Losing my mind. We rent a really nice room and also a glamp tent and include hot breakfast. In our house rules and manual, as well as in a question the guest must answer before booking, we state that the kitchen is not available for preparing meals, except for microwave to heat already prepared food. So guests, many of them, are showing up with grocery bags full of food, asking where the pots and pans are. What the heck? Suggestions?
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Double check to make sure you have the kitchen unchecked on your amenities. Other than people being absolutely clueless and not reading is the only thing I can come up with.
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If possible put a microwave in a separate area away from the kitchen and donât allow them in the kitchen at all.
Unfortunately, your listing probably needs to say right up front NO KITCHEN FACILITIES FOR GUESTS.
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You need to make it clear in your listing and again when they book, because if you have guests doing this on a regular basis I think itâs your communication.
Yep. Itâs clear. We havenât had this problem until recently.
Do you have pictures of kitchen shown?
I had this problem in a begining too often, then took down kitchen picture . I also put in several places " no kitchen use"
I was allowing kitchen use for light cooking for few years and recently took down kitchen as amenity all together . But i put minifridge and microwave in each room. We always offer hot drinks but about half of my guests refuse .
We donât offer any breakfast ,there are plenty of inexpensive option 2 Min.walk.
Hope you still donât let use kitchen even if they show up with bags full of groceries .
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Unfortunately there are hosts who believe that writing something down in the listing and âin the rulesâ means that the matter will be adhered to. The fact that guests are âconstantly challengedâ shows only too well that this isnât the case.
If a host is finding that a problem happens repeatedly, and itâs a problem that other hosts donât face, then this strongly suggests that the host has a problem that needs to be rectified.
When the guests get the house tour, the host or co-host can very easily mention the situation. âOh, by the way, Iâm sure you read that there are no cooking facilities here for guests? I mentioned this because recently we had guests who didnât realise, ha ha. So Iâm just checking because Iâd hate you to waste moneyâŚâ then hand them a printed list of local restaurants and coffee shops.
The alternative is talking to guests when you or your co-host see them bringing groceries into the property which is rather closing the door after the horse has bolted.
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Good idea. We have a dorm fridge in the guest room, so a microwave could complement that. Itâs just strange that after hosting for two years that this is suddenly an issue.
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If you do not use the kitchen for this meal preparation, perhaps turn off the stove, by turning off the gas or turning off the breaker.
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In the last week I had two bookings for more than two people by new users. I have a small guest suite with no kitchen or lounging space. Hosting 5 years and I can count on one hand the number of requests or attempts at more than 2. Sometimes there seems to be a sudden upsurge in issues. Maybe itâs just the summer rush and the growing popularity of Airbnb.
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I recently discovered that the previous app update changed many of my settings. My listing no longer showed that parking, WiFi and several other amenities were available. It did show the kitchen and washer & dryer as being offered. Which they are not. I have always checked my listing for accuracies whenever I do the update and this was not the first time it has reflected inaccuracies.
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Yes, very possible.I neglected to mention that these are by and large first time Airbnb users. I have changed our IB requirements to include a host recommendation.
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So guests are answering a question - theyâre fully aware they donât have kitchen privileges - but show up with groceries anyway? Thatâs bold!
I really think weâre seeing a shift in guest type now that Airbnb is mainstream. Theyâre reading less and assuming more, based on how prior hosts or hotels do it.
Guests seem to do better when they have clear âeverything in here is available to youâ or âthis room is entirely off limitsâ. Conflicts seem to arise when itâs mixed âyou have access to this room, but not these things, and only for the hours of 4pm-6pmâ. In a hostsâ head they think theyâre being generous to give access, but I think guests do better with âyes you can use all of thisâ or âno, you canât use anything in that roomâ.
The easiest solution is to set up a guest food prep space and bar them completely from your kitchen. I converted a closet into a âbreakfast bar - for beverage or light food prepâ by adding a waist-high shelf. They have a small fridge, microwave, toaster, and coffee machine. They put their dishes in a bin and I wash up.
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@OffCameHerHead - there are a few comments above that you havenât responded to? Do you have a photograph of the kitchen on your listing? Do you relent and let them use the kitchen if they turn up with groceries? Do you mention the unavailability of the kitchen during the house tour? Have you absolutely checked that the listing hasnât mysteriously altered as @DozerPug suggests?
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Itâs mentioned in my description and my rules. But thereâs a microwave and a mini fridge in each room.
I think youâre right about making things black and white. I.e. Boundaries. The B Word. I sometimes feel like Iâm insulting peopleâs intelligence by explaining everything thatâs already in the rules, and after they say theyâve read the rules. But clearly we need to do that.
We have an open LR/kitchen, so the kitchen is visible but not accentuated in one photo. Sounds like we will change the photo. We allow guests to use the living room at night. We relented once with oven use, with others we emphasized the microwave reheating aspect.
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I stopped blaming guests for repeated mistakes âŚmay be it was time to look what I was doing wrong .
My biggest issue is overuse of AC. YeahâŚI can talk for another 10 years how wasteful people are and how unreasonably cold they want to stayâŚbut all I had to do is put Nest WiFi controllable thermostat. I still to this day didnât do it âŚbut at least I donât complain on guests anymore. This is my next week project when I come back from my trip.
I had ongoing problem with toilet not being flushed properly . I kept telling people to not put so much force and do it gently. Didnât work âŚguests still put force and toilet constantly was in repairâŚUntill we bought new toilet.
Then another issue âŚtaking shoes off.
9 of 10 guests never took them offâŚuntilâŚbig sign on a front door , shoe rack inside âŚand multiple rugs solves the problem 95%.
I still get guests who is oblivious to all of that but at least itâs in minority now .
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Kitchen use is not offered in amenities. I think weâre seeing some real budget-minded travelers, among other things.
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This is another quote that should be embroidered on the finest silk, framed behind glass and hung on every hostâs wall.
I agree that if a host is having a repeated problem, then itâs up to the host to find ways of dealing with it.
Some problems are common to all hosts and thereâs not a lot we can do about it - I mean, if the Queen was offering Airbnb en suite rooms in Buckingham Palace for $100 per night sheâs probably find that there was some smartarse guest or other give her a 3 for location and a 2 for value. 
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