Use of a private toilet

[Solveig18]

Hi, I wonder if someone can advise?

I rent out a room in my apartment that I also live in myself. Next to the "Airbnb"- room there is a bathroom with a toilet and sink which is exclusive for the guest to use.

In my "General Information" sheet that I make available to all guests, I have among other information written this : «Please use the toilet downstairs and I will use the one upstairs (to avoid covid).

I also tell them when I show them around my place that they have their own toilet downstairs and that the shower is upstairs (in my bathroom, not far to walk, just the indoor stairs with 10 steps).

Even though, I experience that some guests use the toilet upstairs when they are in the bathroom for showering. I can understand that it is practical before showering, but still.

I like to keep my toilet private and especially when the guest have their own exclusively I think that it is resonable that they dont need to use my toilet upstairs.

But I think it is hard to point this out to the guest after it has happened. I dont want them to feel insulted or anything.

Anyone with opinions on the case? And also I would be happy for suggestions about how to handle it/what I can say to the guest. Especially suggestions with a humoristic feature are very welcome 🙂

[Pat271]

That’s a tricky one. I can imagine myself as a guest mindlessly using the toilet before showering, just out of habit. As a host, I would similarly find it hard to come up with a way to remind them without it sounding a bit insulting. You have a built-in awkwardness, having the only shower available for guests in your personal bathroom.

How do you know that the toilet has been used? Toilet seat up instead of down? Or do you hear the toilet flushing? You might try a diplomatic note on the inside of the toilet lid - something like “Please use toilet downstairs”, or something similar. That might remind them before the fact, instead of after the fact. As I said, your setup is tricky.

[Solveig18]

Thanks for your response! I know what you mean, I would maybe also forget as a guest. 

Yes, as you said: toilet seat up instead of down, hearing toilet flushing, and also dirty toilet. 

Good suggestion about the note, I will try that! 

Again, thank you!!! 

[David8879]

@Solveig18 

You only concerned about covid and not hepatitis B?

P.S. So, guest can shower, but can't pee? Awkward 

[Solveig18]

The main matter is that I like to keep my toilet private 🙂

Do you reckon that there is a big chance of hepatitis B using the same shower? I have learned that the main way hepatitis B is transmitted  is in other ways than using the same facilities in the bathroom. 

They are absolutely allowed to pee 🙂 But they are welcome to use their exclusive toilet 🙂

[Huma0]

@Solveig18 

As others have said, that is a really tricky set up. You could try to use the suggestion of a note, but it's going to work with some guests and not others. 

I have a showroom downstairs which is pretty much 99% only used by people staying in one of the guest rooms in my house. However, I have not listed it as private because it is not an en suite and is one floor down from that bedroom. I could specify that other guests should not use that shower. After all, they have two other showers much closer to their rooms, but sooner or later, someone is going to do it and then upset the guest who thought they had a private bathroom. 

[Inna22]

@Solveig18 I think monkey pox is your problem right now. If you are not going to let them use your toilet, they will pee in your shower. No one is going to go in one direction in the mornings to pee and then in another to shower. Also, once someone undresses for the shower and decides they need to use the toilet, you can not expect them to put their clothes back on and go out. Can you maybe use the other toilet for yourself as your private one? Use toilet seat protectors when you go?

[Anonymous]

@Solveig18   Where did you get the idea that forbidding guests from peeing or pooping in your toilet will help you avoid Covid?  There's always a risk of transmission during the moments when you're in the same room together, but the bathroom is generally not where that happens unless you have a very special hosting style.

It's a nice bonus feature for your guests to have a WC exclusively for their use, but if there's only one shower in the house, you're just going to have to accept the fact that it's a shared bathroom. There is not a polite or hospitable way to micromanage what people do in the loo.

[Fred13]

Way,way too complicated of a 'rule', and then there is the reality of coming across way too 'heavy' when enforcing it. Why go there?