Comp for removal of a non essential amenity?

[Colleen253]

A recent guest did some major smoke damage to the house, despite the fact I have clear instructions, in several places, on how to use the fireplace. This was the worst incident by far, but certainly not the first. 

If I were to immediately remove the use of the indoor fireplace, what, if any, compensation would you think is reasonable for upcoming guests who booked when it was advertised? I am considering just letting current booked guests use it, but want to weigh options. Opinions are helpful. It's a nice perk, but not an essential amenity by any means. It's definitely not as popular as the hot tub. 

[Anonymous]

@Colleen253  For non-essential amenities, I'd let the guest know as far in advance as possible that the item might not be available during their stay, and offer a cancellation or date change if it was a deal-breaker for them. If they chose to proceed as planned, I'd surprise them with a small gift on arrival that's customized to whatever I could glean about their interests during the correspondence, and a personalized note thanking them for their understanding. On the checkout date, if the stay has gone well and the home was treated respectfully, I might extend a token rebate (say, 5-10%) as an acknowledgement that the offering was slightly incomplete.

What's important to me about each of those actions is not the what, but rather the when. I like to establish the tone right away that I've got the situation under control and will go the extra mile to show them a good time if they're willing to roll with it, but if the place is no longer what they want I expect them to go elsewhere. No discussion of refunds or discounts until the stay is complete, as otherwise the guest starts to see you as an ATM that can disburse more funds whenever they find another fault. And absolutely nobody gets a partial refund by asking for it.

[Colleen253]

@Anonymous  Covering the important bases, yes, that’s great! Thanks 

[Kelly149]

@Colleen253  What if you approached it from a standpoint of you’re offering to help THEM by NOT allowing them to use it. So...

”we just had a really unfortunate incident where a guest thought they knew how to use the fireplace but things went awry and it was a real bummer that they ended their stay by paying for smoke remediation. What do you think would be good for your stay? Are you a fireplace expert? Were you planning on using the fireplace? Would you need a fireplace tutorial? Or would you like me to leave some led flameless candles for you?”

A message like this sets the stage that there are consequences for ignorance and you’ll help them make better choices. This is what I would do if I were willing to let them use it. 

alternatively, the message could say “unfortunately we had a guest cause a house fire, we’ve been able to remediate the smoke damage but our insurance company has insisted that the fireplace be disallowed from use. Of course we’d be happy to host you without the fireplace or I’d understand if you’d prefer to cancel. Please lmk either way by xxx “

and then it isn’t your fault but the bad guest and the ins co are the bad guys. 
You know best if your house is worth less without that amenity. Good luck!

[Colleen253]

@Kelly149  Thanks for these suggestions. I like the first one particularly as it gives the guest choices, doesn’t involve cancelling or compensation, and whatever their choice, would cut down greatly the chance of any kind of repeat incident. 

Guests don’t even need to be fireplace experts, just have the will and ability  to read instructions 🙄

Thankfully I only have a small handful that booked expecting the fireplace.