luvit

And how many have stayed with you?

Maybe we have it wrong, maye we should be expected to cook, clean and basically look after people because they have bought a flight ticket, they should think themselves lucky we are here because they would not get a free ride otherwise. We have had guests who we have had to ask for money towards food, how embarassing is that ?

gedge

Is this going to be in a poll?

Number of visits: 8
Number of visitors: 18
Number of bad experiences: 1
Time period: 2 years

luvit

You have the patience of a saint !

4 Years
1 guest for 12 months in 3 month blocks ( lazy one)
One backpacker for 3 weeks ended up staying for 4 months
2 Backpackers for 2 days stayed for 6 weeks
Friends for 6 weeks ( they were the best ones )

gedge

I said "put them up" which in my book means give them a place to stay not turn yourselves in to a hotel.

matt-and-jenny

We've had a cousin and his friend (backpackers), my mum, Matt's family are on their way this year, and some family friends. We've only been over here a year. But before that, I had friends from Aus stay with us in Bradford and Manchester. When I was a kid, (emigrated to Bris at 10 yrs) it was the same at our house. I guess I've been brought up this way. I don't have kids - maybe this makes a big difference?

luvit

Hey when you offer a bed and they sit there waiting to be fed most nights and they are your relatives do you offend them and throw them out, because some of our family expect to be "looked after" believe me, they think we have a great life here, the sunshines at the end of the day what more do we want, they forget we have to work etc etc

Our Guest house is closing down !!!!! Maybe we will move and not tell them

luvit

Dont get me wrong it nice to have visitors but prople should just consider our circumstances working, kids etc and come over here and at least muck in, dont think we have invited them to an all-inclusive resort

gedge

That's a tough one. Maybe I've been lucky so far.
If friends or family did that it'd be time to have a quiet word.

matt-and-jenny

Hell, I never feel like l'm making that much of a sacrifice! In fact, I get my guests to do errands for me!

luvit

This will make you laugh, had a quiet word with one (family) he sulked for 18 months did not visit then came out for "a few weeks" everything was great for 2 weeks he asked if he could stay for 4 months :scared: we said No not really a little too long, so he went into lazy mode and treated the house like his holiday apartment again !! Problem with this visitor is, hes family he has no one in the UK and we are his closest family so when we left we felt we should make "allowances" for this. Never mind - the sun's still shining!!

gedge

If he's still a kid you can sort of understand it. But an adult should be mature enough to see your pov.

luvit

He's 68 year old - regressing I think!

JackTheLad

Can you send your mum over when she finishes cleaning your place? We have no helpers, oh I mean visitors, at the moment...

When my inlaws come over, they treat their stay as "working holidays" - every morning they assign themselves tasks - laundry, ironing, lawn mowing, hoovering, moping (my MIL is the only person on earth who mops the patio ), collecting sticks from the garden, cutting hedges, clearing the garage, etc. And the best thing is they never try to make me or hubby feel embarrassed about the state of our house! Or perhaps we just don't understand the subtleness of their action?! I can't remember the number of times I have had to ask them to stop working, especially when they are outdoor in the scorching heat. In the afternoon, they give themselves free time - just hang out in the garden reading or swimming in the pool.

Mrs JTL

luvit

Can I borrow your inlaws please

movetoperth

It depends a lot too on personalities, just because someone is related to you or your other half doesnt mean you get on with them, maybe you do but for a couple of hours at a time, but 24/7 for 8 weeks can just push you over the edge.

My inlaws announced they were coming around a month before they arrived, they have little money and can't afford to pay for somewhere to stay on top of their ticket, so fair enough they stay here. So we have to get the 2 oldest boys to share a room so they can have a room. In 8 weeks they didn't cook a single meal, or even offer. They had the use of my car so i used my husbands and he took the train to work, but it was seldom theat they went anywhere themselves. The final straw for me was christmas day, my brother sil and nephew were here too an a trip that had been planned for over a year but were staying in a rented house. I spent most of christmas day cooking and running after everyone, my mil said isn't it great to see the kids opening their pressies, i said i wouldnt know as i hadn't had a chance, she said never mind there is always next year. i did the whole dinner bit and just as i was serving up my own piece of desert she came in and held her plate in front of me and said "that was so yummy i'll have seconds" and promptly dumped it in her plate and walked away. Talk about feeling like a school dinner lady. After that i shut down, rude i know but i couldnt stand it any more, i still served up the food and all the rest but i found it really hard to be civil. When they left i felt guilty as i'd done bugger all with them for the last 3 weeks of their stay.

I'm sure all our bad guests stories sound fairly pathetic, i think you have to live them to understand them.

Lynn