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OK, so I need a little help from hosts that provide coffee and tea.
Based on the coffee cups I have been providing in my listing, I’ve determined that guests prefer coffee cups in the 12-16oz size over smaller cups that are closer to 8oz. This isn’t surprising since even though I don’t drink coffee, I see the same preference for larger cups in my friends and family.
Yesterday, I ordered a bunch of 16oz coffee mugs to replace the smaller cups in my listing, but now I’m wondering if I should still keep at least some of the 8oz cups with saucers. It will require some substantial rearranging of the kitchen to keep them in a convenient place.
I can not remember a guest ever using one of the saucers and the only time an 8oz cup was ever used is when all of the larger cups were also used.
I do provide tea, but maybe 1/10 guests use it. I also have yet to host a guest from outside North America, so I expect that will be rare.
So, any reason to keep the smaller cups and saucers? To be clear, what I mean is would the lack of them affect my reviews?
Where are my fellow English people? A teabag in a mug (rather than a teapot) would make horribly strong tea. Mind you, I’m in the States so wondering whether there’s a difference between teabags in the two countries?
But back to the question. As a tea drinker, I’d see no reason whatsoever to keep the smaller cups and saucers. I’ve only ever used saucers in eating establishments, never at home. And I want a mug of tea anyway, not a small cup.
My husband collects mugs. He likes to have mugs that highlight local vendors and local places of interest. He sets mugs out on the counter for our guests, and he has fun choosing mugs for the particular people who are there.
We no longer have cups and saucers in our kitchen. Every guest, including those who drink tea, uses a mug for a hot beverage. We provide a small clean sauce bowl for tea-drinkers to dispose of their teabags. I honestly have to say that most tea-drinkers don’t seem to know how to do that. They leave the bag in the cup. So a saucer would be of no use to them, anyway.
As an aside, we also always put out washable fabric napkins. And probably 75% or more of our guests don’t touch them, even if we serve them breakfast. They don’t use napkins at all. Some of the finer table manners seem to be going by the wayside.
I have medium sized mugs but I also wish I had some El Paso ones I liked. I’ve gotten some from Mexico that I sometimes put in there. If the $2 ones from IKEA get broken I won’t care. If the $8-$10 ones from Mexican artists get broken I will.
Right. We have mugs of a wide variety of prices, too. I know two of the ones Virgil has bought recently from a local potter were $20-ish. So far, I don’t think any of our many mugs have been broken, either by guests or by us.
We’ve found that having mugs promoting local places has sparked conversations with guests about things to do.
Two years and still the same six Fiestaware mugs, I put two of everything in the set away just knowing I would need to replace broken ones but so far so good. With shipping they are like $8 each
We have this with wine glasses and pint glasses. I’m always reminded of places I liked when I’m back home and then we go again. I hope guests do the same. We even had a guest leave a wine glass from a vineyard I haven’t visited yet, so that is next on my list. (I hope they didn’t leave it because the wine sucked … Lol)
As for mugs, we have the 8 oz that came with the dishes set and then larger ones from favorite places. Both seem to get used evenly.
The only thing I’d recommend not to do … We had tumblers with lids for hot/cold. Those walked away within the first three months. They were extras that I didn’t care too much about, but it peeved me that people easily stole them.
Get some with the cabin logo/www addy made. Put them in the rental and raise the price for everyone $2 a night to pay for them. Or put a sign in the cabin that says “NC cabin souvenir insulated cups $10” Then when one walks away you message and say “you forgot to pay for your souvenir cup.”
I like this, as well as the other post (by @gypsy ?) with the bags. I’ve been trying to come up with some neat ideas for welcome baskets, and I’ll add this to the brainstorm.
