The UK is in a very cold snap at the moment. This is the first time in 10 years we have been in our home country in the winter. We are sitting in a very old house, beautiful but old. The heating has been turned up and set to stay on longer. All the radiators in rooms we are not using are turned down and doors are kept closed. There are electric blankets on the bed, hurrah.
It’s a repeat sit so we know the people and animals well. I am proposing leaving some cash to cover the cost of the extra energy we have used. I think it’s only courtesy and it’s not their fault we are unused to the freezing temperatures inside the house. We have cold weather clothes with us so it’s not stopping the hikes in the beautiful countryside around us.
I’d never offer to pay for utilities, even during a cold snap, because any folks and pets normally need more heating during such times. My having sat during cold snaps, multiple thoughtful hosts have urged me to set the temp as needed to stay warm, even reaching out during their vacations to express such. And others have expressed such before leaving.
Even one set of hosts, who had mentioned a temp limit in their welcome guide, backtracked and said to please stay warm, as needed, during a winter sit. If they hadn’t in response to my raising the question of comfort, I would have canceled.
Note, THS terms include offering the sitter a habitable home. Temperatures are part of habitability for humans and pets.
Hosts have the choice under THS terms to ask for shared utility costs upfront in their listings. That’s useful for mutual selection or avoiding sits.
I agree. However, we have all our own “temperature controls”. I pointed out we chase the sun usually and it’s been ten years since we have lived in such temperatures. My blood must be thinner and I feel the cold more than I used to. We have turned up the thermostat and put the heating on longer than programmed so I feel it is a courtesy to give something towards the larger bill.
We came prepared for the weather but I really don’t feel like wearing a down jacket while cooking dinner.
“Down “ until the temperatures go up! My mother got a goose down jacket which was such a great friend, light as a feather but so warm too. She always knew where it was too! Ha ha!
For me, as I’m bald now,it’s a warm woolly hat I cling to! I feel very vulnerable without.
Is the welcome guide something that the owners are required to provide to sitters before their stay? This is the first time I have seen this mentioned.
It’s mentioned in THS T&Cs. When you accept a sit, there’s a button you can press to request it. There’s a format provided by the platform but most of us are happy with any format, provided all relevant information is provided.
It’s your right to have it well in advance and you can also ask to cancel a sit if the information provided in the WG was not previously disclosed.
It’s at the very least “highly recommended”. There’s lots of things that are technically required in the platform Terms that many members have no idea about.
That much said you WANT your sitter to have a detailed Welcome Guide well in advance of the sit that clearly lays out all tasks and responsibilities and other details regarding pet behavior, schedule as well as property maintenance so any questions can be answered ahead of time and reiterated during the handoff (if any) and perhaps more importantly gives the sitter advance opportunity to cancel the sit if they come across any dealbreakers that the host is unable or unwilling to change.
I think that a customized Welcome Guide is much better than the limited one provided by the platform, I have it on my Google Drive and share it with sitters, that way it can be updated in real time and they will see the updates whenever they decide to view it, I also print out a hard copy and it’s available during the sit.
You’re welcome. I have found that it helps to view things from the sitter’s perspective. They’re investing a fair amount of time, effort and expense to sit at your home and they want to know what they’re in for.
That’s not warm enough for me personally except in bed at night with the blankets on. I have a repeat sit where because I live in Spain and the sit is in England, they always turn the heating up for me, which is lovely, but I always have to ask them to turn it down. But it’s never that low
Yup, likewise with all of my hosts. I won’t even make travel arrangements till they send me welcome guides. (I don’t care in which format.) I mention that in a friendly, matter of fact way during our video chat.
My POV: If a host doesn’t help set up a sitter for success, that’s a red flag that they’re not a good partner. And good sits require good partners, especially if something goes wrong.
If a host can’t be bothered to provide info like emergency contacts, vet account info, spare key info, etc., so a sitter can take good care of their pets and home, then I can’t be bothered with the sit. And I’m not waiting till the last minute, hoping they’ll provide such.
Expecting a WG well ahead of a sit also helped me avoid a crummy sit in one case — the host revealed only in the WG that one dog had to be let out overnight and the other was prone to diarrhea. I had read it as soon as they sent it, so I was able to quickly withdraw from the sit.
I never worry about the heating in northerly climates. It always works well and you can be pretty sure there is some sort of central heating or wooden stoves (and 19-20°c is fine for us).
This isn’t necessarily the case in southern climates. I studied in southern Spain and there was only a “brasero” in my beautiful old-town flat. Google it, if you don’t know it .
That’s why I always read the listings for our Italian christmas sits carefully and ask if there’s nothing written about the heating.
Yes, I completely agree it’s a matter of courtesy and partnership to be cognizant of heating costs but to not be stingy with precious sitters who’ve journeyed far and have given your home and pets the proper care they deserve. I had a stingy HO on my second sit ever tell me not to use the heat…except for limited hour in a.m. this was I’m a 300 year old stone row house in marlow…dead of winter… had to give her non house trained yappy bolting reactive Yorkies a hot water bottle in their bed at night! What? Long story short, this was undoubtedly the worst sit I’ve had, and when we both agreed to cut it short, I ended up paying for several nights at an air b and b. I did find another sit in London, tho, which was fantastic! I was so worried about the utility usage ( cold snap) that I left him $100 against his wishes to cover any heating cost I may have incurred. So. You get all types . I’ve since learned to vet my HOs carefully and have not had any further issues! P.S. weirdly enough, the Marlow sit only gets rave reviews from sitters! What? Guess the idea of matching is real… not everyone minds yapping Yorkies, tho even at the dog park the neighbors told me these dogs were a nuisance…
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