House guests privacy vs damage to things

[Pippen]

Opps sorry. Some people might find it distasteful though. Courtesy of Readers Digest.

You make a paste by bending some cigarette ash with a few drops of water and rubbing it in lightly until the watermark is gone and just using normal polish afterwards. I know it works on Mahogany but haven't tried it on other types of wood.

[gramma dishes]

^^^  Thanks!  I guess the only downside is that if you're not a smoker you have to find someone who is and ask them to save their next day's ashtray contents for you.  Not an everyday request, but might be fun.   

[Pippen]

Yes it does pose a problem in that regard as well as potentially having people questioning your mental state. "So you want my cigarette ash because you were reading something about it on the internet? How long has it been since your last holiday?"

[ShadesOfGrey]

I do think there's a certain expectation of privacy and would do my best to stay out of a room I've offered to guests. Not 100% privacy, but certainly mostly private (for example, I would *not* expect what a pp mentioned -hunting for tea cups or changing the trash. Especially since neither task is time-sensitive!)

I would just say "hey I walked by and  noticed there was a wet towel on the wood chair, and I wanted to let you know I moved it to the bathroom for you. The chair's old, so the varnish won't really protect it."

[TootsNYC]

I don't think it's an invasion of privacy unless you go through their personal belongings. Pulling your own towel off your own furniture is fine; opening drawers or closets where you've told them they can store their things is not.

Even in a hotel, the housekeeping staff is going to be picking up towels, making beds, vacuuming, etc., around the guests' things.

I agree with this. If you have a legitimate reason to go in the room *of yours* that they are *borrowing* while they partake of *your hospitality,* there's no need to worry about invasion of privacy. I know that I, as a guest, certainly would think you might go in the room. It's your house, after all.

And I'd mention the water damage in a matter-of-fact way.

(and not, "the chair's old, so the varnish won't protect it," but "since the towel was damp, I was worried it would damage the finish, sort of like  a glass without a coaster. It did, a bit--you have to watch out for water, it's really damaging."

[VorFemme]

That chair has varnish on it - not polyurethene - so it's not "water proof" might be the phrasing to go with........

Although I had a house guest who KILLED a plant by leaving the blinds drawn (he left for work two hours after we did - so the room was dark until I got home around 5 pm).  He'd pull the blinds back down once he got back to the house - so if the poor plant got two hours of sunlight a day, it was lucky.

Another one left one of the pillows from the bed in the back yard just before a rainstorm..........mildew...........to the max..........it got tossed into the trash once I found it (under the raised wooden deck - where it apparently blew in the wind).

After more than 35 years of marriage, I've accumulated a few stories of "Guests From Heck" stories.  Most of them will never be invited back - mostly because we no longer "know" them!  The relatives..........we see at other relatives' houses, lately.

[amylouky]

It wouldn't bother me a bit. When I'm a guest in someone's home, I don't have an expectation that the host/ess will never be in my room. I'd expect that they would, actually.. they may want to collect laundry, check on something, etc. And I certainly wouldn't be offended that they had collected a towel that was damaging their furniture.

I would be a little put out if asked to pay for the damage, though if it was brought to my attention I'd probably offer. I think if you have antiques/easily damaged items that require special handling, you need to inform your guests beforehand.