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This is why we don’t have a dishwasher either at home or in the rental. The apartment sleeps two people and we leave place settings for four. This ensures that if guests leave dirty dishes (which is very rare) there are never mounds of them and it encourages guests to do the dishes regularly. They have to.
We don’t have a dishwasher because it would take us about four days or more to get a full load and I don’t want dirty pots mouldering away in my kitchen for that length of time.
Our rentals so far have been for just 1-3 nights, so our guests would likely prefer a dishwasher given the choice. These are mostly weekend or short trip travelers, and none have used the washer/dryer.
On the other hand, I myself really like having the washer/dryer combo there (it is a stand-alone cottage on our farm), as it makes the linen turnover so much easier than having to haul it to our house. And I must say that I have been pleased with how well it works to wash/dry an average sized load.
It is sooo easy to wash dishes after 1- 2 people eat…esp. if you wash along as you cook. You have to rinse off your dishes anyway before putting them in the dishwasher. The reason I never use a dishwasher is because I feel like it is more work in the end. By the time you rinse off the dishes, scrub the pans used in the oven, load it up, then unload - and like Sandy said…you often times need an item that is in the dishwasher. Just seems like a hell of a lot of work.
And then you sometimes have to wash the dishes that come out of the dishwasher anyway. If guests don’t properly clean them, there can still be caked on food. I even find this in other peoples’ homes who are well beyond the millenial age.
I only rinse rice off dishes, everything else goes in as is. Pots and pans too. After 6 meals, the dishwasher is full and I run it. My kitchen is laid out so I stand by the dishwasher and can move clean items to correct spot withou moving except pots. My dishes and glasses come out spotless. I use the dishwasher pods.
Louise,
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people tell me that the dishwasher gets all their pots, pans, dishes spotless without any scrubbing. But in my first hand experience - every single time I have unloaded a dishwasher at someone else’s home, it still has caked on food on some of the dishware. I don’t know if people are having eye sight problems or what. Maybe times have changed. But I cannot imagine leaving caked on pots and pans for several nights, and the dishwasher miracously eliminating everything.
I know, I know…more people will tell me that in their case they come out sparky clean.
My dishwasher goes on about every two to three days. My roast pans are lined with parchment paper, a gravy or sauce pan gets a quick rinse to get most of the sauce out, but it’s not wiped. The worst thing is cooked egg on my spoon after a boiled egg. But when I bake, I put the food processor bowl, blades and mixing bowls in and they come out spotless. I don’t leave that overnight. How long since you used your dishwasher? My sister puts hers on every evening for a family of three.
I have never used a dishwasher at home due to choice. But I have unloaded many dishes from my guests who have run the dishwasher. I stated that I don’t use one because I feel like it is more work overall.
However, I have worked in restaurants for years as a cook, server, bartender, dishwasher, etc. My first restaurant job was as a dishwasher at a popular Ramada Inn that had a restaurant on site, and room service. I know as a cook often times the plates returned to your stack still might have a piece of cooked on cheese, etc. The cooks will just scrape it off because it might be the last plate in front of them.
These are industrial dishwashers and there is no guarantee everything will come off. You still need to inspect.
In my experience no one cares about a dishwasher. I have one of those double drawer types and never use it. I also have a washer/dryer in the guest area and it takes 4.5 hours(!) to do a half load. So I put up a drying line outside and wash things on the quick 30min cycle in between guests and dry them outside, and use alternate sheets/towels etc. Never been happier! Had some guests recently though who complained it took so long and they couldn’t stop it. Till I pointed out this is mentioned in the house notes and they admitted they hadn’t read them.
I would prefer dishwasher.
The washer/dryer is a lot more useful for travelers.
When booking for a month or so, I only take a week worth’s amount of clothing (a ton easier taking just a backpack!) whereas I’m happy to wash up by hand if need be. Drying clothes can be a right pain for guests like me 
Washer/dryer and countertop dishwasher. We had the one below in our tiny first apartment, it was amazing for 2 people.
We had the same dilemma and went with the washer dryer combo. Now that we’ve seen how few guests actually cook we realize we made the right choice
Another vote for the dishwasher. There’s a washer and a dishwasher in my Airbnb and almost all guests use the dishwasher while the washer gets very little use. I host mostly groups of 3 to 4 people for 2 or 3 nights.
In my own home, it’s only my partner and me but we run the dishwasher daily (we do put pots, pans, cutting boards in the dishwasher so it gets full quick).
If you have a fairly recent model it uses very little water (6 to 12 litres for a wash cycle ) so there is no reason to wait for the dishwasher to be full. It does not use more water than flushing the toilets once, and well, I don’t think you wait a while before flushing 
I do 
But admittedly only when I am on my own. 