Do you have any signs for guests in your home?

[Stephanie]

Hi everyone,

The longer you host, the more you learn about what you need to make clearer for guests. This is particularly true of actions that are done differently in different countries, such as recycling. You may have realised after one group of guests that you need to make a sign to specify what can or can’t be recycled, or, following a plumbing issue, you may have made a sign for the bathroom explaining what can be flushed down the toilet.

Have you put signs in your house for your guests ? What are they for?

If you have any examples that you’ve made and are happy to share, please do! Other hosts might find them useful 🙂 

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Michelle1225]

ugh ! disgusting !!! I am going to create a sign . 

My guest today took my LUNCH BOWL to bath or wash there a*s with today!!  so angry !

[Sandi66]

I am amazed how you are AWARE of such disgusting but perhaps private actions!!!???? I am hosting our very first guests and they are very private people which we have respected. They are here for 6 days and I have only seen them for 10 minutes on arrival with a pleasant meet and greet, and once on day 4 when they passed me on the drive. I wouldn't have a clue as to what they are using in my apartment to do what -- nor do I expect to--even tho some activities outlined are alarming! 

[Helen744]

Hello Sandi, the most important thing is to know their names and what they look like .I sometimes find this difficult as I honour peoples rights to privacy .but. This is business and you will be surprised what you find out while cleaning.Many people do not look like their profiles .i sometimes wonder if they are the same person.Helen

[Helen744]

Also people disinfect all the time .I use a lot of eucalyptus oil and pop a drop in with the wash

[Emily487 · Accepted solution]

@Stephanie 

We have three notes:

-a simple "how to" for the remote control in a dollar store stand up picture frame placed next to the tv

-a quick note in the bathroom to remind guests to use the exhaust fan whenever the shower is running

-an info sheet in a magnetic sleeve posted on the fridge (attached photo - sorry it's sideways....). 

[Allison2]

You might want to redact that photo - it has your wifi network & password.

[Emily487]

@Allison2 Thanks!  It’s actually  an old version of our info sheet and we now have new WiFi info... but if a host wants to come to KC and sit outside and try to use our old WiFi, they are welcome to give it a try! 😉

[Sarah977]

Notes in a stand-up frame on the bathroom counter noting that I'm on a private septic and what can and can't be flushed. Also that water supply is limited, so please don't waste it (if it's yellow...).

Other than that, no notes or signs, as I host in my home, and always here to meet and greet the guests and show them where everything is, no self-check-in, no washing machine usage. I figure everyone knows how to use a toaster or a blender 🙂 If not, as @Thomas1033  said, they should never leave home.

I did once have the girl who had long-term rented a little cabin next to me that I look after for the owner, decide that the veggie crisper bin from the brand new fridge made a great dog water bowl 😞

[Diane106]

We’ve twice had guests put the electric kettle on the gas🙁. So now have a label on 2nd new kettle 

[Sarah977]

@Diane106  I did that myself at my daughter's home. I've never had an electric kettle in my life, so it's just one of those things I do without any conscious thought. I had already been staying there for a week and managed to put the kettle on its base every morning when making coffee, but one morning I was carrying on a conversation with my granddaughter, was distracted, filled the kettle and just automaticlly put it on the stovetop burner. I caught it within a few seconds, but it was too late- melted plastic all over the stovetop, toxic fumes, what a mess. And as my daughter only likes nice, quality stuff, of course it was a Cuisinart and cost $100 to replace 😞 

I can understand the attraction of an electric kettle if one is a tea drinker, but as a coffee drinker, they make little sense to me, and just something else taking up space on the counter. By the time I've ground my coffee and washed the dregs of yesterday's coffee out of the coffee pot, the water in the kettle on the gas stove is already boiling.

[Diane106]

Ha ha. Senior moment. 

Top end kettles both times.  But like a quiet kettle and yes I personally am a tea drinker. All the mod cons there for the coffee set. 

[Sarah977]

@Diane106  The funny part was that when my daughter and son-in-law got home from work and I asked her where I should look to replace the kettle, my son-in-law, always the gracious host, said "Oh, don't worry about it, you're our guest, it was an accident, they're not that expensive", and I replied that I'd already looked online and they were $100, my son-in-law shot my daughter an incredulous look and said "We have a $100 kettle???"

[Michelle1832]

I loved my electric kettle because it looked so much like a traditional one. After it was melted on the stove top I got a cheap, obviously electric one. You really have to "idiot proof" everything.

[Roberta180]

We have had 3 guests try to light a battery candle with a match that we have on our outdoor table! Jeezzz! Plus even with signs, they leave a ceiling fan on all night that is outdoors. Electricity $$$

[Claudia129]

Speaking of water kettles, I had a guest boil milk in my hot water kettle instead of using a pot on the stove or just microwaving it.  I know since I asked her about it.  It took me 4 hours to clean it. Now there is a big label stating water only. You must assume people are ignorant since some are.