@Pat271
Pat, I am a great learner. I think it stems back to a particular Christmas day when us kids were sent outside to let the adults get on with preparing the Christmas feast. I as an 8 year old picked up a .22 calibre rife dad left up against the back door of the homestead, pointed it at one of my cousins and said...'put your hands up' and pulled the trigger. The gun went off and the bullet went through my cousin Ricky! That brought Christmas lunch to hurried conclusion. Rick was ok, he got rushed to hospital but the bullet didn't hit any major organ and he recovered quickly, but my father and I never really got on after that day! He thought I was a bit of a d*ckhead playing around with a loaded gun and I thought he was a bit of a d*ckhead leaving a loaded gun where an 8 year old had access to it.
It wasn't until Ade and I got married, at my reception speech as the bridegroom I said that dad and I hadn't always seen eye to eye but whenever I needed him he was there for me. He started to cry and dad and I mended a few bridges that day! Money was never any object during my upbringing, but love and guidance were lacking.
My dad taught me how not to bring up a family.
I have striven all through my life to not make those mistakes of my father and that has followed through into my hosting, that's why I am here on the CC, I want to learn. Wherever possible (without intruding) I ask my guests what they appreciate and what I can improve.
I always used to leave a guest review response, I felt it tidied up the stay until about 18 months ago! When asking guests how they felt about the review response their reaction was, the review was from the heart, the response was a reaction to the review, it was seen as taking up unnecessary space in the review process, so I stopped doing it......and it hasn't affected my bookings.
Guests read reviews, not the responses!
Cheers........Rob