Summer Guests
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- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 6203
- Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2004 1:42 pm
- Location: Cáceres Province, Extremadura
As you all know we live in the middle of nowhere. Three hours to Madrid, Seville or Lisbon airports. In the last year we've had 18 visitors with a total of 115 days taken up with their visits. We do the airport runs at whatever time of day or night and the whole guided tour bit. All in. Why? Three reasons: firstly, we are so blinking well amazed and shell-shocked that anyone wants to do the journey to see us here. Two, we love it here and want to 'show off' our little known part of Spain. Finally, we never get rude visitors as we only know nice people (we think everyone is nice - we obviously have no discrimination).
However, ask me in a couple of years!
However, ask me in a couple of years!
I have now read and read again all the posts on this thread. 95 guest nights is over a quarter of the year! We have guests, mostly family who enjoy the break but including a few who really help out with everything. We enjoy meals in, meals out, trips out and about but our number of "guest nights" as you put it Kathy is, maybe, a third of your number. But then here is home and our base for work and our life, not a cheap costa holiday for those considering coming out. Vote cast.Kathy wrote:During our first year here we had over 95 guest nights.
I don't encourage anyone to come and stay anymore. Enjoyed it at the beginning as missed having people to talk to in my mother tongue (still miss that now sometimes as only one or two Brits where we live). However, now like to do my own thing - I guess I've got a bit more selfish. The effort that comes with guests arriving is just too much - especially in the heat of July and August, cleaning the house from top to bottom, washing and ironing all the bedding, shopping THEN when they get here, cooking, serving drinks, keeping the dogs out of the way (several of them don't like dogs) - just too much! I start to resent them coming over and notice when they book accommodation locally and we see each other (even daily!) then I REALLY enjoy their company!! The worst one is my cousin who asks me at noon when am I cooking then her belly rumbles again at 5pm! That means I'm in the kitchen noon, 2pm, 5pm AND 9pm!! Next house I move to will be in the campo (Competa sounds good) with a long dirt track and those sheer drops off the edges - oh and I will be suggesting they hire a car and drive themselves there!!!
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- Resident
- Posts: 458
- Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:27 pm
- Location: York + Andalucia soon I hope
- anis
- Resident
- Posts: 1161
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:17 am
- Location: la alqueria, alhaurin de la torre
Thank heavens my Summer ones are all paying guests - we have to restrict family and friends to winter for business reasons.
I have more time to be with them then anyway.
It's no fun for friends watching us run around all sweaty hot - we have been known to rope them in for a set of bedmaking sure it put them off coming out when they shouldn't !!
My sis is great though - she had a small hotel years ago and even volunteers to help, bless her, she knows what it's like - best guest ever - so I am in both camps - some guests are wonderful and some are awful.
I have more time to be with them then anyway.
It's no fun for friends watching us run around all sweaty hot - we have been known to rope them in for a set of bedmaking sure it put them off coming out when they shouldn't !!
My sis is great though - she had a small hotel years ago and even volunteers to help, bless her, she knows what it's like - best guest ever - so I am in both camps - some guests are wonderful and some are awful.
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- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 11081
- Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:11 pm
- Location: Guadalhorce Valley
I have already stated my views quite forcefully on this but if someone calls who doesn't like dogs then they stay outside of the gates. We don't shut the dogs away for anyone. Similarly no-one sets foot through the front gates if they are smoking. Smoking is banned on the whole of our property not just the house.
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- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 11081
- Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:11 pm
- Location: Guadalhorce Valley
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- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 11081
- Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:11 pm
- Location: Guadalhorce Valley
The ironing of sheets has become a habit I guess - my OH irons the towels too (Spanish mother got a lot to answer for...). As for the dogs, we had Italian family here which was the most stressful of them all. All we heard was them shouting OUT the whole time to my dogs. It was Xmas so bit wet outside. At the beginning I was putting dogs in garden, the small boy would open the door, the dogs would charge in with muddy paws from grass, all hyped up too from all the in, out, shake it all about...... then they suggested coming back the next year Another friend came with her small daughter who is terrified of dogs - they stayed in the basement by request but I had to keep the dogs inside in the morning, listen for the basement door closing then time it so that when they were at the front door, my OH was at the back door ready to let the dogs escape. So we had a never ending round of dogs in, guests out, guests in, dogs out - phew! Can you imagine what a quandry we were in when the daughter wanted to play in the garden and the mum wanted to stay indoors!!!!!!!!
I have found that it is a pleasure having friends to stay. It is the family who cause the problems! I wonder if this is because we choose our friends...
I have also noticed that with my family it is always one half of the couple who is the pain in the bottom, the other is a pleasure!!
I have also noticed that with my family it is always one half of the couple who is the pain in the bottom, the other is a pleasure!!
vino, sol y aire, y seras rico como nadie
Quite rightly Beachcomber. A man's castle and all that. I did find it amusing that the insurance company sent out an engineer (turned out to be a lady) to inspect the bike and when she saw the gates obviously dog proofed, she asked if there was a dog and was visibly nervous as she stepped over the threshold even though the dog in question is a 6 kilos bundle of timidity and cannot get direct access to the drive and carport anyway. I also get quite peeved when a neighbour insists on walking up and down the street on his mobile phone and everybody has to suffer his whining voice and his cigarette fumes drifting into everybody's gardens.Beachcomber wrote:I have already stated my views quite forcefully on this but if someone calls who doesn't like dogs then they stay outside of the gates. We don't shut the dogs away for anyone. Similarly no-one sets foot through the front gates if they are smoking. Smoking is banned on the whole of our property not just the house.
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