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

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

Our list matches Wolf Creek Lodge’s, except that we have an online calendar. 
Our guidelines have been amended based on what has worked and what has caused 
problems. It’s hard to predict what guidelines you will need for your 
demographics and your location (by the beach?). 

One thing that hasn’t been discussed is that guest-flow follows certain 
patterns and holidays are not always the most booked. We’ve had empty 
guestrooms many times at Christmas and triple requests for some odd week in an 
off month.

When people first move in, they tend to use the guestrooms more often as 
friends and family visit to see the new place or visit DC for the first time. 
Then it balances out. Some units will have particular family members stay more 
frequently but then they become known to everyone and someone will happily 
offer a spare bed if the guestrooms are not available.

What I still find surprising is how often the reservations are cancelled — 
visitors change plans at the last minute. So an organized back up list is 
helpful. My own guests changed so often that I stopped reserving the rooms 
until I was absolutely sure they were going to show up. 

When guests cancel the host will send an email to the members list letting 
everyone know the room is free, even if it is at the last minute. You never 
know when someone might be hosting on their own couch and could use the room 
instead.

On the lottery idea, my view is that lotteries are the last and worst choice. 
There are usually many things that affect a happy solution and a lottery takes 
none of them into account. Some guests have health or sleeping issues so 
staying in a stranger's unit is not optimum. Some guests have chosen to stay in 
a motel or BnB at the last minute anyway. Others have friends in the community 
that they are happy to stay with when they know there are many requests for the 
guestrooms.

Just discussing any issues that arise is most likely to resolve them. People 
find solutions. One unit was use the guestrooms far more than any other, maybe 
40 nights a year. When this is pointed out it slowed considerably. Another had 
frequent guests over night who were in town for a demonstration. (DC has 
demonstrations every day. If it isn’t abortion its Native Americans or animal 
rights or Palestine or Israel.) She would let people know that if anyone needed 
the rooms her guests could sleep on her living room floor — they arrive late 
and leave early and rarely even have time for a shower.

Once the operational issues are resolved (who cleans and by when), I would put 
guestrooms way down on the list of potential conflicts, far below pets.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org