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..... And Guests I Won't Let In!!!


Coco
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I am a teacher in England and agree about the standards of parenting. I am very firm with children at school and they know they must do as they are told. However, it has not affected their attitude to me. They know I am fair and they respect that and like me for it. I live very near the school and often meet children when out shopping etc. They always come up for a chat or call to me if I don't see them, wave from their car windows etc. Children like to know where they are with people and respect those that set clear boundaries. My own children - now adults - were brought up to behave well in restaurants and in their own and other folks homes. They could be naughty sometimes, like any children, but knew "No" meant "No" and we were frequently complimented on their behaviour. I now dread going to restaurants and finding noisy, ill-mannered children at the next table. The teacher in me itches to intervene and tell them how to behave! We have young families living next to us and the children are awful. We have not sat out in our garden at all this summer as the noise from both sides is appalling and goes on late into the evening. My daughter is studying for an M.A. and has to stay at Uni until late in the evening as she cannot study at home with windows open and the noise of these children, music blaring and some of the language used is dreadful. I shudder to think what the NEXT generation will be like as parents.
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We had a young couple stay with us earlier this week (28 and 30) - both teachers, to whom I told my tale of woe about the kids from hell.  They agreed that it is the parents who can't control them and that they had even by-passed some of the rooms in the chateau they had visited the day before because of the uncontrolable children making so much noise.

Sara pointed out that the kids in her class do as they are told, are polite and quiet but that she sees the Jekyll and Hyde change of personality as soon as they walk through the school gates and back to the jurisdication of their parents; litter is dropped, they shout, run when they're told to walk, fight.....  She says they take no notice of the parents, but then the parents just have no idea how to control them.  It appears that even at 28 Sara too has "the LOOK" that we've all talked about, so thank goodness it's not a generational thing and some kids will still fall under the influence of such a terryifying warning

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Add on again.Guests my wife wouldn't let in. Just had a camper van drive in.Chap about 40 asked for a room for 2 people for the night.Yes ,we have one double room vacant for one night.Fine. He returned to the van and out of the back climbed a couple ,at a guess, 80 +. He wanted to book them in, sleep in the camper + wife, in the garden and just use the toilet etc. As we have a marble staircase,it was used an excuse to refuse the room , as we were worried about the elderly couple using the stairs.It also saved me chucking the other couple out of the garden. It takes all sorts!!

My list is getting longer.

Regards. Nr.St. Malo
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Take a LOT of care with the motorhome people. Some motorhomes have a cassette toilet (ie everything flushes into a massive cassette) and may be checking in with a view to emptying it down your loo. Not a good move as there are all kinds of chemicals in it which have a fair to middling chance of screwing up the operation of your septic tank.

It's not unknown for large motorhomes to want one room for two but effectively loos and showers/baths for 6. Whilst I'm sure nobody actually costs out the use of their bathrooms, it ain't free; I'd be inclined to treat them as an extra person in the room and charge appropriately.

 

Arnold

(ex-motorhomer formerlly participating in the above!)

 

 

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I get these camper vans and others coming onto the site round about lunch time for a 'picnic' by the river!! as my site is by a little river.

Since it is just for a picnic and that they are moving on I can't really charge for the night stay! Can I?!?!

I soon learnt to charge for PARKING!

as whilst one person is garding the van and gets busy round the 'picnic' the others in the party use the showers, the hotwater for the laundry, the loos, the bins, the chemical emptying point etc... all in the hope of having all these services for FREE!!

Sorry folks!! but I need to pay my rates, my electricity, water & council rates etc... which I provide to other people who DO stay on the site for the night and that you have enjoyed using during your 'picnic'.....

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LOL Missyesbut, why can't you charge for a night. If you had an hotel you would charge for a night whether the room was used  for an hour or two  or all night long wouldn't you.

Or you charge for parking and give them a list of charges for the use for all the other facitilities.

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Out of curiosity, how much do you charge for parking?

We had a run of "piddlers" as we called them last year and got so thoroughly fed up with it that we started handing out factures for 5€ which resulted in all moving on promptly. For some reason, one family couldn't grasp the fact that the garden of our auberge wasn't public space suitable for their little girl going to the loo in. It was the busload of kids that really got our backs up about the whole thing though... 8.30 bus pulls in and the kids are promptly directly to our WALL, our garden, etc. Just managed to get out in time to tell them to clear off (in my rudest French).

Funnily enough, we haven't (yet) had any piddlers this year; we're thinking that the bulk of last years crop were locals (the busload certainly was).

What we can't understand is why they couldn't stop in the numerous picnic areas along the way to do their business or even consider using the public toilets in the next village all of 3km on.

 

Arnold

 

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[quote]Out of curiosity, how much do you charge for parking? We had a run of "piddlers" as we called them last year and got so thoroughly fed up with it that we started handing out factures for 5€ which res...[/quote]

I charge £10 for parking as in picnic parking! (Sorry site is in UK where I live)

One fee as you arrive, just like at the pub! you pay for your pint! BEFORE you have the pleasure of putting your laughing gear round it!!! then... be our guests!

Those that think it's steep a tenner for a sitdown with sarnies by the river I tell them "And so it is for 1 mile from either side of this gate!" as in order to access the riverbank they still have to enter/trespass on my farm !!

As told once by a nice  elderly couple in their huge american type camping van : "I had no God given right to OWN any land!" 

To which my response was : "God has not given me the pleasure yet to own my house on wheels to wander at leisure about the highways and byways of his green and pleasant land but has given me the right to OWN THIS land for which the rule here is : pay up or *** off!!"

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If they'd been round the US any length of time they'd find charges for use of dumping stations (do such things exist in the UK?) and complete bans on use of private campgrounds without the equivalent of a daypass (chargeable, of course).

Silly question, I'm sure, but how come they can even get into your place without some kind of pass? Been a long time since I did the camping thing in the UK but in the US, you'd need to go through a gate to get to anywhere suitable for picnicing or indeed the likes of toilets and whatnot.

 

Arnold

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

They say everything comes to he (she) who waits.   Well........ we've just had the last family of the summer through our doors, English two kids under 10.... and they were good as gold, extremely polite and were certainly brought up under the regime of "children should be seen and not heard"

They even, unprompted, came up and said "goodbye, thank you for having me" before they got in the car

So when mum said that they thought they would like to come back next year my mouth wasn't saying "oh lovely, we'd be delighted to see you again" whilst my mind was saying "not on your nelly, we've FULLY BOOKED until 2020"  I actually thought the same as I said.  After all, the more bookings we take where we know the kids are OK, the less space there is for that other lot

So perhaps normal service will be resumed next year!

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I've just read this thread with interest as I've heard a lot about the 'English' kids being naughty whilst the 'French' kids aren't..........& I have to say I agree, in general.  But there are the exceptions!!  I've seen plenty of 'delightful' French kids in the local supermarché, but then the parents of said children have normally given them a wallop, & all is back to normal!

If we go out anywhere, my girls (6 & 7) will behave because I won't put up with them being naughty.  I understand that folks don't want to listen to my 2 playing up any more than I want to listen to other people's children when I'm paying for a night out etc.

Funnily enough, I was discusiing with MOH today about our 'spare' house.  We'd like to do B&B but as we have neighbours, I'd hate for them to put up with screaming brats or obnoxious parents, so we're thinking of having a "sorry, no children" rule, but it seems a bit cheeky when we have 2 of 'em!

And on the note of "the look", my maiden name was Cook & my hubby says that all the women in my family have the same "Cook Look"!!!!  He reckons you've got to shield your eyes when it's in action!!!

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I don't know about the children - but the PARENTS certainly take the biscuit! Our neighbours just had English guests in their villa who sent their 6 and 10 year old boys to light their fireworks on top of the plastic lid of the gas tank in the garden!!!! The lid is clearly marked Butagaz, with a warning and a 'No Smoking' sign - which the parents say they didn't understand as it's French! The lid now has melted holes in it.
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  • 3 weeks later...

This is fantastic news for us - as we specialise in children's holidays in our b&b, so if you don't want these families, please send them to us!!!!

We find that the majority of children that come here are great, but we are set up for them, and all the parents take responsibility for their children.  Most days in the summer we have 5 rooms full of families, at any one time we could have up to 15 children here - plus my 2!

Maybe we are gluttons for punishment - but it keeps my bank balance healthy.

www.okalani.com

 

 

 

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This is fantastic news for us - as we specialise in children's holidays in our b&b, so if you don't want these families, please send them to us!!!!

It's a deal Okalani!  You can most certainly have them!

We find that the majority of children that come here are great, but we are set up for them, and all the parents take responsibility for their children.  Most days in the summer we have 5 rooms full of families, at any one time we could have up to 15 children here - plus my 2!

Just one thought here...... if you have up to 15 children staying at any one time with all five rooms full, presumably that means 10 adults as well, which means you have 25 people staying in your B&B.  So how do you get round the 15 max?  BTW, are you completely deaf or are you just a saint?

Incidentally, if you're aiming your marketing predominantly at the family market this must mean school holidays only.  Does this mean you make enough during that period to live off for the rest of the year? (perhaps I could learn to like children )  We've found that September has ended up being almost as busy as August, but obviously it has been completely child-free

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Cripes Sarha, looking at your place it must have been tough on which profession to register under at the Chambre de Commerce ?

The problem with having a TdH "legally" is that it requires registering but then having 19 persons plus, means inspections for safety, security, fire etc as you may well be classed as ERP (Établissement Recevant du Public)

Perhaps you are calling it CdH etc for the name which is fine but it appears to be more run on hotel lines, food all day, allowing passing trade to "come in" and eat etc, none of which are allowed with GdF but that does not neccessarily mean that you can't have a CdH but serving food all day to guests or passers by is definitely not CdH or indeed TdH.

Hard work, we don't envy you, simply because we have been there, good luck but do be careful (you may of course be so already ?) on what you are registered as !!

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To set the record straight - I am registered correctly for everything.  I am registered as chambres d'hotes, tables d'hotes and salon du the & Glacier.  I researched everything very carefully before doing all this, as I forsaw all potential problems- I only serve meals at lunch time to the passers by as I don't have the right to do so in the evening - I am CdH and table d'hotes not restaurant, but with salon du the I can serve lunch.  To people staying here I can serve what I like, when I like.

Thanks to the jealousing of one of my French neighbours, she has reported me for everything!! - I have had every inspection you can think of - hygiene, fraud, impots, gendarmerie etc, etc and pleased to say that I have passed them all with flying colours.

In UK I trained and worked in hotel and catering and am a qualified chef so made sure I did all my research properly.

 

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What strange regulations we have here in France !

You can feed passers by at lunchtime through your Salon du Thé registration but not in the evening, where I take it in the evening, the TdH kicks in and you can feed residents but not passers by ! ?

Seriously though, I guess it must be the Salon du Thé that gives you the right to feed your B&B guests during the day but for us, the GdF rules are quite clear that one cannot be anything other than a B&B (or TdH in the evening) and not have anything commercial (except a working farm for example) like a bar, resto, Salon du Thé or the like and definitely no one from off the road can purchase anything but certain home produces (cider, honey etc)to take away.

I would worry though, about the numbers you have in the house and the need for the safety inspection due to the numbers of guests you take in, unless of course you have already had that inspection ? I think you will agree though, in the realms of French Bed and Breakfast you are more in line with a hotel than a CdH, not in how it looks but how you operate within your registration.

It is extremely rare, and I have not seen one like that ever but if it has all been registered and the authorities have rubber stamped it all, then jolly good luck.

Good neighbours eh! We have never had that kind of neighbour (lucky I guess) but know several Brits who have also had neighbours that have told M le Maire and others that they were not operating legally. Problem was, on two occasions they were not registered, so it put the wind up a few others immediately after.

“…In UK I trained and worked in hotel and catering and am a qualified chef so made sure I did all my research properly”

Not sure much of that counted for a lot, did it? It sure didn’t help that much (very differing rules and regs) for a few people we know who opened up restos out here, including us !

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Reading the list of things that you do, I don't see any practical difference between your combined registrations and a hotel/restaurant with the sole exception that I also can't see who would be able to give you any kind of grading.

Like Miki, I'd be a bit concerned about the numbers that you seem to accommodate which seem to add up to a lot more than 15. Still, you certainly appear to have gotten past all the regulations no problem.

Charming neighbours. If I were you, I'd be doing my best to whip the business from under them.



Arnold

 

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