Sorry yes I was referring to online newspaper and magazine reviews @gillian
Ah yes those sort of coffee machines were popular here a while back @Annet3176
Personally I have a proper Italian coffee maker for myself that makes Americano, Expresso and Cappuccino and then a insulated cafetiere and on stove expresso maker for guests.
well again, we must do “online” differently, because I avoid all mainstream media and newspapers online, which are still heavily influenced by their advertisers. the internet gave us independent journalists, who don’t have to pander to advertising $$. We have a similar thing you are talking about, called Choice magazine, but in my 20s i worked for a major dept store selling home office/computer stuff, and i was friends with the ladies in kitchenware, and the stuff that Choice recommended was often our #1 return item. I used to ask my customers if they had their heart set on {this item}, and would draw a heart on the receipt, so when they returned weeks later to return it, I could point out that they enthusiastically purchased the damn thing.
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I have a basic drip coffee make ($20) and supply per pot pre-packaged coffee with the manual nearby. I had the same one since 2016 and only in the last month did is stop working. Replaced with another $20 machine. The pot is glass but it never broke.
Only about 1 in 5 guests will use the pot so maybe they prefer Starbuck but I figure it’s free. I also offer an electric tea kettle and black and herbal teas that also don’t need to be restock that often.
My suite is a budget-friendly place so I think that guests are happy to see it’s offered. If my price point was higher I would get a better machine and coffee.
I also learned from the guest who told me it stopped working (was fine for 4 days and on the 5th day it broke). that you can just boil water and pour through the coffee and it will drip on it’s own . (I don’t drink coffee.)
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I’m beginning to think I have no idea what actually having people staying in my rental house is going to be like 
I can’t imagine how a sturdy coffee pot could be so abused but I don’t think I want to find out with a $350 machine. I’m going to start off doing the cleaning myself (I’m sure I’ll be posting questions about that in a new thread!) so I’ll witness it all first hand. Eek!
I like the idea of the French press but I’m not sure how many folks in the US would know how to use one.
Thanks to all for taking the time to chime in!
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Probably I’m an ex journalist and now work in marketing and PR so part of my day job is to keep up to date with our national broadcast and print media. The reviews are done by consumer editors (not linked to advertising) so are independent.
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I started doing the cleaning myself after a pretty mediocre experience with a cleaner, and it’s been much more pleasant than I thought! I have only hosted about 10 people so far, and one was really dirty, but the rest have been astonishingly tidy, both the guests with 50+ 5-star reviews and complete newbs to Airbnb. It’s been really surprising! (It made me realise that the cleaner really wasn’t doing much work at all, because most of it was being done by the guests themselves.)
But I digress… I recently stayed in an Airbnb with a couple of colleagues for a work retreat and the apartment had a fancy coffee grinder and big (huge) professional coffeemaker, and watching my colleagues try to figure it out was hilarious – one has a PhD from Princeton, the other a PhD from Harvard, they are both super smart, yet it took them maybe a half hour to work out how to brew a mediocre cup of coffee and they created a HUGE mess in the process and one of them looked like she was ready to cry at the end of the process. And then I had to clean up all the grounds myself and the streaks of coffee down the cabinets and the grinds that got into the strangest corners of the kitchen, because I was the one who had booked the place and was determined to get a 5-star rating as a guest, and at that point I was definitely cursing that coffeemaker.
TL;DR: I think that while some people would really appreciate the fancy machine, others will be like my colleagues and wish there was something really simple and stupid-proof!
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I don’t clean but if we have a same day turnover and I am free around checkout time I’ll swing by to help the cleaners get a head start by starting the laundry and setting up the amenity baskets.
There are times I step in the house and wonder if the cleaners were there already. I love those guests.
And very occasionally there are time where I don’t touch anything, as I’m not sure where all the linens are, what happened to the baskets, and where to even start on cleaning. Those days I back out, shake my head, and call the cleaners to warn them to bring backup. Then I go home and put those guests on my never again list…
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That is why @PitonView 's practice of putting the QR code for the manual on the machine itself is such a good idea.
Out QR codes are in the House Manual but I might put them on some of the appliances.
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Occasionally we have guests that are super neat. In our private note I will acknowledge that and joke ‘Were you really here?’
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This would be me. I’ve never used one. The coffee I drink is either a light or medium roast. I know some of you are cringing and announcing “that’s not real coffee”. If a coffee pot isn’t offered, I would be happy with a pour over.
This should be noted in the public review, so we other hosts get the benefit of your observation.
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French press is super easy coffee-making. Put your coffee grounds in the pot, pour boiling water in, wait 4 minutes, and push the plunger down.
The only trouble with the glass ones is that there’s no way to keep the coffee warm, but there are stainless steel double wall insulated ones, which is what I’d put in a rental.
I have a glass one, and I made a cozy for it, like a tea cozy, that keeps the coffee warm.
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Oh, I do note it in the review, absolutely.
I just don’t add the joking comment ‘Were you really here?’ in the public review.
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Guests inability to operate what I consider to be simply appliances continue to baffle me. I have a high quality double steel walled carafe coffee maker and so many guests didn’t know how to screw the lid onto the carafe. The lid is necessary to trigger the flow of hot coffee into the carafe. Back to idiot proof Mr. Coffee with extra carafes in the upper cupboards.
I also have grinder and french press for the more serious coffee guests.
$350 nightly rental
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It isn’t just guests who have difficulty with things that seem obvious and simple to us. Guests are simply a cross section of the general population- we may not realize that some of our friends or family may be exactly the same, because they don’t stay in our rental unit.
I had a good friend come stay with me for a month. In all that time, she could never figure out how to lock and unlock my front door, whereas none of my guests have had a problem with it.
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I have this
It’s got a double walled stainless carafe that keeps the coffee nice and toasty. It’s easy to operate, although sometimes people struggle to find the power button (on the side…)
Keep it simple. I also have a French Press and a Keurig single cup
I got mine on FB Marketplace for $60 along with 80 pods and a 4 drawer pod storage unit. Some guests use that, others use the carafe, everyone’s happy (except me because I hate the pollution of the Pods). And often guests travel with their own pods/coffee.
No need to go overboard.
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yep, nespresso pod machine is the winning choice. it’s clean, easy to use and delivers a great coffee. I also own a big fancy machine + grinder, and every few years I have to pay to have it “serviced” and it costs me $800. the thing is basically a kettle with a small pump… last year it started playing up again so i’ve boxed it up and put it away, and we just use the nespresso. I wouldn’t dream of putting it in one of my listings. It can make a huge mess, even if you’re careful.
you should tell people that the caffeine content is the same, it’s just a flavour preference. I love that coffee can be enjoyed in so many ways, and this whole convo has got me curious about drip filter machines, something I haven’t used in over 20years and aren’t easily available in Australia anyway. I have a bunch of French Press thingys (we call it, unattractively, “plunger coffee” in Australia, and it’s fallen out of favour as well). I might dust one off and buy some fresh grinds and see if it’s any good. 
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My most expensive listing has instant coffee, plunger coffee and a Nespresso pod machine purchased 2nd hand on Marketplace. In order of use - instant, pod, plunge…
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I have thoroughly enjoyed all your comments - thank you! While we’re now all over the place with what we’re going to offer, my husband and I have been having fun looking up different options and debating back and forth.
I’ll let you know what we decide and how it goes… hoping to be open for guests in the next couple weeks!
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