The home exchangers just sent the keys to their home, and to the car they are leaving for us at the airport when they fly out and we fly in. They provided very clear home exchange instructions, but home exchange instructions assume a lot about the people using the swap home.
The presumption of the swap info is that the exchangers are responsible, considerate adults who know how to take care of a home and its systems with basic instructions. Here is an example, in the info regarding the exchangers' hot tub:
"We have a spa guy, Cliff, who comes by every 2 weeks. He just goes out and cleans and adjusts the spa chemicals. Don�t know whether that will coincide with your stay or not but if you see him out there, that�s who it is. Very nice man. If you have any additional questions about the spa while you are here, you can call him at 927-3357. He lives in the area and volunteered to come over and explain. It�s all pretty simple though.
The spa will come on for an hour a day. I�ll set it so it goes on it mid-afternoon. This is to keep the water clean and circulating. The heater does not come on with the automatic-hour-a-day.
For the heater when you used the spa: The on/off switch for the heater is the silver button on the deck next to the spa, step on it to start and do the same to stop. Usually heats up in 20-30 minutes or less. Of course, if you haven�t used the spa for a few days, it may take a little longer to warm up the colder water.
Just fold the top back 1/2 way (or take it all the way off if you wish )while you're in the spa. If you are in the spa and it is warm enough, you can push that silver button on the deck again and it will turn off the heater. Be sure the heater is off (i.e. jets in spa not bubbling) when you leave the spa. The gas bills are high here.
Neighbors' bedroom is right near our hot tub so if you go in the tub after 9 pm, try not to talk loudly as it might awaken them."
A hot tub in a private garden on the California coast sounds good to me, but Club Med it ain't. We might wake up to find the "spa guy" wandering around in the back yard. We need to take steps to secure the hot tub when we are not using it so the swappers don't get hit with a huge gas bill. When we are in the hot tub we cannot have a raucous party, in fact we need to whisper so we don't bother the neighbors.
If you are wondering whether home exchange is for you, re-read those hot tub instructions. Do you mind being considerate of the neighbors? Can you figure out how to turn the hot tub on and off based on these instructions? Will you be responsible about leaving the hot tub the way the swappers request? If this all sounds perfectly reasonable to you, home exchange could be the right way for you to travel.
If it all sounds like too much effort for you while you are on vacation, make that reservation at the resort and forget about home exchange entirely.
As for me, the free use of a luxury car and a house right on the Pacific Coast sound heavenly to me. You can bet I'll be leaving that hot tub cover closed and turning off the heater. Just remember, it's home exchange, emphasis on the word "home".
SUBSCRIBE NOW
You can subscribe to this blog to receive each day's post. Just enter your email below :
No comments:
Post a Comment