Bad Habits

The following behaviors have been observed more than once (unfortunately). Some of them make us laugh, but some of them tend to drive us crazy! Have you ever done one of these during your travels?

AT CHECK-IN:

– My rug! : Just coming in by the front door, you wipe your feet with conviction on my braided rug! Didn’t you notice we have mats outside that are meant to be used before you come in? Does my baided rug look like a sweeping feet mat?

– When you got to go, you got to go : you just arrived and ring the bell to call us so that you can check-in. When we arrive in the lobby, nobody! You had a long drive and needed to go to the toilets right away.  I quite understand that, but why do you ring the bell BEFORE, as we have to wait and wait (and hear) everything you are doing in there? Were you afraid to loose your turn?

– The little bags and totes traveler : You didn’t take the plane so you didn’t have to pack your stuff in a conventional luggage. But why taking 20 totes that we find all over the place in the room during housekeeping, rather than bigger bags? I bet you would have done it differently if you would have thought one second that you had to climb 1 to 2 stories with no elevator, at least 10 times, to bring them all into your room!

– How Do I park? : Alright, we don’t have any lines on our parking lot but it doesn’t take a genie to understand how to park your vehicle. It is always funny to observe how people park: if the first car is parked backward, the other ones are going to park the same way. If cars are only parked along the building, they are all going to park along the building, etc… Humans are sheep following the shepherd… And when there are not a lot of cars, you can find all the options : one car is parallel parked, another one is angle parked, and the third one will be on the other far side of the parking lot!

– Cell Phone Maniac : You can’t spend a minute without your cell phone. You have this “Bluetooth” attached to your ear at all time, and you make a point that taking that call is more important than listening to us during check-in. And when you come down in the morning for breakfast, your bluetooth is still there. Do you sleep with it? Do you know how rude this is? Can’t you spend your 2-day getaway without it?

IN THE GUESTROOM:

– Shaving into the Shower / Tub : Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get rid of tiny little hair stuck everywhere on the walls of the shower or tub? I am not talking about Mrs. Legs Shavings (usually discreet), but rather the manly dark and rough beard of Mr.

–Thermostat Control : It’s a comfortable 68 F in your room. Each room has a thermostat so that if you are too cold you can control your own little climate. And because you are in control, you are going to use it, turn the thermostat to 80 F, which is far too hot… so you are going to open the windows! And in summer, your room is never cold enough! Does that make sense?

– Are You Sleeping IN The Bed? : We make the bed the traditional way : fitted sheet, flat sheet, blanket, comforter or quilt. Apparently, a few of you do not know that you should sleep between the sheets and not between the blanket and the comforter!

– Dirty Underwear : Do you know how disgusting it is for a housekeeper to make your bed and find you little dirty lingerie between the sheets? Or find your boxers behind the bathroom door? In the first case, there is a big chance you will find  your bed done with your lingerie on top of your pillow. I’ve never received any complaint about this, and noticed that the next day, your underwear is nowhere to be found.

– The Clothes Hoarder : You are staying with us only 2 nights but you brought enough changes for 2 weeks. As you probably packed in a hurry, you couldn’t find  your sweater this morning and unpacked EVERYTHING on the bed, before leaving for the day. How do you want us to make a bed with your closet standing on it? Simple: you will find your pile of clothes on top of your bags tonight, with your bed perfectly done! We clean the rooms, we are housekeepers and not maids!

– Floating Candles – So Romantic : You booked our suite with a nice two-people jacuzzi tub. You’ve always dreamed of relaxing in a warm bath, with a glass of wine and candles floating on the water, just as you’ve seen on TV. More easy to watch than to do. Do you know that candle wax melts and stick on the walls of the jacuzzi and it takes more than 30 minutes with soft tools (we don’t want to chirp the jacuzzi, do we?) to scratch off this wax?

– Environmentally Careless : This really enrages me! Despite signs that you can reuse your towels, why do you want to change them everyday, all of them, even though they are not dirty and barely wet? Why throwing in the trash can our signs asking you to bring back home your soap so that there will be less waste? Why do you use our white face cloth to wash up your make up while we provide you with a BLACK face cloth, clearly stitched “Make Up”? What’s your point?

– Let’s Eat In : If you want to eat in your room, I usually have no objection if you keep it away from our bed linens. But when you bring in your own crockpot to slowly cook a stew while you are out for the day, I might have my word to say, especially when the hallways are invaded by a smell of onions and carrots!

– My Toe Nails Need a Clip : Don’t you think your toe nails could have been clipped before or after your stay with us? And if you really have to do it now, can you pick them up and put them in the trash can, instead of leaving ugly nails clipping stuck into my rug?

– Some Basic Hygiene Mrs., please ? : We really don’t need to know that you are at that moment of the month Mrs. Period. So please dispose of your bloody tampons by wrapping them first in one of the paper bags that you will find on top of the toilet and throwing the whole thing in the trash. Just don’t leave it on top of the toilet tank! And by the way, when you take it off, would you please wipe off the blood that splashed on the toilet seat?

– Aim First, Then Shoot, Mr. ! : This is particularly true for European men, curiously! I think our toilet bowls are large enough for you to pee in it and not behind or beside it!

– How Should You Use a Boot Tray? : In winter, considering the snowy conditions we have, each guest room is equipped with one or more boot trays so that your wet boots do not drip onto our wooden floor. Apparently, some of you do not know what it is for, and use it as a tray on top of the luggage racks. I’m not sure what for, I just hope (for your health) this is not to eat on it!

– You Forgot Your Teeth in The Cup! : I don’t know how many times I found dentures or sleep guards dipping in one of our bathroom cups during housekeeping, but this is really giving me a big time nausea each time!

– Vanishing Batteries : This one happens quite a lot in our family rooms and suites. You need new batteries for your Nintendo game or something else, and you forgot to bring some. And, smart as you are, you know that the remote control for the TV in your room has the ones that you need…

– Have You Ever Seen a Microwave Lid ? : One thing I hate to clean are microwaves. Your snacks or dinners tend to burst while cooking on high. This is why we provide with a microwave lid which is in the microwave. This lid is supposed to get over your food during the cooking process (so that it can be cleaned much more easier than the microwave itself), and is not a fancy dish to use to cook your dinner in it!

– OOps! I Think I Blew the Fuses! : Guess what is going to happen if you plug your own heater (why bringing a heater on vacation, by the way ???), your own air filter device, your computer, your kids’ game consols and Mrs. hair dryer, all at the same time?

COMMON ROOMS:

– I’m Home! : OK, sometimes you got to go and can’t take the time to go back into your room, so you go in the common bathroom by the lobby, and that’s alright! When you are done, why do you leave the door wide open and the lights on? It’s comforting you are feeling like you’re at home, but remember you are not?

– Lazy Recycling : We talk to you about our recycling practices, it is written on a flyer in the lobby, it is written on signs in your room, we explained you we have a “recycling tower” in our kitchen (you are MORE than welcome to use)… still, you can’t help it but throw away plastic bottles, newspapers… stuffing them in any small trash can you can find!

– Some Civility Please! : In the lobby, we have a basket full of menus from local restaurants. Guests are welcome to read them, seating on a comfortable leather couch, and decide right there where they want to dine. Do you know that this basket is here for everyone? Why do you take the menus up to your room and don’t bring them back for the other guests?

– Parents, Those Role Models : we have a large game room with lots of board games for all age, DVD/VHS, books and a train table with lots of toys for little ones. There is a very clear sign saying that for everybody’s enjoyment, please clean up your kids toys or any games after use. You can’t read or you don’t care, but you are going to leave this room in a terrible mess, thinking that we won’t know it’s you! When I come knock on your door reminding you about the “please help your kids clean up their stuff” thing (it’s the third time today we are cleaning up after you!), you dare telling me your kids are not responsible for this mess! Really? You are the only family with kids staying with us today!

– The Self-Help Guest : At the entrance of our kitchen, where we put all our silverware, glasses, chargers… used to set up the dining tables, we had to put signs so that guests wouldn’t help themselves (or we don’t have enough to reset the tables at the end of the service)! So when you read “Please do not help yourself” and you are so kind you don’t want to bother us, what do you do ? Take the silverware that is set up on the breakfast tables of course! And when  you want to help yourself with some ice in the guest refrigerator, why not take this stainless steel bowl that is right there, by the big white prep table,  to bring more ice into your room. Did it occur to you that the stainless steel bowl that you just borrowed is one of the utensils I use to make breakfast and that I’m going to look for all morning?

IN THE DINING ROOM:

– Early Riser : You perfectly know that breakfast is served between 7:30 and 9 am, and that coffee is usually out by 7 am but you are an early riser who need coffee earlier! 1) Why didn’t you book a room with a coffee maker, so that you can have a coffee as early as you wish? 2) Do you have any idea how annoying it is to know that a guest is sitting here, in the lobby (and eventually passing his head in the kitchen to check if it’s almost done), for half an hour waiting for his coffee? Sorry, but I won’t feel guilty not to be up at 5:30 am to help you with a cup!

– The Seat Keeper : We have 20 rooms, and 10 tables in the dining room, so it is obviously not possible for all the guests to seat all at once when we have a full house. But you are smarter than the others, wake up first and seat on a big table of 4 in the dining room as early as 7:30 am but don’t want to order now as you are waiting for the rest of the family to get ready! Or, you are going to order right away and start eating before the rest of the family. Then your 10 year old is going to join you and order as well, followed 15 minutes later by your little 5 year old and all the family is going to wait for Mrs who will arrive 45 minutes after you! In the meantime, some families that were ready all at once have to wait to be seated…

– Spoons Are No Toys : We are family friendly and welcome children of any age. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to hear an infant hitting my glass table top with the spoon you gave him while I’m cooking your breakfast? Sometimes, I can’t help it, leave the kitchen, go to the game room where I pick a small soft toy, go back to the dining room, and  with a smile I take the spoon off the little demon, explaining the parents that I have many more soft toys in the game room that they are welcome to use to amuse their child while he is waiting for his breakfast. Not sure the message is always understood though!

– Maple Syrup is Sticky : We serve your maple syrup in syrup dispensers on a saucer, so that they don’t stick on the table. Once you helped yourself with some syrup, would you please put the syrup dispenser back on the saucer and not directly on the table?

– Table Trash : In the middle of the table, there is a little basket containing jams and ketchup. These baskets are NOT your table trash where you get rid of the butter chips you didn’t use!

– Is It on The Menu? : We have a pretty nice cooked-to-order breakfast, offering lots of choices… As a start, we’ll ask you if you would like some orange juice, grapefruit juice, apple juice, cranberry juice? your answer : “May I have some tomato juice?”! Did I propose tomato juice? – What do you want in your omelet? Red peppers, green peppers, onion, ham, mushrooms? your answer “some tomato and potatoes in it would be fine”! Did I propose tomato and potatoes? – It’s a “country breakfast” with French toasts, pancakes, omelets…  and you ask for a bowl of fresh fruits! Is there anywhere written on the menu mentioning that we have a “fresh fruit bowl”?