Guests expect more but want to pay less / Market saturation, Rates going down

That’s a good point.

All of my guests pass the grocery store on the way in, so if they lost their luggage they would be at the grocery store anyway buying other items.

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And mine wouldn’t. They arrive by taxi or public transport and a stop is troublesome, especially after a 12 hour flight. I don’t keep all the little extras like toothbrushes, pads, etc out, but let everyone know that I have additional items if they need them.

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Yes, I would definitely provide different “goodies” if I had many guests flying in and taking public transportation. All of my guest have to have vehicles here. No public transportation at all.

I just think… it telegraphs an inexperienced traveler if they can’t think to bring their own toothbrush and toothpaste. Hotels don’t even provide that.

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That is a really good point @konacoconutz that most Airbnbs are providing way more than a hotel for way less price.

Actually, generally if you ask at the front desk, hotels do have these types of supplies hidden in a supply cabinet. Over the years, I worked at about 8 different hotels of all star-ratings, and we certainly did. When my bags were lost, twice, on my way to Europe, they made up a small bathroom kit for me at both those hotels and trust me, these were not fancy places at all.

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True… but if I am understanding you correctly… they don’t supply these expensive items in the room. They just have them available in case of emergency.

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I’ve been at several hotels where there is a card in the room saying if you need something like a razor, comb or toothbrush they have it at the front desk. Some have different kinds of pillows. One has a variety of phone chargers they lend out (all left by guests I’m sure). If you need more towels they will bring them up. Some of the nicer ones have sewing kits. Some have “free” newspapers.

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Yes. Access to these items is via the front desk. Now wildly expensive hotels have all that stuff in the room, well-branded of course. But that is not the way I generally travel.

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I leave a bottle of wine but only about half drink it. I figure I spend about $10-$12 per stay, but the guests only use 1/2 so it works out to $5 or $6. Strangely enough, the one thing that people have used repeatedly are the disposable razors. Seems wierd.

This is what I’ve noticed in my area–Long Beach, California. There are lots of places similar to mine in price–even lower–but many don’t have reviews or reviews are not great. I notice there is a lot of turnover. Some disappear and others show up in their place. Many are obviously renters whose landlords find out and shut them down or evict them.

The key is to just hang on and deliver a good product.

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In addition to hotels…

On international flights, Qantas provides toothbrush/toothpaste sets in their economy toilets. I think Emirates does it in their travel pack if I remember correctly. I find it to be a bit wasteful.

We only provide milk, coffee, sugar, tea, shampoo, conditioner, soap, dishwashing soap, sponges, paper towels, TP.

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Be careful giving your guests alcohol. I remember someone pointing out on here giving your guests booze could invalidate your host guarantee. (Not that the host guarantee is worth much ).

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I don’t provide paper towels. If they want those they can buy them. Paper towels are wasteful in my view. Good for cleaning up spills and shouldn’t be used to dry hands, etc.

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We provide tea towels and hand towels. :slight_smile:

Our paper towels are made from recycled paper and are at least can be recycled or breakdown. Those 300+ toothbrushes per flight will most likely go right into landfill for a very long time. :frowning:

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Well not only are they wasteful they are expensive. My place is advertised as self catering by the way. The only thing I provide is TP, bath soap and drinking water. Everything else they can bring or buy.

We really haven’t found this to be a real issue.

First, we do not take Air’s pricing recommendations. I’d rather have my place empty than cut my prices by 40-60%. In fact, I make far more by not using their pricing; and have less wear and tear on my house. We are in northern california and there are about 250 hosts in our area.

Then, we always stock the house with the items we would want to have. Not food or alcohol; but the small things like: coffee, tea, salt, pepper, a tea kettle, a toaster, TP, paper towels, shower soaps … .

Finally, as my wife says, keep it cute and simple. Take good photos to place your best foot forward; and take care of your guests.

All these things have worked well for us.

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Actually, the more services that you supply, the more there is to complain about.

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YES!!! You are so right!!! This is what all new hosts soon discover…

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Last week I had a guest check out - she was very quiet, I hardly saw her and I had NO IDEA how she would review me. After she left - another guest found a pair of diamond earrings on the bathroom counter. I quickly called the guest who had checked out and she appeared very grateful and came back to retrieve her earrings. Yet, 2 days later, when she left her review, she dinged me on accuracy - stating that the reason is because the tags on my 2 dogs collars jingled all night, keeping her awake. So her accuracy complaint was for NOISE! Yet, she never mentioned returning her forgotten diamond earrings, Nor did she mention the jingly dog noise while she was here for 5 days - I easily could’ve removed their collars during her visit. Some people are WEIRD!!!