Building a vacation/rental house - what would you do differently?

21

This is a great thought for lots of folks.

Because of my dog business I’ve thought many times I wish I had a second washer. I can do without a second dryer but cleaning out the washer after doing loads that have dog hair on them (basically any loads from my part of the house) is a pain. I actually considered a second washing machine outside that would hook up to the outdoor garden hose and dump the grey water in the yard.

22

I so dream of this!

…

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23

When renovated my last home in CA, I added a laundry room on the second floor, adjacent to the Master Closet. That in itself was the smartest and most convenient thing; having clothes steps from where they are cleaned, folded and returned.

The 2nd smartest thing was leaving the original Washer Dryer which was located in the Garage. While I found it nonsensical to have a washer/dryer in a garage for normal laundry, it was perfect for exactly as you describe (dog beds) as well as garage towels, kitchen towels, outdoor coverings.

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24

Better yet, don’t buy “sets” of anything that can’t be matched. Use dishware that can be bought by the piece when things get broken. Ikea is good for this.
Stainless steel pots and pans are best, IMO- hard to destroy. Not anything expensive- mid range is fine- really cheap is too thin and food will burn easily.

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25

I kind of wish I had a newer, cookie cutter house that I didn’t care about. That way I wouldn’t worry so much when people abused it. Older houses are a lot of work. They have a lot of character, and I love living in one, and wouldn’t have it any other way but trusting people in an older home is difficult. If I were letting a room rather than a house I wouldn’t mind so much because I could monitor but I rent the whole house and I find it stressful.

I agree with the others about no rugs though, also having cheaper but good quality appliances is good. You really don’t want to let people use anything you love, they will just abuse it. All white sheets and blankets so you can bleach, also so you can swap between rooms.

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26

You don’t, but an occasional comment means that we can respond to you rather than to each other. :wink:

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27

Am I the only one who thinks this a natural cross-post?

28

Better yet, don’t “match” things, it is limiting if you need to add or replace. But if you “coordinate” instead of matching, you’ll have lots of options when you need another dish.

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29

We’ve had many conversations about this here and mostly agree that using bleach weakens fibres and causes whites to yellow. I’m just mentioning this for any new or potential hosts who are reading.

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30

You don’t use it straight of course.

31

Obviously.

You don’t use it at all.

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32

Interestingly I haven’t found this to be the case. I don’t use it with every load but I have used it on laundry. Maybe I don’t keep a set of linens long enough for the bleach to have that effect? My current set of sheets that I use 90% of the time are just over a year old and have been laundered dozens of times since I have so many bookings a year.

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33

I buy sheets in differing colors of gray some in cotton and some microfiber and wash them in hot water. If they fade they just become a different shade of gray and I interchange the pillowcases. I have not replaced a set of sheets yet And they all look good. I am not a bleach fan.

34

Hey @HH_AZ lets do the microfiber vs cotton debate! We forgot about that one!

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35

Please do. I have not heard this debate yet!

36

We have a few running debates here over the years, the comforter vs duvet; electric vs stovetop kettle (or no kettle); extra guest charges or flat rate; etc.

It seems that most hosts prefer all cotton and all white sheets. When I started Airbnb 6 years ago it was with the things I had on hand. That included some cheap microfiber sheets from Costco. After months of reading here and weighing all considerations I went with an all cotton percale in white most of the time. I still have back up sets that are all cotton sateen.

Personally, don’t like microfiber to sleep on, especially not in summer or hot locations. Or if you are having hot flashes! Perhaps in Canada or in winter they would be okay. No, they don’t wrinkle but if they aren’t comfortable, who cares? Some people like the “homey” feeling of patterned sheets or colors but I came to prefer all white and all cotton.

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37

Thanks. Will try those out myself first. Just looked at the 2019 discussion on sheets from this forum. It was very, very long!

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38

hahaha, I love that debate too.

I HATE DUVETS!!! Almost as much as I hate shower curtains.

I have linen sheets at the moment but I like the percale a lot. I like crisp. Some people love soft.

39

So what did you use as the top cover/layer/thing on the top of your bed in the Airbnb you used to host?

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40

You seem to hate a lot of things, including guests.

Just saying like…

:thinking:

JF

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