As nice as most guests are, at times I feel I just can't keep ahead of what they consider is theirs and what is mine. Sometimes I feel this is the most full-proof and foolproof way to host........
Nothing there a guest can steal or break, plus they get the uniqueness of an 'out of body' experience!
Despite the fact I point out the wine in a small 1 dozen wine rack is not complimentary...does not form a part of the hosting agreement, it's like the library of books, I don't expect guests to walk out with a bundle under their arm....... I am consistently losing a bottle or two of wine. I had one over-nighter who plowed his way through 3 bottles. When I challenged him about it, his reaction was, "I am paying for it, might as well make the most of it'!
A guest came into me some time ago asking for a bandaid strip, she had cut her finger. I told her there was a fully stocked medicine cabinet in the bathroom,
and she said to me, she had looked, but it was empty!
I couldn't comprehend that, granted I don't check it every turnaround but it was well stocked and I asked to have a look for myself (after giving her a bandaid strip) and sure enough....empty, not a bloody thing left in there, even the scissors, tweezers, gone...just left with a big empty box! Why would someone do that?
They take what ever cakes of soap they can lay their hands on!
I put a block of chocolate out for each guest, I get them at a really good price from our local supermarket and I buy them in lots of 2 dozen at a time, costs me about 70c per block.....
One guest got into the restock cupboard and.....my 2 dozen chocolate bars turned into 15, probably thought any more than 9 might be pushing the choke a bit but up to 9 wouldn't matter!
Each time this happens I learn a bit from it, tighten the security a bit and make sure I do a bit more checking each time I service the listing. But this is all time consuming, we should not have to do it, why can't we just trust people?
Well last review revealed yet another weakness in my checking regime! I provide as part of the library about 400 DVD's and CD's that guests can watch and listen to. Here is that last review......
I had never even given a thought to checking every DVD and CD sleeve each turnaround but, it appears it's either that or just remove them from the listing.
I am stuck because a high percentage of my business comes from the homeliness and atmosphere of what I provide. I don't want to go back to a ' bare bones' listing but I am being constantly reminded that trust is not the wisest of attributes for an STR host to have!
What are others experiences with this?
Cheers.......Rob