More Observations of an Innkeeper

This is a re-post.

About three years ago I wrote a blog post about some interesting things I had noticed about innkeeping and inn guests from my two years experience in the business. If you’re interested in reading that, here’s the link:  https://jansenschmidt.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/observations-of-an-innkeeper/

While it’s still sometimes hard to believe that we’ve been doing this for five and half years already, I am even more amazed that I continue to notice quirky and interesting things that happen frequently. Therefore, I present to you, Observations of an Innkeeper – Part Two:

1 – I’ve blogged about this before on a couple of occasions: People are parking challenged. Granted, at times it’s hard to see the lines and sometimes people park one way when they should park the other, but even with lines, so many people have difficulty getting their vehicle between them.

2 – Hardly anyone leaves a tip. I’m not really sure why, but nobody leaves a tip in the room, like is customary in regular hotel rooms. At least it is for me. Maybe I’m just giving too much. Am I wrong on this one?

3 – Most folks will use the same towels two days in a row. I’d say about 85% of my guests are totally fine using the same towels for their entire stay, which usually averages 2-3 days. That’s less work for me – so yay!

4 – People don’t read their confirmation e-mails. I think this is true in general everywhere – people don’t read – but it’s a bit annoying from my side of things. Our confirmation has very specific instructions and “warnings” if you will. For example, people need to be prepared to carry their own luggage up the stairs. I used to do it on occasion if asked, but after my cancer diagnosis and treatment, I am no longer able to do that. And, since I’m almost always the person checking guests in, I feel they need to be warned about that. So, our reservation confirmation e-mail has very specific language about that. And other things. But very few people read that, so they get here and . . . . Anyway, this does lead to some creativity on the part of guests with overlarge and heavy baggage. I think some people travel with suitcases that weigh more than I do.

5 – Most people “make” their bed in some fashion every morning. Some people make the bed up so nice when they check out it’s hard to tell anyone even slept in the bed. I should hire some of these folks.

6 – A lot of people leave a little bit of coffee in their cups. What’s even weirder is that most tea drinkers will drink every last drop. I’m not sure why that is, but I dump out a lot of coffee when I clear the table.

7 – If you put curry in food, people will eat it. If you TELL people you’ve put curry in the food, they won’t even try it. I learned this lesson the hard way. I made curried eggs – which are super delicious by the way and have very little curry in them – and no one even took a bite of them. I threw away about a dozen eggs that morning. Lesson learned. NEVER use the word “curry.”

So that’s it for this round of observations. Tell me readers, are you guilty of any of these things? Do you leave a tip at your hotel(s) when you travel? Would you at least try the curried eggs? Do you leave a little coffee in your cup when you leave the table? Any weird observations you’ve made while traveling?

Word of the Day: Ullage

Fun fact about me: Sometimes tourists come up on my front porch and look in my windows. Very bold of them. And weird.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, January 2021. Images by Google and giphy.com.

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