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lynninnewmexico

Let's Share: Nightmare Guest Room Stories

lynninnewmexico
9 years ago

Zen's thread showing us her beautiful, serene, comfortable new guest room got me thinking. (1) About how much I wish all the guest rooms we stay in could be as welcoming and comfy. And (2), it got me remembering the worst ones.

Sooooo, would you like to share your own stories of the worst ones???

Now, I do not need a fancy guest room to stay in. The furniture can be old and unmatched, even ugly; I don't care. The bedspread or comforter can be old and faded. No problem. What I do very much appreciate, though, is a clean room and decent lamps to read by and a couple of places to put down my things.

Here's one of my stories:
Great people that we get along wonderfully with. So darn nice. They're always inviting us to stay with them while we're in the area. Clean, very comfortable home. Sadly, though, the wife LOVES cutesy knick-knacks and they are crammed onto every available surface in their guest room. So, not a lot of room to put out our things like books, magazines, reading glasses, cell phones{{gwi:807}}, etc. The bed is thankfully very comfortable, but there is only a small (cluttered) nightstand on one side, which DH always manages to get (darn him!). Her one "reading " lamp is pitifully small, approx. 12" tall with a 40 watt bulb, and is horrible to try and read by. The only other light in the room are the 5 lights with clear glass shades on their ceiling fan, and I swear, each lightbulb is 100 watts! No rheostat to dim them, either. The dresser is filled with their out of season clothes, as is the closet. There's only room for us to hang up a few things of ours. But the worst is that she LOVES windchimes and has 2 of them hanging in the bedroom itself. I can't tell you how many times I've run into them in the middle of the night! She used to have this tall Murano glass clown from Italy in there on the nightstand, but since I HATE clowns, I do make her keep it in their MBR during our visits. Fortunately, though, we get along fantastically and other than their screwy guest room, we all have a great time together. And, before anyone reminds me that perhaps they can't afford to furnish it better, I will say that they are very well off. She just loves her cutesy little things and is so proud of them in her guest room. How could I ever tell her differently? So, I don't.
Lynn

This post was edited by lynninnewmexico on Fri, May 9, 14 at 18:08

Comments (142)

  • Marie
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    These stories are hilarious. But after living in Florida, where every family member and friend visits, and having some terrible guest stories, I much prefer to stay in a hotel and always have hotel suggestions for visiting guests. Much rather have friends than save on hotel bills.

  • nanny2a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmmm, Lynn, I’ve always loved New Mexico and wanted to spend some more time there. After reading about your guest room provisions, I just wanted to let you know I”ll be there next week - for an indefinite length of time, LOL! Sounds so comfortable and delightful! See you soon!

  • jterrilynn
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lol Nanny! I live in Florida and have had many rants here about long lost people inviting themselves. Just yesterday my husband received an email through his work (through a google search) from someone he knew 38 years ago in England. I’m betting the next email will start with “we are thinking of coming to Florida”. That’s how they all start before they invite themselves. However, I get it too from long lost people, friends of family that I don’t really know and very distant cousins. My husband thinks I’m wrong so we will see.

  • lynninnewmexico
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LOL, Nanny, and thanks for pulling up my old "Nightmare Guest Room Stories" for Jjam and all. Such great ideas on this thread. Funny you should mention it, but if you read my initial post of the guest room I hate at our family member's home (who we adore) . . . that's where we'll be again next week (LOL)! They've moved to a new, even large,r home since we were there last and I'm hoping she's redone the guest rooms, as well!
    Lynn

  • nanny2a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lynn, yes, let’s hope that the clown is no longer living, and that she’s found new locations for her wind chimes and all those beloved nick-nacks. I hope you enjoy your visit!

  • rockybird
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My dad has a condo in Palm Springs, on a golf course. We had a family reunion there. My brothers and I arrived a day earlier. My father had a big court case and was to meet us the next day. He was flying down from Alaska. The condo is only used once a year, but my parents pays someone monthly to clean it, even though no one is living there. They even pay someone to clean the windows when they are not there. They like it clean and spotless when they arrive.

    When I arrived, it was clear that NO ONE had been in that condo in at least a year. There was an incredible amount of dust and sand inside. I immediately started sneezing and could not stop. As I looked around, I started noticing spiders... BLACK WIDOWS...EVERYWHERE. They had infested the condo! I have no idea what had happened...how the sand and dust and spiders had moved in, but they did. I was horrified. I spent the night in a hotel. My brothers, however, coralled themselves into one room that they cleaned of spiders.

    Knowing that my father was coming off of a big case and that our parents would be exhausted from the flight, we started cleaning the next day. I caught a couple black widows in a jar. We had to overturn furniture to make sure we got them all. At some point, we left to eat. My brother got the time wrong for my father's arrival, and he arrived while we were out to find overturned furniture and full garbage bags (of dirty paper towels). He thought we had been partying in the condo and left a nasty note. When we all finally met up, I showed him the jar with the spiders. The whole family spent the vacation in the hotel on the golf course. The condo had to be fumigated. Because of the dust, I think the HVAC system and furnace had to be replaced. All I can think is someone (a cleaner?) left the arcadia sliders open and maybe a golfer or maintenance guy eventually closed them, because they were closed when we arrived.

    The place has since been gutted and remodeled. I have never seen a black widow in Palm Springs since. I still dont understand where they all came from.

  • julieboulangerie
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    How did I miss this the first time?

    I stayed with a friend in Berkeley, California. He lived in a house that was part residence, and part art studio/gathering place for some interesting artists looking for day time space. Once I stayed there and got the guest bed- which was fine. The second time, the young woman who rented the whole building had her parents there (and her boyfriend) who cooked the worst smelling food. They, of course, took up the guest room. There were two male college students (friends of her family) that were attending some event at a technology company, and they were occupying the living room sofas.

    I must have had a worried look on my face at this point; I was told there was an extra mattress downstairs. The basement was well-stocked with previous renters left- behind possessions. I helped my host bring the mattress upstairs, and was asked where I wanted to put it- on the floor in his room, or out in the living room with the boys. Uhh, I guess in your room? The bathroom was off of the living/kitchen area and I couldn't imagine 6 people tripping over me on their way to the bathroom, nor being exposed to their noises either going to bed or getting up the morning. I think another 2-3 people also slept there that night on sofas in the art studio. I should have stayed in a hotel.

    These days, my one pet peeve is not having a trash can in the bathroom, or if there is a trash can, not having a liner in it (yuck!).

  • texanjana
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    After reading some of your stories, I consider myself lucky.

    When I was in college, I went to London and while I was there I went down to Southampton to visit my pen pal whom I had corresponded with since I was 7 years old. She had already come to visit me in the States. It was in January, and their only heat was a little coal stove in their living area. I slept in my long johns, jeans, coat, gloves, hat, etc. When I got up the next morning to go into the bathroom, the inside of the windows was coated in ice! They probably thought I was the grossest person ever because I didn't shower for the 3 days I was there. That bathroom was the coldest room I had ever been in.

    The last time I stayed with a friend, I slept in a twin sleigh bed (I am 5'9") and her pug jumped on me all night long. Never again.

  • musicteacher
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    As a student, I went to visit my great aunt in Florida. The accommodations were really pretty nice - including life sized dolphin plaques on the walls! : ) There was some kind of a plaque on the bed with jingle bells on it. It had a somewhat raunchy poem about what would make the bells ring. I was afraid to move all night long fearing those bells would go off and the whole house would be laughing.

  • violetwest
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OMG Black Widows -- I would have run screaming. loudly. for about a week!

    good luck, Lynn!

  • nhb22
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Fun2BHere - The same thing happened to me when I tried to have a sleep study for apnea. Miserable!

    For the person that went to visit SIL's mountain home with 21 others. Didn't anyone take food for the visit? I would never dream of going to someone's home for even a night without taking some offering. When that many people are invited to someone's home, they should offer to bring food. The hostess should never be expected to feed that many people on her own, although she should have had a plan and said something up front, and asked guest to help with meals beforehand.

    I cannot think of anything too terribly horrible when we have been guest, or vice versa. I try to make sure that my guest have everything they need, and we have always been accommodated fairly nicely when visiting others.

    My only quip is when my family visits my brother and SIL's home. They do not drink coffee or OJ, so they do not provide it. I think that a good hostess should. They know that we drink both. We vacation together several times a year. I provide hot tea and yogurt for my SIL when she visits our home.

    Many mornings, while visiting my brother and SIL, my poor son-in-law has made a "coffee run" to a local Roadrunner to buy coffee for everyone. We take our meds and eat breakfast (which I contribute to) with lemonaide or water. Thinking about giving my SIL a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas that she can keep in her pantry, and then bringing our own OJ the next time we visit.

    One funny thing that happened when visiting my brother and SIL. The guest bedroom shares a bathroom with my college age niece's bedroom. On one visit to their home, my niece walked in on my DH while he was sitting on the commode. She walked all the way into the bathroom, took one look at DH and casually said "oh!, hello Uncle V" and then walked back out the door. My husband was in shock! He assumed the door was locked to the adjoining bedroom and that our niece would be using her sisters bathroom while we were visiting. We have all laughed and laughed about that one!

    One other funny bathroom story. When I was in college, my then boyfriend invited me to his family's home for the weekend. I did not care for his snobbish parents. The guest bedroom was upstairs in a VERY nice Spanish style home. When I awoke the first morning there, someone was in the guest bathroom, or so I thought. So, I crept downstairs to use one I had seen earlier the evening before. Well, that door was closed, so I waited on the foot of the stairs for availability. As I was crouched waiting, the mother came around the corner and we both had a good scare! When I finally gathered my wits, I told her that I was waiting on the bathroom and that someone was in the upstairs bathroom. She checked the bathroom that I was waiting on and declared it empty. Same for the upstairs bathroom. She just kept the doors closed to the bathrooms.

    More bathroom chuckles. My brother-in-law has walked in on me while in the bathroom. My sister has walked in on my husband. And most recently, my brother walked in on me at a party the other night! The lock on the door was missing. Oh well...at least it's all in the family!

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mine isn't a guest ROOM story, it's a guest story. As in, why didn't they stay in a hotel instead of asking to stay with us. We had a 4-bedroom house, all of which we used (us, our two kids, our au pair). Friends were coming to California, I think going off on an Alaska cruise, then returning for one night before returning home. They asked if they - SIX OF THEM (them, their three kids and their traveling au pair) - could stay with us that last night (we lived quite near the airport). These are wealthy people, who could easily have afforded another night in a hotel. I was so nonplussed, I had to say yes, fortunately, it was only one night.

  • nhb22
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We've had relatives, a family of 5, come stay with us many times for one night stays. One particular Christmas night, they showed up with 2 extra's...a mother and teen daughter. Really?

  • LE
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    There are some real nightmares here! I should be more grateful about 1) sleeping on a futon with my head assigned to what is usually apparently the cat's nap spot (no, I don't actually need to be able to breathe the next day, thanks). 2) the multiple times in different households of getting the slow-leak airbed assignment (hip usually hits the floor around 2 am). Another airbed assignment with no sheets and just a scratchy mexican blanket on top (huh?)

    Lots of you provide really nice set-ups, no wonder people want to stay a long time! We are building our retirement house and decided that there was no way we were going to dedicate any square footage to rooms that would not be used daily. So again, we'll have guests on the sofabed in what is usually the tv room. We have slept on our American Leather pull-out literally for months during a remodel, and find it comfortable. Reading lights and nightstands are a must, plus the usual clean sheets and pillows. But we are not going to keep a closet empty for you! Some hanging space and a spot for a suitcase, yes.

  • westsider40
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Love this thread. Gotta bump and hope to hear more stories.

    I just experienced the hellish guest room but won't talk about it. Don't want to cause any bad feelings in the family. Actually it wasn't a room so much as a 50 inch wide saggy leather loveseat with no offer of a sheet, pillow or comforter. No food except the offer of munchies and candy. And we were there to care for her after surgery. For seven long days and nights. She thought that her city location was so fancy pants that that fact alone would render our stay there as a vacation. Imagine that!

  • luvncannin
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just had to jump in here and say this is the best GW thread I have bumped into. Funny and scary at the same time.
    My #1 nightmare was staying at an ex SIL's. We were given a filthy twin bed complete with sand for me my husband and baby followed by a homemade breakfast with brown scrambled eggs and I don't remember what else. It was pretty gross and we never stayed there again. She took B&B to a different level.
    Kim

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    She

    Hmmm, I wonder who that might be?

  • westsider40
    9 years ago

    Bump

  • LynnNM
    9 years ago

    Oh my gosh, it's so funny to see this thread pop up here again! I started it, and like everyone else, I loved reading every wonderful story! Yes, I cringed along with you all at many (including mine!) and laughed until I cried at many more, including Westsiders latest!

  • westsider40
    9 years ago

    Time to bump. I need a laugh.

  • arcy_gw
    9 years ago

    All these stories really make one take inventory of all visits. I too didn't think I had a story until the hoarding one made me remember a visit in college. A group of us went home with a gal. I was naive and had no idea how other people live. I was surprised by the dark home, one lamp per room, 40 watt bulb at most. Toys lining the living room wall. I just thought "spoiled grand child" and since mom and grand child were living there spoiling the baby with "no father" seemed like something that I could understand. Then we were escorted up the stairs. The entire stair case was lined up to our shoulders with magazines/newspapers. The pile continue all around the upstairs hall way. We had just enough room to get to the bedrooms. I have no memory of the rest of our stay, I just remember being worried all night of a fire!! It was years until I heard the term hoarders and decided it was probably a good thing it was rather dark. As I read through this I read for hints that these were stories of my visits to homes or vise versa. Have I been a good guest? What has been the reaction of my guests to my accommodations? It all adds up to a statement that I never agreed with and now maybe I do. Years ago a well known call in radio advise personality made the statement one should never stay at someone else's home. Always get a hotel, always spring for a hotel if people attempt to stay with you. I have found the times late in the visit before bedtime or early in the morning over coffee waiting for everyone to wake to be my favorite visiting time. If you are in a hotel you miss that. BUT now I see the strain and pit falls of opening up your way of life to others, even good friends or relatives. I am impressed and amazed at the assertiveness displayed in these stories. I guess the night my cousin (in her sleep) climbed on top of me in my single bed, I should have woke her!! Instead I just layed there squished all night--not wanting to point out her error.
    kkay_md I have to ask, it seems this SIL did not live up to her expectations as a guest..how did you resist not INSISTING??!! Turn about is fair play!!

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago

    Oh oh, we're staying over at friends' tonight!

  • steph2000
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm glad to spring for a hotel instead of staying with friends. I'm not going to be springing for the hotel when they want to stay with me, though...

    I'm a pretty laid back guest, though, and try to be a good host and make people feel welcome The bottom line is that my home is too small for guests to be very comfortable and I generally feel more comfortable at a hotel, except with people close enough that they either ARE my family or I consider them thusly.

  • patricianat
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmmm. I take it you either don't like staying with friends or you feel that is an imposition on them. I understand that.

    I have a SIL who has a perfectly beautiful, well-kept, large 6 BR/6 bath home which is elegant and comfortable, plus she is a great cook and loves entertaining, but I always feel like I am imposing, probably because I cannot provide the lovely meals and ease of entertaining, although I do have a well-kept home with 3 BR and 3 baths. Maybe I am just insecure and moreover I do not feel my house is "clean" enough. Her house always looks brand new and mine looks okay clean but just not like I licked the floors clean.

    I forgot to add what really makes me feel uncomfortable. One of their sons died at a very early age, just after college graduation and occasionally she puts us in that room. I guess I am an odd person. He has been dead for years but I always feel uncomfortable in there, and she always says so casually, "oh, you take James's room."

  • monicakm_gw
    9 years ago

    My 80 year old father's 60 year old daughter from his first marriage is coming to visit on Monday and staying for 3 days. Theirs have not been a good relationship. They live half across the country from one another and she has resented him all her life for her parent's divorce and has wanted nothing to do with him. Her brother has finally convinced her to accept his invitation and try to mend fences. Altho my parents are very well off and have a very nice home, they have downsized in their later years and only have a two bedroom house. They are giving their bedroom to my half brother and wife and my half sister will have the other bedroom. My 80 year old parents will sleep on the two couches. So in addition to what I feel like is going to be a maybe sensitive/awkward/perhaps intimidating visit (at least at first, hopefully it will become more relaxed) the sleeping arrangements are going to be hard on my aging parents, both of which have debilitating back issues. I suggested everyone might feel more comfortable if dad paid for hotel rooms for everyone. Not only for more comfortable sleeping arrangements but so everyone can have their "space" and alone time to reconcile the experience and new relationships. I ran the idea past my parents but they feel like that would not help her feelings of abandonment and hurt feelings. They thanked me for being concerned but said they'll be fine. Putting myself in her shoes I "think" I'd more comfortable in a hotel at the end of the day but I could be over analyzing this....I have a tendency to do that!


  • Kippy
    9 years ago

    Back when I was in college, a friend invited me to attend a wedding that the father would be officiating. We would be staying with the family at "a Cabin in the Woods" in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It sounded like fun and I went to school just south of there and after all..........a cabin in the woods, how wonderful.


    Santa Cruz is known for some interesting people. This was an interesting cabin. It was in the shape of a tear drop and built with all found materials. No running water, no bathroom, just a loft the couple stayed in. All of us-this was a big event up there (we brought sleeping bags) got to sleep on the "lawn" The location was pretty, but had they mentioned that the "facility" was a hollowed out stump over looking the valley set on a platform for the neighborhood to use (you could always "water" the trees else where) and that the shower was on a tree by the window (no curtain) Well....I would have stayed home.


    Rustic can be really Rustic

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago

    monicakm, one of the things I learned from my mother was NEVER to give up my bed to guests - if there's an extra bed or a guest room, they're welcome to stay, or if they want to, they can use the couch, but my bed is my bed.

  • steph2000
    9 years ago

    I gave up my bed for my mom - and again for my sister and her husband. I'd do it again for them. But, again, I'm in a really small home and don't have much for guest rooms.

  • rockybird
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's a couple stories:

    -My father has a place in palm springs - 2 bedroom, 2 ba. I frequently meet my parents out there at their condo. One year they forgot they had invited someone else! They didnt remember until they saw them at the airport boarding the same flight to Palm Springs. They had asked them months beforehand and then forgotten. Meanwhile, I was driving down to meet them at the condo. They didnt let them put their bags down or unpack but suggested a meal out. My stepmo. kept stalling the couple while my dad kept sneaking away to find a hotel for them. Everything was booked, but he finally found one, and paid for it.

    -Years ago, I came to visit my grandmo. in AZ. I had heard she'd seen some scorpions in the house, but didnt think much of it. I had left my backpack on the bathroom floor after working out at the health club. Scorpions love bathrooms, as there is a water source. The next day, I picked my backpack up off the floor and off I went to the club. At the club, I reached in for a towel and felt a horrific pain in my finger. I knew immediately what it was. A man in boots dumped my backpack out and the scorpion went running across the carpet. He killed it with his boots. It left a stain on the carpet that I saw everytime I came back to visit. It was very painful and my hand contracted from the toxin. My poor grandmo. felt awful, but I really didnt mind as it gave me a cool story to tell.

    -My mother was visiting this week. I had just laid down to read in bed when I saw something scurry across the floor. I prayed it was not a rat. I had to wake my mother up because I wanted it out of my room. By now it was in my closet/bath area. The two of us chased it around and around. I saw it was a kangaroo rat (desert dweller). Then I realized that I had left the front door open an hour before to get something out of the car. Unfortunately, I killed it. I feel awful. They are very cute animals. I accidentally hit it with the bucket. I think this wasnt enough to kill it, but it died from the shock.

  • schicksal
    8 years ago

    My parent's place sort of fits the theme of this thread, unfortunately. They live in the same 3bdr house they bought a few years before I was born. My old room is now a (cluttered) office with a hideabed type sofa, my brother was in his room and my parents obviously in theirs. My brother died 5 months ago at the computer in his room and on a trip I made last month to clean out the last of his stuff, his bedroom is now the official guest room. I'm not superstitious but I'd have gladly moved a few things around in the office instead of sleeping in the same room he passed in only four months earlier. It's still far too soon.

  • tibbrix
    8 years ago

    I once let an acquaintance, a very nice upbeat person but whose life has been hard mostly due to low-income problems, use my guest suite for the few days between her moving from one place to another. A lot of people have helped me in the past when I've needed it, and I was happy to finally be able to do the same for another, knowing what a difference it had made for me.

    When she was finished, though, she left all the cleaning for me to do, washing the sheets and remaking the bed; cleaning the bathroom (full of her black curly hair), AND my neighbor told me she came by when I was out of town and let herself in to use my laundry. She did her own laundry when she was staying at the house and after she'd left (which was shocking - I changed the code on the front door keypad, needless to say), but she couldn't clean up after herself.

    The only thing I ask a hostess when I've stayed somewhere is whether they want me to actually remake the bed or not, after I've washed the sheets I've used, and only because I know that I like to leave guest beds unmade if they're not going to be used for a while so the mattresses can air out. Otherwise, I leave any bedroom and bathroom I've used as I found it and don't leave any work for my host, and certainly not when someone is letting me use their home to help me out!

  • mama goose_gw zn6OH
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    In January, I stayed a weekend with a friend who had moved about an hour away, to help her paint the kitchen in her new house. She's a lovely, thoughtful person, often making small gifts to show her appreciation. She had planned all meals, either takeout or sandwiches, because the kitchen was in disarray, and had made scrumptious cooky bars--she was all set to be the perfect hostess.

    I arrived late on Friday afternoon, and we immediately went to work on the kitchen. When I used the bathroom, I noticed that there was only one towel--a large one, rather faded, hanging over the shower curtain rod. There were no hand towels or wash cloths, so I used the towel. At bedtime we pulled out the sofa bed, made it up, and when I went to change, there was still only the large towel. I was tired, and decided not to say anything, so I splashed some water on my face and forearms, and used the towel again.

    The next day, all day, I used the towel whenever I washed my hands. She'd warned me that the wall tiles were loose in the shower/tub, so I'd showered at home, taken plenty of clean underwear, and wasn't planning to use her shower. Saturday night, same towel, same splash bath. My friend said she felt that she needed to soak in the hot tub, and invited me to join her. I declined, because I don't really enjoy hot tubs, especially outside, in January. I went to bed on the sofa, and was almost asleep when she came in. As she walked by the sofa and said goodnight, I glanced up and realized that she was wrapped in the towel. I thought, "Well, now I'll get a clean towel."

    The towel was hanging in its customary place the next morning--no other towels or wash cloths in sight, or in the bath vanity (I checked there the first night). I was too embarrassed to ask for a clean towel, and I didn't want to embarrass her--I thought, "What the heck, it's not going to kill me."

    I left a couple of hours later, and when I got home, I had a nice, long, hot shower in my very own bathroom, which has a dozen lovely towels on a shelf, for all to enjoy. Neither of us has ever mentioned the towel.

    After reading Kippy's story, I'm thankful that my friend had indoor plumbing. :)

  • MagdalenaLee
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    My FIL, a confirmed bachelor, moved from out of state to a city a few hundred miles from us. He was in his 2 bedroom apartment for almost a year when he invited us for a visit. There were still unpacked boxes all over the place. The guest bedroom had a full size mattress on the floor w/ no sheets or any kind of bedding anywhere in sight. I asked him where I could find sheets and he said they were probably still in a box somewhere and didn't lift a finger to try to find them. I then looked in the bathroom - no towels. So I go to Wal-Mart and buy bedding and towels. Get back, wash everything, fold the towels and make the bed.

    Next, I look in the fridge - nothing but a jar of mayo. So off I go to Wal-Mart again to buy some groceries. The next morning, I go to make coffee (purchased the night before) and there's no coffee maker. Oh, it's in a box somewhere. Off I go to 7-Eleven. Basically, the whole three day trip was me going to the store buying stuff while the two men sat in the living room obliviously watching TV and yacking. Boy did DH get an earful.

    After that I found a nearby hotel located in an outdoor mall. So while the boys do their thing, I shop and hang out by the pool and visit the spa. Then I meet them for dinner (a place of my choosing) and DH comes back to the hotel with me. That way, I get to visit in very small doses, I don't have to set foot in FIL's nasty home plus I get a little bit of a spa weekend.

  • Debbie Downer
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    My Aunt J was a hoarder - not as extreme as some of those on TV, but upstairs rooms, countertops, hallways, etc. piled with lots of stuff. The one downstairs bathroom served the whole family incl 7 kids + any guests, towels used many times over, and being dairy farmers the house kinda smelled like the barn. As a guest you either would share a bed or bring sleeping bag for the floor. But you know what - I would give ANYTHING to be able to stay at her house again. Absolutely anything. I miss her and my uncle dearly.

    The last night I stayed there before the place was sold .... about 5 yrs ago - I remember waking up to the sounds of wind, birds, an Amish horsedrawn buggy going down the gravel road outside - thinking, I'm so going to miss this place.

    Guess I have a high tolerance, An adventuresome spirit helps when travelling off the beaten track - I will draw the line only at things like insect infestations, lice, crabs, animals jumping on me and slobbering, vile smells and dirt that cross the line between being pleasantly untidy and a major health hazard. OK, maybe sand in the bed and lots of hairs in the tub from strangers (if family, well, that's OK.)

  • gardengrlz
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Hooo, this has been hilarious to read! My DH and I still laugh at the time when we went to visit his college friend and his wife in Boston one late fall for 3 days. We were coming up from Florida and were prepared for the cold, but weren't prepared to freeze our butts off because they didn't turn the heat on in the house! To make matters worse, the "bed" they had in their spare room was really two cots pushed together. So, while we shivered in the dark trying to get to sleep, every time we tried to snuggle together for warmth the cots would slide apart and one of use would fall through. On top of that, every morning at about 3 a.m., their dog would start barking in the house, which would then trigger their 18 month old baby to start crying, which would then mean the whole household was up at 3 a.m. Their baby was sick with a cold at the time (probably from no heat in the house!) and sent us home with parting gifts of our own colds/flu.

    On the opposite side of that coin, when we used to visit DH's mother in Florida, she was ALWAYS cold, even if it was 98° outside. She didn't turn on the AC and the house was like an oven. We could never sleep because we were drenched in sweat. Finally, I convinced DH that hotels are the best thing for everyone involved, especially if he didn't want a grumpy, sleep-deprived wife!

  • maggiepatty
    8 years ago

    I'm actually feeling queasy after reading this thread. So many wrong, wrong things. In a way, it makes me feel bad that we don't have a guest room. On the other hand, it's a relief to just book people a nearby hotel room and not worry about our dogs or kids ruining anyone's sleep.

    My worst guest room story is virtually every stay at my MILs. Rickety bed, sheets feel like astroturf, suffocating heat, no lamp so you have to walk to bed in pitch blackness after hitting wall switch, so much furniture in the room you can barely fit a bag in, and a mausoleum-arrangement of blinds covered by curtains covered by more curtains, just to make sure no light or air can get into the room from outdoors. Add in a chain smoker and non-stop loud TV from the next room, and voila!

    As for being a bad guest, I hope I'm not anyone's horror story but I'm pretty sure DH is. He has very frequent and very loud nightmares. They aren't as common any more, but at some points they have been multiple per night, every night. When we travel together I hear them start and I wake him up before he gets to top volume. When I'm not with him, anyone in earshot will be awakened by this very loud man yelling as if he is wrestling with the devil. He never thinks to mention it beforehand, and feels like it's too awkward to bring it up after the fact, so time and time again he has startled housefulls of people awake in the middle of the night with his shouting, only to turn up for breakfast in the morning like nothing happened.

  • Helen H
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I read this with total amazement and awe! I am a new owner of a shore home. Do you have any idea what that means? That means that people like you complaining all think for some reason it is now my responsibility to provide you with a free vacation, maid service, toiletry, cook, pass's to the beach, special lighting for your reading needs, WYFI??...the list goes on and on. Just had 8 yes 8 of the laziest unthankful rude guest show up at my house and since I didn't have enough pillows for them all they took my very expensive furniture pillows. Not one picked up a freaking towel...just threw it on the floor like I was their god damned servant girl...not one bought or paid for one ounce of food .... except for the youngest boy who's parents sent him with some trays of food. NOT ONE BOUGHT OR CHIPPED IN FOR TOILET PAPER, TOOTH PASTE, SOAP, SHAMPOO, LAUNDRY DETERGENT, DISH LIQUID, ON AND ON. SO WHILE YOUR GRIPING ABOUT THE PILLOW MAYBE THE NEXT TIME YOU'LL MAKE A RESERVATION AND TAKE YOUR CHEAP ASS'S TO THE HOTEL!! AND I HAVE TO ASK DID ONE OF YOU BRING A GIFT FOR THE HOSTESS???? DID ONE OF YOU TAKE THE HOSTS OUT TO EAT OR CLEAN THE ROOM THAT YOU WERE IN??? BECAUSE I'M STILL CLEANING AND IT IS MESSED UP FOR ANYONE TO COME INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S HOME NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCE AND THEN GRIPE ABOUT WHAT YOU DIDN'T GET!! Sorry for the gripe but I am broke from moochers, exhausted and pissed! That doesn't count them wanted to know why I didn't put my big shedding dog in the kennel at my expense while they were here. So if dog hairs get on you then excuse me but the dog lives here and YOU DON"T!

  • lilacinjust
    8 years ago

    Helen H- you need to grow a pair! Seriously, you need to focus on why you'd let people disrespect you and your home like that so it never, ever happens again.

    No one deserves to be shat upon like that, but I have to tell you, coming here and pointing your fingers at people like "you" is pretty damn offensive.

    Most folks here just want a clean room with enough space to place a few things and have some privacy. Most folks here would do the things a good guest does, and I'll tell you another thing, most folks here wouldn't be the doormat you were.

  • Olychick
    8 years ago

    Wow, Helen, yelling at the strangers here won't change your situation at all. Copy your rant and send it to your guests. I think that will solve your problem.


  • daisychain01
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Honestly, I'm pretty easy and don't care too much about where I sleep or the general conditions (altho I would probably draw the line at multiple open cat boxes). However, I just got back from visiting a friend who has begged me to come visit for years. She lives on another continent and we were finally able to make it work by incorporating a side trip to her city as part of another trip. This was somewhat inconvenient and expensive for us, but we were happy to do it. We gave her several months notice. When we arrived, I discovered that she was in the middle of big project at work and during the day we were left alone to entertain her children and figure out our own way around the city. In the evenings, we were treated to fights with her husband and general all around stressing about how much she had to do for work, etc. Made us feel like we were a big inconvenience.

    I wouldn't have cared if I'd had to sleep on a concrete floor if she had been welcoming and there for us. Luckily, we were only there for a couple of days.

    And, yes Helen, we bought groceries and cleaned the house while she was at work. Also paid for her kids when we went out during the day.

  • lilacinjust
    8 years ago

    daisychain01- good on you for hanging in there for a couple days!

  • monicakm_gw
    8 years ago

    Helen, frankly anyone that would let people take advantage of them like that kinda sorta deserves it. Time to find some kinder and gentler friends and while you're at it if you want to damn someone damn the "friends" that treated you like scum and disrespected your property, not God.

  • Bunny
    8 years ago

    One of the things I personally love about this board is to make obnoxious posts disappear. Poof! Disappeared!! I do the same thing on Facebook when something irritates me.

  • artemis_ma
    8 years ago

    My guest room: when I build it will be pet-free, and will have an outdoor access way. There will be a small tv in there. The whole house is going to be smoking-free, but fortunately my friends who still smoke are copasetic with this, and will go outdoors to do that.

  • monicakm_gw
    8 years ago

    Linelle. who's post did you "poof"? I still see Helen's obnoxious post.


  • Bunny
    8 years ago

    Helen's. You see it, but I don't. It's like FB posts that annoy, so it's the equivalent of "I don't want to see this." Only the person who poofs it no longer has to see it. Give it a try, and breathe easier. Peace out.

  • artemis_ma
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I've finally read this entirely entertaining, sometimes scary, oft-times useful thread, and it is giving me further ideas for the future guest room. Alas, no room for more than one twin or a double bed -- so no two twins. Otherwise, I love the idea of a bench at the base of the bed (may adopt that in the MBR, too!)

    Really cool idea to provide a covered water pitcher and a couple of water tumblers! Snacks, not so much unless I know they have a specific fondness for certain things -- if they don't eat them, I likely never will, since I don't do candy or protein bars. The guests will be in the room closest to the kitchen - a bowl of fruit on the counter is never amiss. A bookcase with a variety of reading material, but that would have happened anyway! (I decorate in Book.) A phone is a good idea -- where I'm moving to has dodgy cell connections. (There will be good wi-fi access throughout the house, however. And an easy to reach light from the bed, so guests can read in bed -- that's always been a must!)

    They will have their own door to the front porch. If they're staying any length of time, they'll even get a key... The room will be pet free, door closed so no fur to annoy those with allergies -- the cats have litter in the basement so no need to worry about that one! (Gawd!)

    The most annoying thing I find when I stay at other homes is often the Plethora Of Pillows on a bed (perhaps because it happens SOOO often!!!). Except for the two to sleep on, the rest are meant to be decorative, but frankly, I never know where to toss the excess when I want to sleep, especially in those small rooms with extra knickknacks! I feel awkward about putting them on the floor, but hey if you must -- maybe simply one or two small decorative pillows would be just fine???

    The guest bath will have a supply of towels, various meds (aspirin, benedryl, caladryl, Naprosyn, cold meds), soaps, shampoos, TP, and the rest of the usual, along with a plunger just in case (thanks for the idea!).

    For extra folks -- I do have a surprisingly comfy sofa bed in the living room, or I can volunteer to take that and let the extra guests take my room -- fresh bedding of course!

    EDIT: ps, I have had some one-time horrors -- the outstanding one was back in my college youth when we went to a house somewhere and we all slept wherever. I ended up mostly under the kitchen table in a blanket, finally getting to sleep when it was quiet enough at around 3 am, waking up around 5 or 6 am (for good) when the cat jumped off the table and onto my head. Oh, the party was over at about 1 am, but suddenly a couple of the other people there decided to get amorous on the other side of the room.... unfortunately there was really no other place for me to go, and in those early days I didn't have enough gumption to make them cut it out. (The shut up and don't make waves thing -- I'm Over that!)


  • chicagoans
    8 years ago

    Helen, if you're still reading, I've read about situations like yours before. (My guilty pleasure is reading the "Ask Amy" advice column with coffee before I leave for work.) Her advice when would-be guests ask about coming for a visit is to simply say, "That doesn't work for me. But I can recommend some local hotels if you're interested." Then firmly stick with it. You don't have to provide reasons; it's your home and your decision. I'd say the same thing if someone showed up by surprise.

  • artemis_ma
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Helen: say what you will provide UP FRONT. Say what your guests should provide UP FRONT. But, frankly, if you WANT your guests to provide you with a "Gift" -- consider a gift is a gift because someone appreciates you, and with your rant, I certainly wouldn't!

    And if there's a problem with dog hairs.... I keep my guest bedroom pet free. I let anyone who comes to visit know that I have pets. Their decision on allergy levels, and I will do my best to accommodate.

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