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I had a guest today ask for drinking glasses which got me wondering: for those who do not have a full kitchen in a “entire space” listing, what types of eating and drinking supplies do you provide for guests?
I have a small kitchenette area with a small bar, mini-fridge, microwave, and electric kettle. I provide a large coffee mug and stainless steel stemless wineglass for each guest. I also provide a corkscrew/bottle opener. The kettle and glasses go on the bar, along with tea, instant coffee, light snacks, and a bottle of cheap wine (2-buck chuck).
Sometimes guests ask for silverware and plates, which I provide when requested, but I don’t stock in the listing because I advertise NO KITCHEN and don’t want guests washing dishes in the bathroom sink and clogging in with food. I prefer guests provide their own paper plates, as most do. This is the first time someone has asked for drinking glasses, as most guests use the wine glasses or mugs as water cups. I’m considering adding drinking glasses but don’t want to add extra clutter since everything is out on the bar, not in a cupboard. Would you add drinking glasses, or is offering three types of drinking glasses excessive with limited space?
I advertise no use of the oven or stove. I get mugs, plates, and knives and forks from the Dollar Store. And I confess to having a dishwasher.
To save space, the mugs are on hooks, the glasses are stacked on a rack, and the knives and forks are in a jar. I only provide a limited number. In a pinch, it’s nice to leave mugs and glasses in he room.
I have 2 guest rooms. One is downstairs and right off the kitchen. It has a mini fridge only, in terms of appliances. I leave plastic cups, a pair of glass drinking glasses and a pair of glass wine glasses arranged in a basket on top of the fridge. Guests can partake of coffee in the kitchen. I also tell them they can use the microwave and plates/utensils in the kitchen but almost no one does.
The upstairs room, because it’s not right off the kitchen, has a small Keurig type machine, the mini fridge and a small microwave that sits on top of the the fridge. I have a small rolling kitchen cart that fits nicely in the closet that is stocked with coffee making supplies, 4 each of small plates, bowls, drinking glasses, wine glasses and utensils. There is also a small dish pan there so they can stow the dirty dishes.
I have a similar set up. I used to provide glassware, plates, silverware and mugs and a busing tray and asked them to leave the dirty dishes outside their suite each day but most guests didn’t do it so I ended up with dirty encrusted dishes, buy, or dishes washed in a bathroom sink (not permitted). I took out all the dishwater, etc and replaced with plastic and paperware. I bothers me environmentally but honestly the guests barely use them. For Canadian European guests, I also put out real mugs. I also leave one sharp knife and a cutting board. I put it in my listing that I provide disposable utensils and plates.
Our listing sleeps 2. We’ve got mini-fridge, microwave and coffee/hot water makers. There is a small “kitchen sink” for washing/rinsing things. We provide silverware, 2 big mugs, 2 smaller coffee cups, 4 ‘water’ glasses, 2 wine glasses (we provide a bottle of cheap Aldi wine), also a single microwavable plate, a small baking dish and a microwave food cover for re-heating things. There also a small Chef’s knife.
I provide full breakfasts but bring out and recover plates. Guests wash their own cups and silverware, and are expected to empty the coffee pot and filter when they leave.
I personally would replace the stainless steel glasses with wine glasses. It would look nicer. Perhaps you can do two wine glasses and two tall drinking glasses.
Dollar stores have some really nice wine glasses. Buy several to replace breakage.
I have a similar kitchenette setup with no sink. Since there’s a fridge and microwave, I also leave plastic plates, bowls and utensils. The microwave has never been used by guests and the fridge only for storing sodas and alcoholic beverages. I have cupboard space for storage, though.
I don’t list as entire space but there is no access to my part of the house. I explictly say no kitchen, no dishware. My stock in trade has been the one night road tripper but I’m getting more people coming to town and staying 3-4 nights. So I started putting a couple of plastic drinking cups in the room. There is a corkscrew/bottle opener and wooden stir sticks for the instant coffee. I use ceramic coffee mugs. If someone asks for a bowl I provide it. This irritates me a lot less now that I’m able to consistently average $5 a night more than I did last year.
I started putting glass water bottles in the room to cut down on plastic. I haven’t been completely happy with the results so am still experimenting. Two $4 glass bottles walked away and a third broke when the guest turned (accidentally or on purpose I don’t know) the temp all the way down causing the bottle to freeze and break. I don’t want any glass in the rental at all now. I’ll stick with the ceramic mugs but I’ll be phasing out the glass. At my price point (under $60 for two) cleaning broken glass, dealing with their poor job of cleaning it, risking cuts and blood stains on fabrics, it’s just not worth it.
I like the idea of the glass water bottles. We try not to produce a lot of trash, so I’ve held off on offering guests bottled water. I’ve been reluctant to provide drinking glasses and wine glasses due to having to clean up broken glass as well. I do offer stainless steel stemless wine glasses.
I bought some and then I bought a case of Tazo tea and use those bottles too. Quite a few people still buy water in plastic bottles and then I pull it out of the trash and recycle it. I got some reusable plastic bottles and I’m using those some too. I’ll find a sweet spot between easy to use, safe and good for the environment at some point. Probably just before I stop doing Airbnb.
BTW I buy tasty filtered water in bulk, like 10-15 gallons at a time anyway so refilling bottles is not a lot of extra work for me.
In our breakfast bar (without a sink) we offer drinking glasses, china plates and cutlery as well as a toaster oven (soon to be replaced soon with a microwave) and a small casserole dish to reheat food. To avoid them using the bathroom sink for washing up, we ask guests to leave their dishes and used coffee pods for us to do and we return them on a silver tray with more pods. We call it “room service.” We also provide tap water in reusable glass wine bottles (Voga). Nobody has ever complained.
Each guest gets a couple of bottles of water. When they empty, they can refill from the Brita unit in the big fridge. I’ve kept bottles going for months to take to the gym along with a bit of water enhancer. They like taking them to work too.
I’ve got a Keurig I bought at an auction for $1 but everybody seems to hate them. Bought some coffee pots from the ReStore and they don’t like them either. But everybody gloms on to my french press. This whole place will fall apart without it.
I also keep a collection of teas and big fat jar of black tea, They really like these.
