Kip & Kaboodle
Nova Scotia Backpackers' Hostel

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Ridiculous Rules.

Welcome to our list of rules we (mistakenly) assumed were totally unnecessary to state.

1 Please don't put our electric (plastic) kettle on a burner and attempt to heat the water that way. It is, by definition, electric and therefore plugs into the wall and does not require additional heating on an element. In fact, to do so will cause a fire. And for any Doubting Thomas's out there, we actually have the proof.
2 Please share the internet.  While we understand free internet is exciting, it needs to be shared with everyone in the hostel.
3 Please use bedding appropriately. Which is to say, please sleep on top of the bottom sheet, and under the stop sheet. Even if it is so warm you don't want to use the quilt, we ask that you refrain from just sleeping on top of everything. (haha - use bedding appropriately. That just sounds funny to me.)
4 Please don't sneak out to your car late at night and bring your own personal bedding (sleeping bags, pillows, sheets, blankets, stuffies, etc.) back into the hostel after we have already asked you to keep it out of the hostel. We do not allow any personal bedding in the hostel, and it is for your protection as much as ours. Personal bedding carries tics, fleas, spiders and the infamous bedbug. Not your specifically, of course. Someone else's. But if we let them have their gear in the hostel, all those things might climb into your gear and then they'd be there too, despite how clean and tidy you are. And we can't really have special rules just for you, it's not really fair. So we can't let anyone at all bring their bedding in. Sorry.
5 Our hostel has two attached co-ed dorm rooms. That's no secret. It's what we have.  So when you show up and see that you are in one of our two co-ed dorm rooms, please don't tell us you booked a private room. We don't have private rooms -- you didn't book one.
6 Please don't leave soggy, wet clothes or towels lying on top of your bed .. whether or not you plan to sleep there again tonight. Surprisingly, doing so tends to leave the bedding and mattress soggy & wet.
6(b) Please also don't hang soggy, wet clothes on other people's beds - use your own.  And if your soggy, wet clothes start dripping onto the floor, then they need to be wrung out again. There are clothes lines outside, so you could always hang them there.
7 Please let us know if you spill something gooey & sticky all over the bedroom. Gooey, sticky messes are often a lot easier to clean up when they're fresh! I might be a mum, but I promise not to put you in time out if you spill something.
8 Please turn off the lights/fan/heat/computer/radio when you leave. Forget about what it costs, it's also a waste of electricity which is bad for the environment.
9 The little slanted drain bit of the dish rack goes over the sink -- this is so the water drips from the dishes, onto the tray and into the sink (and not all over the counter or onto the floor). We actually leave it set up correctly, so if you just don't move it, then it will work properly.
10 Please sort garbage as clearly labelled.  For example, where it says "PLEASE: ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD" don't read that as "place food here"... or where it says "FOOD ONLY" don't put plastic, or indeed, anything but food. It's all fairly straight-forward -- our kids (all under 10) can sort garbage appropriately. ..and that isn't our rule, it's a provincial rule. We recycle our garbage in Nova Scotia. It might add 30 seconds onto your daily throwing out garbage time, but it's 30 seconds well spent.
11. Please don't try to check in before lunch: We haven't finished cleaning yet. And while we're on the subject, please don't check out at 6pm. Please. We understand the need to sleep in (people can't seem to help themselves here: it's so quiet, and our beds are so large & comfy!) but really, if you're checking out today please check out by 10am at the very, very latest. Check in is 4pm or later; check out is 10am or earlier.
12. It's really not okay to tell us in the morning that you aren't sure if you're coming back that night or not.  We need to know so we can clean the rooms, change the beds, and get ready for any new people who might be coming in.
13. No, we won't look after your luggage all day and then drive it out to the bus stop at night when the bus shows up.  You can, of course, leave your luggage here all day and then come back to collect it yourself and take it with you to the bus stop... you can even make arrangements with Trius Bus (at least 24 hours in advance) to stop at our drive to pick you up -- they have a 'flag stop' in Maders Cove. We can also take you to the bus stop with your luggage in the a.m. and you can ask the business at the bus stop to look after your luggage all day, which they are normally quite happy to do.  But with 3 kids, other people in the hostel and the price of gas, I'm sorry but we can't make a special trip to Lunenburg or Mahone Bay with your luggage.
14. Please don't cancel your reservation at dinner time, then drive up the driveway after midnight, sneak quietly into the hostel, spend the night, rise early in the morning, coast down the driveway and then drive away without paying. We are late to bed and early to rise. Chances are we'll see you and assume (mistakenly or not) that you are trying to stay in the hostel without paying ..... and that's just a silly little thing we'd appreciate people not doing and will take offence at if you try to do so.
16. The hostel is no smoking. That means no smoking. Not even in the bathroom. Not even in the bathroom with the fan on. Not even in the bathroom with the fan on and all the doors & windows standing open. And, just to be clear, it's no smoking anything at all. Including all illegal substances. Smoking of anything whatsoever is not permitted inside the hostel.
17. Please don't stay for a long time and then say you've run out of money and leave owing us over a hundred dollars and then tell us we haven't a generous bone in our bodies despite the fact that we've given you over a week's accommodation for nothing. In fact, this won't ever happen again because now we need to ask for payment before you sleep. Sigh. Silly us: we should have thought of this rule last year.
   

 

I'm sure as time goes by we'll find more & more ridiculous things we thought weren't necessary to state. If so, we'll be sure to add them to the list.