sense any more so nothing really surprises me.
Thanks for visiting. It’s countdown to Christmas!! Are you ready?
Patricia
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Yay, another funny guest story! Having never stayed in a B&B before, I will admit I wouldn’t know for some of these things what’s OK and what’s not. It seems sort of like an in-between kind of accommodations that’s not quite a hotel, and not quite like staying at a friend’s house, so that’s probably where the confusion comes in for a lot of people. I will also say that it wouldn’t occur to me to make the assumptions those ladies did without asking. And LOL at the woman who turned into a man. Not sure what I’d have done in that situation either. Probably the same as you since it seemed to be a one-for-one, and he wasn’t causing any problems.
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Yeah – the whole situation was just weird. When they started playing pool I immediately thought “here we go – they’re going into party mode.” But then after just a couple of games they quieted down. And, I truly have no idea when the other woman left. I don’t know if she stayed the night and left in the morning, or if she left sometime during the night? And, I have no idea if they knew this guy or just met him. Like I said, I have questions, but I really didn’t want to ask.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I always appreciate knowing how others think. Enjoy the final countdown before Christmas!!
Patricia
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just a suggestion but you could say to guests that for unsurance purposes you need to know the names of ALL who are staying. Should there be a fire or natural disaster all occupants need to be accounted for, I think I would have asked outright the next morning if two or three stayed the night, they obviously did. I would have also said there would be an extra charge. They were taking advantage whether it be a hotel or a b&b. You have housed three people for the price of two. Just not on. you are too good hearted. You are a very hospitable warm hearted and welcoming host and because of that people take advantage. People really are naughty at times and on this particular occasion they were very rude .
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I know. But, I hate confrontation. And, honestly, I only saw all 3 of them at the same time on one occasion. I truly have no idea when the one woman left.
But, next time I’ll be armed with the “insurance purposes” idea. That’s a good one.
As always, thanks for your friendship. I love seeing you here at The Edge of Eternity. Countdown to Christmas is on!! Are you ready?
Patricia
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A sticky wicket to say the least, but I loved your comment about the magical room.
I think Michele is on to something. You have a built-in “cause and effect”. Your liability coverage in regard to “unregistered persons” staying there could be sketchy. As a former paralegal you probably know something about that. Having said that, I, like you, have a strong aversion to confrontation. No, let’s call it what it is….I’m a wuss. Perhaps in a similar situation, upon meeting the “mystery guest” for the first time you could simply say “welcome, we’re glad you’ve decided to join your friends, please follow me to the office so we can get your billing information.”
Failing that, I would call the hubby to join the conversation with an ought-six shotgun. It’s amazing how exploding ordnance can quickly change a person’s mind.
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I love those suggestions. But here’s what’ll happen: They’ll say, “he’s only staying for a couple of minutes. We’ll be leaving again in a few minutes.” And then I’ll be forced to keep an eye on them, which I may not be able to do.
People are just so weird. I would NEVER even consider doing something like this. In the past I’ve had guests ask if their son/daughter/cousin/whatever could come and visit for a little bit before they all go out to dinner or something, which of course, I don’t mind at all, but not everyone has manners.
And my husband’s way of fixing these “problems” goes something like this: “You need to go up there and tell them . . . . ” Key word is “YOU.” He never confronts anyone either unless I absolutely insist. Although, sometimes that’s a good thing because he has no sensor and will offend. That’s not good either.
Anyway, I always have good blog stories because of it.
Patricia
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Goodness that is such strange behaviour!!
I have to admit, I didn’t really understand the difference between B&Bs and small hotels when I was a child as many of the B&Bs near us in Ireland also had restaurants (so I guess B&B wasn’t quite the right description of them!)
I honestly can’t imagine inviting someone over to stay in a B&B without asking. I mean, it’s pretty cheeky to ask, but not staying anything at all is such strange behavior!
It sounds like you coped better than most people would!
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I’m telling you, it’s really hard sometimes to not say the first thing that comes into my mind. Usually the first thing I think is something sarcastic and I can’t be that way (at least until I get to know people and they know I’m being sarcastic) so I have to bite my tongue. And sometimes I just truly have absolutely no idea how to handle a situation; like what happened with these people. I was so surprised by it that I was speechless.
At least I always have something to blog about right?
My husband and I are planning a trip to Ireland, and other places in Europe next Fall. I really looking forward to seeing another part of the world. Thus far I’ve just been living my life vicariously through folks like you who blog about the cool places they go. You’re my hero! Keep sending me on virtual journeys my friend.
Happy holidays to you and Marc! (I hope I remembered your husband’s name correctly.)
Patricia
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You did, it’s Marc. You even got the right spelling. 😀
Oooh yay for your holiday in Ireland, you will LOVE it! I hope you can get out to the mountains/beaches in Connemara. It is one of the prettiest areas in the whole world. Let me know if I can help when you start planning.
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Thanks for the offer. I’ll let you know if I need assistance. We’ll be on one of the cruise boats though so we’ll no doubt be seeing only the touristy things offered as shore excursions from the ship. We’ll be in about 3 Irish ports and I think 2 or 3 in Scotland as well as England, Normandy and, Paris I think.
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That sounds fantastic though! Wooow!
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I can only imagine what you go through on a daily and weekly basis dealing with people. I am not sure what I would have done in your situation but turning the other cheek is probably best. Inside I’d be fuming. I wish you the best Christmas and I can only imagine how beautiful the Baer House is for Christmas. Enjoy the many blessings. Peace.
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Clay, the Baer House is always gorgeous when it’s all decked out in Christmas finery. I usually have to beg my husband to put up the lights outside, but when he does, it’s magnificent. He didn’t this year so we only have the twinkle inside, but that is enough. He works hard, too. And it’s been very cold outside.
Happy holidays to you and yours. I wish you family a safe and peaceful holiday!
Patricia
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