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I leave basic spices, creamers, coffee, sugar, 2 individual lemon cookie packs, 2 cheese cracker packs, 2 peanut butter cracker packs (the packs are 4 cookie/crackers that are usually 6 or 8 packs for <$1 at Aldis), 2 snack packs of dried fruit & nuts, a few chocolates, and water, ($5-$6) Basically coffee for a couple of mornings, and snacks to ease hunger if they missed dinner or have to rush out and not get breakfast the next morning.
Over time, other guests have left cooking oil, flour, sugar, rice, oatmeal and spices. I leave them for the next guests.
Like @konacoconutz Iâve had someone complain that I didnât leave anything she could eat because it all had gluten and/or nuts. I thanked her for her feedback & gave her directions to Trader Joeâs.
Had something similar with an Asian guest⌠completely stripped me out! I ended up just laughing about it⌠I figured that everything he took averaged out at fifty cents a guest, so it really did not matter. An appropriate review was left and they wonât find many welcoming hosts!
I agree with Deb that the clean out is worth mentioning in the review. Fine, eat all the food but taking the spare toiletries from the back of the cabinet is theft, plain and simple. That would be a thumbs down from me.
OTOH, I hope you will carefully consider what you are leaving for guests going forward. Just because one guest abused your hospitality, should all guests be deprived? I think the little things can be the difference between a 4 or 5 star review sometimes.
I always leave a couple of beers in fridge along with coffee, creamer, tea bags and fruit. Other than that, their on their own. I have found that most people go out to eat anyway.
Airbnb used to send a checklist which included the cringe-worthy:
"Fill the fridge with a few breakfast goods (OJ, bagels, fruit) "
To which I would usually mutter âstuff thatâŚâ
For a âwhole house rentalâ we provide tea and coffee (in refillable glass jars), pre-pack sugar sticks, milk in the fridge and twin-packs of biscuits (cookies). Everybody deserves a cup of tea when they arrive, after that they can fend for themselves.
I do the whole breakfast thing - in the fridge is milk OJ eggs bacon bread butter jams cheese. I am close to a local hospital and because of the fridge food I have visiting Doctors insisting on staying with me. The week is worth $1000 ⌠for a $19 investment. I note their preferred bread and milk style so it is there waiting and they tell me it is like coming home.
Thatâs key right there. Every rental is different. I canât afford to leave even $5-10 worth of stuff but a buck or two probably could make a difference. Anyone who gets even $100+ a night and leaves nothing probably comes off as cheap. Then the âvalueâ rating suffers. Itâs a head game.
Medical professionals visiting away from home and you know the buttons to push.
Our minimum is three nights most of the time so thatâs going to be about $400 if you include the cleaning fee. So therefore to spend $30 on a few food items, a bottle of wine, fresh flowers and some nice toiletries isnât extravagant. And itâs swings and roundabouts when we get guests who stay for three weeks.
I have to mention too that about 95% of guests leave at least something - not all the food, toiletries, wine etc. is consumed so it can be offered to the next guests or used here at home
For us, leaving these things to welcome guests is worth it because it makes them feel good which equates to good reviews. I understand though that this might not be the case with other hosts.
This probably isnât the right thread butâŚanother thing I do is vary the amenities according to what was paid. So the people with the dog that paid my current high rate get the nicer shower gel, lotion, and towels. If I lower the price 6-7 $ to see if I can fill a last minute open night, they get the older towels, the Dove shower gel instead of the Body Shop gel. LOL. The woman that booked for 4 stops (with perhaps more next year) got invited in one of the four nights for a cocktail.
I still havenât quite figured out why my reviews and ratings are so good. Surely jerks for whom nothing is good enough take road trips occasionally.
I do this too - a sort of sliding scale. Short term guests get fewer extras than those who are staying for longer. This probably doesnât make sense. But it works for me
I do the exact same things. The people that booked the bargain basement one nighter get the old towels, the older sheets, and a very small welcome basket. If they paid a high per night rate they get the luxurious towels, lots of local goodies in their welcome basket and maybe a few extra beverages. Interestingly Iâve had quite a few guests not use anything in the welcome basket but still mention how nice it was to have in the review. Some folks are on the go the whole time and are never home to enjoy the snacks I guess. Those are my favorite guests, by the way, gone all the time, appreciate and mention the goodies in the review, but donât actually use any of it or cook anything. If they used very few towels even better!!!
It makes sense, right? Iâve also had a few guests who paid less, got the older linens and just happened to leave a stainâŚhmmm. I also have a set of linens for the people with dogs and they arenât my finest ones.
Thatâs such a kind gesture, but be careful not to nickel and dime yourself out of profits. Our cabin is stocked with basics: coffee, tea, powdered creamer, sugar, salt, pepper, packets of condiments from fast food places, oil, and packets of oatmeal (which are rarely touched). In the winter, I leave marshmallows for roasting over the fire, which draws rave reviews! If a guest is coming in very late, I tell them Iâm leaving a dozen eggs, a stick of butter, and a loaf of bread. They are grateful, but I do this ONLY in rare cases. Most guests plan to bring their own food, so, as long theyâve been forewarned of the distance to the grocery, I wouldnât worry about stocking the pantry.
