How do you have a polite discussion with guests about cleaning up after themselves during their stay after 2 days of leaving clutter in every room the

topic should read> How do you have a polite discussion with guests about cleaning up after themselves during their stay after 2 days of leaving clutter in every room they use?
 
I'm very straightforward, so, I would say "after you clean up after yourself, we'll have lunch".

A friend's daughter used to visit us (many long years ago), and the room she stayed in looked like a cyclone
had gone through it. However, she picked up everything before she left.
 
LadyEmeraude said:
2 days of leaving clutter in every room they use?
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Wow, what comes over people? Does it never dawn on them that the place looks different than it did when they arrived? I've had guests like that recently and I was starting to think maybe they were like animals who needed to put their scent down to claim space and support their sense of identity.

My answer would be to never invite them again, but they weren't invited in the first place they just called and said when they'd be arriving.

I was so anxious for them to leave,I never would have asked them to stay an extra hour to clean up. I wouldn't trust their methods anyway and would be afraid of finding sandwiches under the sofa cushions.

Just before they left, they brought their huge, loaded back pack, covered in zippers and buckles as it was, and slammed it down on our beautiful polished, nothing on it but a crystal centerpiece, dining room table. I saw my husband turn pale.

I'm all for everyone living their own comfy way, but in their own house! I never went to their house, picked-up a garbage bag and started filling it -- I just thought about it and fought the urge.
 
I posted this elsewhere a while back on another thread.......we stayed at an airbnb in Barcelona almost ten years ago...........guy's apartment, he went to stay with a friend.

Shared the 2+ bedroom place with a young German couple......he was a bass player in a punk rock band.

They left before we did......they vacuumed, cleaned, the works, before they went.
 
LadyEmeraude said:
How do you have a polite discussion with guests about cleaning up after themselves during their stay after 2 days of leaving clutter in every room they use?
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I don't.

Kind of depends on the guest and how much I can tolerate. My solution if it gets to be too much is not to invite them back.

Doesn't apply to grandkids, they are often talked to with varying results, but always welcome back no matter the outcome.
 
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LE, were they only there two days? Or was it longer and by the second day, you were frustrated.

A few variables whether it’s family or just friends. If there’s another time, at the end of the first day take a bag and put everything of theirs that is lying around in it and set it away in the corner. When they ask where things are, that’s your invitation to say you don’t like clutter.

If it‘s their bedroom or bathroom, I’d say nothing.
 
@Jules I think that's a great idea!

Of course, some of the clutter probably belongs to the host (dirty dishes) or is garbage (fruit peels, food containers). But the host could still put all the guests' stuff in a bag.

I'm pretty stymied by the whole problem though. I think some people are untrainable. And everyone has different standards and habits, for better or worse.

And I'm not used to having guests. A more sociable friend was telling me about her guests' unacceptable behaviors. But she kept having the same people in her home.
 
As son has a cockatoo,, I put down newspaper on the dresser where it's cage will be.
Then I use a woven runner type rug in front of the dresser to catch shells & bird poop.

Son throws his ,, dirty clothes around the bedroom.
The bedding is bunched up while he's here.

He does gather all the stuff he bought with him for him & the bird.
Packs it up & heads home.

So,, I now have to clean that room.

I can ask what did I expect ,,I raised him,.
Plenty of "clean your room" was told him while he lived here. :oops:
 
Nemo2 said:
I posted this elsewhere a while back on another thread.......we stayed at an airbnb in Barcelona almost ten years ago...........guy's apartment, he went to stay with a friend.

Shared the 2+ bedroom place with a young German couple......he was a bass player in a punk rock band.

They left before we did......they vacuumed, cleaned, the works, before they went.
Click to expand...
Well, they were Germans after all. It’s how they are.

Whenever we use a friends condo, I vacuum, change the sheets, put our used towels in the washer, and leave 3 bottles of wine on the kitchen counter before we leave.

In this case I would just say can you please pick up after yourselves. I don’t like a messy space. And smile.
 
Assume they are going to clean up. Say something like "There's no need to strip the beds, just make them up. Of course the towels go in the hamper in the hall. Just rinse the dishes before they go in the dishwasher. Let me know if you have any questions about where things go."

Things look bad while my son, grandson and DIL are visiting. But they've gotten the message over the years and now things are in pretty good order when they leave.
 
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