No, I’m the one who is misunderstanding.
I thought that when I read the comment that it was past its ‘buy by’ date.
Apologies.
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I’m just so relieved!!
Even though I couldn’t make any sense of it, I still knew that if you, the@jaquo, had a standard, it would surely be in my interest to rise up to it.
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This was my thought too. What if you had guests staying for a month? Obviously your milk won’t be good for that long. Exactly how long should the milk be good into the future under this standard?
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I know, oh geez. @Bonny’s guest was ridiculous. I’m not a milk drinker but try to be covered. Because we provide only half&half in the fridge (not milk), I do actually put a small shelf-stable milk and a small almond milk (to cover more preferences) in the pantry as well - though I imagine those guests could still complain and say the milk wasn’t fresh though the best-by is probably next year sometime 
I think the answer is to stop doing that, If a guest needs cream in the coffee I provide than they can go buy cream… I do find a bit of Almond milk left behind, which I promptly throw out. I leave coffee and tea, hot chocolate and packaged oatmeals and that’s it. I have started leaving more coffee than I used to because I appreciate that as a guest. IMO if it needs refrigeration than the guests can buy it.
RR
Now I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Stop doing what? It wasn’t my crazy guest. My guests are super-pleased that I provide a variety of options for their coffee. I can’t imagine not leaving half&half, it seems so uncivilized. The majority of my guests are only staying for 1-3 nights and a lot of them get here late in the evening. It seems cruel that they should have to go buy creamer prior to their first cup of coffee the next morning, or have to buy it for just a couple of days in my city.
I think your situation is different. I’ve packed up to go stay in your area in a cabin before (when I lived in L.A., it was a popular escape) and I knew to bring groceries but that wouldn’t be the norm in my market.
We take it upstairs and use it!
If my guests tell met that they are vegan, I provide extra almond milk actually!
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Do you really think it would affect bookings? I doubt it.
I used to put out fresh eggs from my chickens, the guests loved them but they did not affect bookings, just my cleaning because then they would buy bacon to go with it and make a mess of the stove. So the guests loved them, and now the guests who do not get them have no idea. I used to provide popcorn which was very popular but then I was finding it under the couch. The guests loved it, but the guests who are now not getting it do not care.
If I booked your place as a black coffee drinker the 1/2 and 1/2 would not get opened, and if I was there long enough it would go bad.
The 1/2 and 1/2 makes you feel like you are providing a better stay, and maybe for the cream in the coffee crowd you are but it has no affect on your bookings.
RR
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I also use things guests leave behind.
I leave half and half in a small jar and one of those single serve almond milks for most guests. Also instant cocoa, a selection of teas, and breakfast bars. Not everyone uses any of it so I figure it costs me less than a dollar a guest. Last year I raised my nightly rate an average of $8 a night and added $2 a night in added or upgraded amenities (nicer sheets, coffee, soaps). I think it’s working out and it’s def more $$.
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You really have no way of knowing that. And it’s not completely relevant to me. STR is hard work, so I have to make it enjoyable for myself. I truly enjoy providing excellent hospitality and amenities, it is the fun part for me! If my guests tell me about any special diet needs, I stock the kitchen with stuff that fits their diet (vegan, gluten-free, paleo, etc)
The half&half is only the tip of the iceberg. Our kitchen is exceptionally well-stocked. It is indeed what our listing is about and is almost always mentioned in our reviews. Guests do indeed tell me that they booked because of the reviews mentioning the well-equipped and well-stocked kitchen. We charge a premium for a lot of times when the college families come. These next few days have such inflated prices that I’m sure it covers all of the kitchen supplies for the year. And we get quality guests and perfect reviews, which I am sure does effect our bookings.
Oh no. I don’t provide eggs because it is still better for me if you don’t cook, especially something greasy on the stove top. I thought of the “bacon-effect” ahead of time when I was still planning out our units. Each and every amenity has been thought out fully to our most benefit without causing extra work. The majority of our guests don’t even use the stuff, but they are still impressed with it.
I don’t provide popcorn because I don’t like the way it smells! But I have never found any food under the couch. No kids!!
I have a 7-day max stay, so I doubt it. My husband would probably use it to cook with, even past date, anyways.
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Just the half-and-half by itself may not affect bookings, but the combined weight of lots of little things like that do, in my opinion, affect your reviews, which in turn gets you more bookings and more money per booking.
While you may not provide half-and-half, I’ll bet you do other little things for your guests that may not be noticed by themselves, but add to the entire experience.
I’ve said before that most of my guests use very few of my provided amenities, some use none, but almost all of them mention them in their reviews.
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I do the same thing! I hate to waste food.
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Us too. Even though we provide a ton of stuff in our kitchens, guests leave more than they take. Enough of them go and buy a dozen eggs but eat 2 or 3 and the leave the rest that we haven’t bought or own eggs in a year. We also get a lot of unopened hummus, salad dressing, fresh veggies and pasta. I don’t think I’ve had to buy hummus in year either. Sometimes we get some pretty fancy wine too! Overall, it truly works out in our favor.
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Especially when you realize that yogurt is, essentially, SPOILED MILK. It’s likely to be fine for weeks after the sell by date if it’s unopened. (I say this as someone who used to work for Stonyfield Farm, and dealt with the issue of sell-by dates all the time.)
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The ultra pasteurized half and half has use by dates that are typically a month to 6 wks from when I buy it. But I still check the half and half after every guest and if it looks like it’s been touched I put in my collection and put fresh in the guest room. And sometimes it does go bad before mine does; I assume because it’s not as cold in the guest fridge.
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Is it a mini-fridge? Our unit that doesn’t have a full kitchen only has a mini-fridge and I’ve noticed it goes bad early too. But if we make it colder, it gets frost build-up. I think we need a better mini-fridge, but putting it off…
I don’t use creamer in my coffee but fortunately my husband does and we use a lot of it to cook with, which is still fine even if it’s soured a bit.
Yes. I defrost it regularly. I’ve gone in and found it was turned all the way up, also all the way off and was full of water from the melted ice on the freezer compartment. I don’t know what people are doing. It’s just another thing I have to make sure I check each time.
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The milk is a gift jaquo. Its complimentary.
Technically we don’t supply food/breakfast. But we do leave tea coffee butter spreads etc free for guests. My take is, if you are going to be here for 5 days, you’ll need to buy some milk.
Who drinks cow’s milk these days? 
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Humans are the only species that drink milk from another species, it is just gross.
RR
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It is formulated by nature to feed baby cows - and I’m not a baby cow. Just eating my cereal with oat milk right now. Lovely. 
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