homes with pools... keep cover open or allow guest to open/ close?

[Victoria620]

i'm about to list a new home on airbnb and my home has a pool. i'm an experienced host, but i have no experience with pools and guests. anecdotally, i have neighbors who have a pool as well as three other friends in my area with pools. they all advise me to keep the pool open during the guests' stay. the main reason they cite is that often the guests leave pool toys or children guests bring in smaller toys into the pool and the automatic pool cover gets jammed and it's expensive to fix, disruptive to future stays if it can't be immediately fixed. two friends told me they had to fix the cover as a result of someone running across the pool cover. i'm a bit concerned about all of this. 

my pool has a 5' fence with latches that are high up so it's kid-safe. the pool cover is a secondary measure. i'm worried about the debris in the pool if the cover is not on when not in use, but we have those net things that guests can use to fish out leaves and such (i personally find this very satisfying). i don't live on site but i will have a caretaker on site who can open and close the pool in the am and pm but not on demand. 

if you host a home with a pool and a pool cover, what is your experience? any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. TIA. 

[Ann783]

Interesting question. I have a pool fence but no automatic cover. Debris is an issue. I have had to ask guests to use the pool skimming net (they are fairly inexpensive) to fish out leaves, branches and the like. But sometimes I get some push back on this. I would emphasize to guests that it's a pool at a vacation home and not like at a resort… no magic pool person to fish out leaves or move the cover. If the caretaker can do it at a set time mornings and evenings… that may work… but I suspect some guest will ask for a modification.. earlier or later times.

[Victoria620]

@Ann783 ann783, thank you for your response. i think what i may end up doing is asking our caretaker to open the pool and pre-notify guests on my description page about needing to fish out debris. fingers crossed i don't get guest pushback. 

[Lorna170]

@Victoria620   Impress upon them that "for their privacy" the pool will be open, but they will have to take care of the skimming of debris.  If you get a push back, tell them it is XX dollars for each visit by the caretaker, ON HIS SCHEDULE, to skim the pool for them.   I used to have guests call my housekeeper to come up at all times of the day or night for non-maintenance issues until I put in my rental agreement that each visit would be an additional $50.00.