Bathroom Amenities?

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Hey all,

Unconventional post - sorry up front if this is an improper place for the question.

tl;dr - I’m starting a venture for hosts like yourselves to offer travel sized amenities to guests on an as-needed or subscription basis. Low cost, easy purchase, etc…

So I stayed at an Airbnb for the first time a few months ago and I didn’t know what to expect when it came to bathroom supplies. Unfortunately I didn’t pack any of my own soap/shampoo because hotel stays have trained me to do otherwise. Talking to other friends/colleagues, this is the norm, that is - a host not providing amenity items in most cases.

I think there is an opportunity for hosts to provide these items at a low cost without chewing into margin. I have seen references to “Dream Box” and “Happy Guest Club” but it seems like neither exist anymore.

All that said, what’s your take as an expert? I’m looking for real world here - not my internet research.
Thanks.

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I think you’ll find that most of the hosts here offer bathroom goods to various degrees. Some leave hotel-like miniatures (we do) and others leave large bottles of shampoo conditioner etc. A lot depends on the price point.

Miniatures are available online or at stores like Target and are pretty cheap. The problem with buying pre-made packs is that guests will often use the shampoo, for example, but no-one uses the body wash. This way you end up having dozens of mini bottles of body wash or whatever when you’ve run out of shampoo.

So no pre-made packs for me.

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I provide tons of amenities and manage to do so at a very reasonable cost already by shopping at Sam’s Club. I refill shower dispensers with bulk purchased shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. Guests are provided with regular size pump dispensers of hand soap and hand sanitizer on the bathroom sink. I get large packs of makeup removing cloths from Big Lots and I refill Cottonelle toilet wipes from bulk packs.

I do provide a basket of travel size items including toothpaste, deodorant, Q-Tips, cotton rounds, razors and such. These items cost about a dollar each, but only about 1 guest in 10 takes one.

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Yeah makes sense.

Really I was looking to solve two “problems” -

  1. Convenience factor for the host
  2. Availability of needed yet forgotten items by the guest

I just did a trip at Target yesterday, shampoo/body wash is $1 - $1.29 a bottle which isn’t terrible but if you have a busy place that is travel/time to restock.

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I supply bathroom amenities, the 6-7 airbnb’s I’ve stayed in had them. Some of my guests have their own. I agree with @jaquo’s comments.

I get large bottles at Costco or other discounters like Marshall’s or even the Dollar store. Small travel sizes don’t work for me as I have mostly one night guests. I’ve bought small soaps in bulk on Amazon and they have already put together collections like what I think you are speaking of.

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It’s far less convenient for me to order online. I use large bottles of body wash and shampoo available at good prices nearby. As a traveller, I take my own preferred products with me. “Travel size” units are a poor choice for larger groups, the environment and my bottom line.

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@amenityguy regretfully you’re not the first to suggest this idea. I’ve probably seen someone come on here with the idea every couple of months.

There isn’t gap in the market in this area as things can easily be found from amazon etc. The hosts that don’t provide anything do so because they simply don’t want to.

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This is what I imagined, honestly but I wanted to poke around anyways. Thanks for the candid feedback!

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You may be missing the point…I don’t see these as an issue. 1. It’s not inconvenient for me if the guest doesn’t bring stuff, why would it? It’s also very convenient for me to have a shower caddy with large bottles of shampoo and conditioner & shower gel. Much much better for the environment too

Issue 2 you raise… I am in the inner city and 2 doors down from a 7/11 so guests can buy anything.

I provide these items, Including spare toothbrushes & shower caps (cheap from Daiso) to go the extra mile & help the guests have a better than expected stay despite my being 1/8 of a city hotel. Same reason i provide breakfast when many 5 star hotels don’t, gifts like chocolate or wine on arrival and a thankyou card and gift on departure.

Whist I can see small bottles working well as a starter for a whole house rental ultimately the guest needs to get more as they never last more than 2 days per 1 person and the packaging is so bad for the environment. I’m not sure how you could possibly compete with wholesale suppliers providing direct on line to BandBs & cheap stuff from China???