Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Question re: guest room policies

[Wendy Brown (iowacitycohousing]

Hi Christine,

Wow! A lottery – what a great idea! This is so helpful. Thanks so much for 
taking time to write. If you’re ever in the Midwest, come on by.

Best,

Wendy

> On Aug 12, 2022, at 8:14 AM, Christine Sizer <christinesizer [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> We have one guest room (in our Common House).
> We limit stays to 7 nights. $25 first night, $10 per night after.
> 
> We have a lottery which goes into effect for reservation requests for stays
> around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.  If we have multiple
> requests for those times, we draw a name.
> 
> Our reservation system is managed through Google Forms with admins putting
> reservations onto our Google Group Common House Guest Room Reservation
> Calendar. Hosts are responsible for room turn over.
> 
> Christine
> Highline Crossing Cohousing
> Littleton, Colorado
> 
>> On Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 9:46 AM Elizabeth Magill <pastorlizm [at] gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>> We have an individual that manages guest room reservations and she
>> often will check in with households to help them negotiate which room
>> and when arrivals and departures happen.
>> 
>> Our rooms are free for 10 nights and then $10 per night after that.
>> 
>> If there is a conflict it is often resolved by using a neighbors room
>> in their house.
>> 
>> If someone is using a week in a row or both rooms, or taking a holiday
>> weekend they will usually email the whole community to check-in. Most
>> long rentals have been a friend in trouble, a member with a broken
>> limb or post surgery. We also have used the rooms for covid isolation.
>> 
>> 34 households, 2 guest rooms, shared bath, we have rarely had any
>> significant challenge getting at who gets to use the rooms.
>> 
>> -Liz
>> (The Rev. Dr.) Elizabeth Mae Magill
>> Pastor, Ashburnham Community Church
>> Minister to the Affiliates, Ecclesia Ministries
>> www.elizabethmaemagill.com
>> 508-450-0431
>> 
>>> On Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 11:11 AM KAREN A CARLSON via Cohousing-L
>>> <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Regarding guest rooms. At Arboretum Cohousing (40 households) in
>> Madison, WI, we have 2 guest rooms, each with a bathroom in one building.
>> In another building, we have a suite with two bedrooms, a shared bathroom,
>> and a sitting area that can sleep two.  This one is perfect for close
>> friends and families.
>>> We have found that summer is our busiest season for GRs and thus each
>> household is limited to 14 nights total, that is not nesessarily
>> continuous. If a residents wants to go over this max and there is a least
>> one other GR not reserved, the GR committee will approve the request. If
>> all other rooms are booked, we ask the community if someone else needs the
>> room.  If not, the request goes through.
>>> During the whole year, a reservation is limited to 2 weeks for any one
>> reservation.  If a resident needs more days, the GR committee reviews the
>> request. We almost always approve the request as there are often special
>> reasons, such as family members visiting from abroad or a grandparent here
>> to help with a new born.
>>> Three things I'd recommend to other communities. First, be sure your
>> attitude is "getting to yes," that is, find a way, if possible,  to help
>> your neighbors get what they want while balancing the needs of the whole
>> community. Second, have an application form that hosts fill out rather than
>> each putting their reservation directly on the books.  Third, create a GR
>> committee. Ours has learned a lot over the years and we frequently remind
>> the community of GR policies.  We explain that certain requests require us
>> to review them (E.g., going beyond the 2 week limit) before approval. It
>> seems the community understands the need to have such policies, esp since
>> they can be waived.
>>> Karen Carlson
>>> 
>>> Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l-bounces+kcarlson2=wisc.edu [at] 
>>> cohousing.org>
>> on behalf of Iowa City Cohousing <iowacitycohousing [at] gmail.com>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2022 12:51:30 PM
>>> To: cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org <cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org>
>>> Subject: [C-L]_ Question re: guest room policies
>>> 
>>> We have been settling our cohousing community in stages, with our numbers
>>> increasing as each new building is completed. We have two guest rooms in
>>> our common house. Our current guest room policy allows people to reserve
>>> one or both rooms on a first-come, first-served basis up to four months
>> in
>>> advance. So far, that’s been working just fine. However, as our community
>>> continues to grow, we anticipate that the demand for guest rooms will
>>> increase, particularly around holiday times in November and December.
>>> 
>>> We are wondering how other communities have dealt with this. Do any of
>> you
>>> have policies in place that set limits on how often one household can
>>> reserve, or some way to rotate peak season reservations to give more
>> people
>>> a chance to use the rooms? Any wisdom you have to offer would be welcome.
>>> Thank you!
>>> 
>>> Wendy Brown on behalf of Prairie Hill Cohousing, Iowa City, IA
>>> 
>>> iowacitycohousing [at] gmail.com
>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
>>> http://L.cohousing.org/info
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
>>> http://L.cohousing.org/info
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
>> http://L.cohousing.org/info
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://L.cohousing.org/info
> 
> 
>