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I brew my own beer and thinking of making a habit of leaving a bottle or two, nicely presented, for my guest to enjoy as a welcome gift. With hope of praise and applause!
This races two questions:
Is this a good idea?
How should I present this?
Is there any downsides to this? And IĀ“m thinking it looks better if you see the bottle when you arrive, like flowers you know. But who wants to drink warm beer? So it would be better to store it in the fridge? But that does not look as appealing to me. Thoughts on that?
My understanding is, if you provide your guests with alcohol that the AirBNB insurance coverage becomes null and void (not that this coverage is all the robust to begin with.) You would also need to confirm via a government ID that the guests are of legal drinking age. I think alcohol is complicated stuff since you donāt know who actually does drink and who works hard to never be tempted, so I have chosen not to offer.
Iāve not heard that about the AirBnb insurance. I never accept a booking from anyone under 22, and would cancel them for cause if I discovered they were underage when they arrive.
We offer a bottle of wine, which is drunk perhaps half the time. Our cabana has a fireplace mantle where the wine is displayed. I see nothing wrong with offering a couple of cold beers in the fridge.
What I would do is make a nice āposterā that sets on the table or other obvious spot. Go to a restaurant supply store and get one of those clear acrylic tabletop sign holders (about $5), and use your computer to make a nice nice message telling the guests where to find your gift.
We do the same. I appreciate what @anon67190644 says and I try to be āwithin the rulesā whenever possible but the bottle of wine is always appreciated. Even if they donāt drink it, they usually say how much they appreciate the gesture.
Regarding the under age thing, I once noticed a couple arriving who were obviously under 21. So while they were parking the car, I ran up to the rental and replaced the wine with two very small cans of weak beer. When they were leaving, they said āby the way, we canāt take it on the plane, so thereās a half full bottle of vodka in the freezerā.
So although I donāt want people to get drunk in the apartment, itās really not up to me!
Could you put the beer bottles on ice in a champagne bucket?
I bought some gift bags and tissue paper, wrapped jars of local made jams, and enclosed a handwritten note. For my New Years guestās, I left a bottle of nicfizzy wine, Flexinet, and wrote a card wishing them a happy New Year.
I provide one tiny chocolate and a bottle of water per person in my guest room rental. If it were whole house Iād be supplying some other things which might include beer or wine. While I also understand smtuckerās concerns it wouldnāt deter me from offering it.
Iāve stayed in a rental where the offer was one bottle of wine or beer on an honor system. While we appreciated the gesture it didnāt matter either way or increase our chances of giving a 5 star review.
If it was me I might share the home brew only with those special guests who are sympatico and that I actually hang out with. Not to be a debbie downer but in this litigious society sadly I resist the temptation to provide anything homemade. What if someone gets sick (or claims to get sick) and blames you? (sorry, married to a litigator for over 25 years!)
I have Proper short term rental insurance so Iām covered on alcohol. I leave a midget bottle of screw top wine and a beer or two. In fact just left a little bottle of Cava and some chocolates for a 1st anniversary couple (why the heck they wanted to celebrate in a small apt in my backyard is beyond me but oh well).
Thinking of the large percentage of people having alcohol addiction, I wouldnāt leave any alcohol out for guests. Suppose someone is fighting against his addiction and is tempted by those bottles.
Of course the same goes for chocolates and sugar addiction/obesity, but I still do think there is a difference between the two.
I see where you are coming from, but I think this nice gesture and effort wonāt really pay off. Leaving Alcohol is a bit tricky as well in that, while your brewed product may be really high quality, how do you determine what will be considered bad quality or good quality?
My $7 bottle of wine is acceptable to me, yet a guest might find it totally insulting. So if you leave $15 bottle so that you wonāt be considered ācheapā that is a pretty huge chunk off your bottom line. The most Iāve done is leave chocolate covered mac nuts and no one EVER acknowledged them or said thank you. So now I leave nothing and guests donāt notice. They donāt write in their review, āwe were expecting wine, beer or Kona coffee.ā
Thank you for all your replies. You gave me something to think on for sure. I now see that itĀ“s not that given, that it is a good and nice thing to do.
I have beer on tap, which I brew and which is very popular with my Airbnb guests. Most guests have a pint upon checkin at my dining room bar whilst I pull out a map of the city for them to take on which I point a few things out for them. I then tell them that the subsequent pints during their stay is self serve. There is a donation box on the bar so that I can buy more hops and barley. So far the donations have covered ingredients necessary for brewing . I have had no issues with excessive alcohol consumption from any of my guests, just guests having a quiet beer or two on the back garden deck after a day of touring.
Sometimes I buy a case of Proseco, a bubbly wine, and leave a bottle in the refrigerator. Oftentimes, three or four guests will leave it alone, as the cork is a bit scary to pop, I think. It is not expensive but the gesture is made for hospitality and the refrigerator has starter breakfast items and the cupboard has basics for cooking.
I once had a guest who got totally drunk on whiskey and similar stuff, and who then stayed in his room for a couple of days with hardly a sound. He bought the spirits himself, and I only discovered this when I saw the empty bottles after he had left.
This is not something I would like to see on a regular basis.
