Not the same. If you rent a whole house and people are there a week or two then laundry might be expected. If you rent a room for under $40 a night, then no. Lots of people buy detergent when they are on holiday and have to use a coin laundry as well. You only have 2 types of sugar? I would never stay somewhere with no artificial sweetners and at least three kinds of creamer/flavoring. LOL
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Iām charging $40-70 bucks per night (higher in summer as this is a summer destination) for a private room/private bathroom. I tell people to consider this an upgraded hostel. No laundry use (max stay is 4 days cause thatās the most I can stand not living alone), basic coffees/teas, basic toiletries in the bathroom. Kitchen use is listed as light cooking, specificallyātoasting, reheating, making sandwiches and no use of oven in summer (thatās exactly how itās written in my listing). Admittedly, once they are here and if respectful, I do let them borrow whatever pantry staples are in my cupboard, but I donāt encourage it as Iāve had plates broken, nice pots ruined, and even if I take it out of their deposit, I have to either shop for it or order online, and I donāt have time or the inclination. Itās different if you are renting a whole house, getting more moola, and you are not on premises.
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What do you mean by āwho would want to buy their own detergent when on holiday?ā
Who wants to have to buy anything when on holiday? But how else do travelers get their laundry done when on holiday? I have never stayed in a hostel, nor a hotel that allowed me free access to their laundry facilities. I have always had to buy detergent and pay a lot for each load. And then have to go sit at a laundromat. Or pay an arm and a leg to drop it off somewhere at the only laundry facilities available.
And why should anyone pay for laundry detergent so that you can clean your clothes? I think itās nice enough that some allow unlimited free use of the washer/dryer. I provide dish soap and dishwasher detergent because I want my dishes to be clean. But I am not going to provide detergent to make sure the whole family can run 10 loads of laundry before they head home. Nahā¦
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Well, I have sweetener too and guests staying one, two nights as well, not only weeks. The last thing you want to do when arriving at the place at 9-10pm is to look around the neighrohood trying to find tea, sugar, just to have a cup of tea after long travels. I had that kind of experience and wonāt stay there again.
@BnB good for you. You sound like a thoughtful person who takes hospitality to heart. I have washer, dryer and clothesline, detergent and dryer sheets and offer it free. Iāve even put someoneās completed laundry from the washer into the dryer and kept checking to see if it was dry while they went out. But thatās just me and you and the OPās question is a valid one.
I provide it at no extra cost. It doesnāt really cost much to provide it and itās a small investment to make people more happy.
I provide cheap generic wash detergent - and all other basics for my guests. I am renting a whole house space. I think the cost is minimal.
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Truly bizarre, some of these responses. You are charging people money to use a washer and dryer?? You dont want other peoplesā clothes in it? Then RUN THE MACHINE FOR TEN CENTS so your guests wont accumulate dirty clothes. These are all petty commercial concerns that should have no place in running a friendly B and B which is a good alternative to a faceless expensive hotel. I always tell guests that I will do their laundry, especially those who stay more than three days or have a long return trip by air. I find most of these answers beyond belief and tight fisted.
Reallyā¦ someone could consider any limited offering to be petty.
Is it petty to not allow a traveler to park in your garage or in your driveway?
Is it petty to restrict the A/C and heat? Or should guests have free reign? My guests have free reign to abuse the thermostat if they wish. But there isnāt anything wrong with hosts who set a temperature range.
Is it petty to not provide guests with unlimited firewoodā¦just because there is a fireplace?
Is it petty to not allow a guest to use your kitchenā¦just because there is a kitchen there?
The great thing about Airbnb is the traveler can choose which one they want to reserve. Hotels have not gone out of business because they donāt offer free laundry services. The traveler can choose to stay at an expensive hotel with zero laundry service, or a much cheaper airbnb and they might have to purchase their own detergent. Big dealā¦
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@LornaS, I respectfully stand my ground on this issue, there is just no reason for people who stay here at the most 4 nights @$50 to do their laundry.
I will give you an exampleā¦recently had a couple that arrived 6 hours later than they stated they would, they were staying only one night, because they did not inform me of their arrival time change and didnāt answer my phone calls or emails, I had to cancel my dinner plans because I had no idea when they were going to arrive.
Of course that is beside the point, what is the point, is that even though these people had taken a half day off from work to drive the 3 hours up here on a Friday, at 1030 pm, she asked if she could run a load of laundry. NO. Just no.
That being said, there have been times that Iāve had guests who are cross country trips, or tours of US, and when they ask me where the laundromat is, I let them use mine if I like them.
But for the most part, my laundry is down in the basement and the door says "no guest accessā on it. I, unlike flaky bimbo from Westchester County, get all my laundry done prior to having guests so they never even know I have facilities.
Not to mention, my basement is not a pretty place, I donāt want guests down there.
Someday, when the washer/dryer breaks beyond repair, Iāll get a stackable unit and it will be upstairs, but Iām still not going to let flakes who want to do their weeks worth of laundry even though they are only going to be here only 24 hours use it.
The fact is that every guest who has been here on a short jaunt (1-2 days) up from the city, or NJ, or Boston, or CT, that has asked to do laundry, has also been somewhat of a lousy guest, breaking other rules, being inconsiderate and/or just not āgetting itā.
So, itās kind of a benchmark with me, and tells me a great deal about people.
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Iāve never had anyone ask ME about doing laundryā¦because I list it in my ad and I offer it to them when they arrive. All these responses apply to entire apartment rentals with their own kitchen, not to people like us hosting in our kitchen in the morning.
In fact only very long term guests accept my offer of the washer and dryer. And if you are renting a full apartment where people will be preparing food, whatās the big deal about leaving a few tea bags and sugar? Anyone who doesnt want to leave staples should make this clear in the ad so people can bring their own things. Some of my guests who dont drink coffee (I always ask them if they drink coffee or tea) bring their own tea bags, without me asking them to bring them. We dont host children or groups so we dont have these issues.
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There is no comparison between the things listed above and small routine nondisruptive things like washer and dryer.
Firewood? Do some guests actually think you run a lumber yard? Why would they expect this? Nonsense.
Restrict a/c and heat. Any reasonable host is required to provide sufficient heat; but many Americans live in ovens.
You should provide the heat that you preferā¦unless they want LESS in which case they can open the window or turn off the radiator. As for a/c, itās expensive to run and it is perfectly OK for you to ask guests to turn the a/c when they leave the apartment, and to turn it on low at night if it is exceptionally hot. But you are within your rights to check this out!!!
If you dont visit the premises to make sure they have complied, then you have to accept the consequences. Inform them that you will check out the a/c yourself but will always notify them before knocking and entering. ALL landlords have these rights; it is in leases. If you state in your ad and to your guests that there are no kitchen privileges, then you wont have a problem. I put this in my ads, up front. And if they ask about parking, tell them it is on the street. If they dont ask, you are not required to give them your garage of driveway.
I rent out an entire home - who said it was a big deal to provide sugar and tea bags? My guests get that and much much more.
Itās your right to deny use of washer and dryer but you should notify all your guests at the time of booking so they cant complain (they might anyway), My washer and dryer are in our large kitchen so it isnt a big deal for me to do it for guests. Sometimes it is very little and I combine it with mine and then ask them to sort their stuff after it is dry. But I would never do or allow use in the eveningā¦only during the day when I can run it myself. Of course guests wanting to do a weekās worth of laundry when they spend one night is out of the question. In that case send them to a laundromat. If you know in advance that people have been travelling for a week or camping, you might tell them you cant do it. If people are staying at YOUR place for many days, thatās different. You might offer the washer and dryer yourself and earn yourself a good rating for doing so.
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You are very interesting Lorna.
At first you said many of our responses were ābizarreā and we were āpettyā for not allowing a guest free laundry use.
Now you say that you donāt allow guests to use the machine by themselvesā¦that you must do the laundry for them during the day? That sounds ātight fistedā to meā¦the exact term you used to describe many of us.
But they canāt stay just one night and do a weekās worth of laundry? Then you would send them to a laundromat?
What happened to your previous statement saying that hosts with these petty concerns have no place runinng a friendy B &B?
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I have a whole house listing with a minimum of 3 days and encourage longer stays. (so far Iāve never been contacted by a guest after check in so the longer the better!)
With that in mind the washer and dryer is included. I buy laundry liquid in bulk and decant it into a smaller container for the house. I donāt know who does/doesnāt do their washing, but a few have washed the towels/linen on check out so itās all good for me 
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I had it for free for a long time, but it was too much, and after a Japanese girl who ran the machine 2-3 times a day, I put a price of 3 euro per washing. I supply detergent, and it works fine. Some are then happy to handwash their nickers, and other are happy to pay the 3 euros. I think it is a sound principel to charge something for something that has a value. If it was included, guests who donāt wash pay for for those washing.
It is more easy for everybody if more host apply the same policy.
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I travel very lightly, just a bag, and after a week of travelling i really need my laundry done as i have nothing clean left to wear. Butā¦ i would never think of doing my laundry if i only stay 1 night at someoneās house.
I live very close to airport. SOme people book me for the last night of their trip before they are going home and ask for laundry. So, its 2 people, they travelled for a month, they bring huge garbage bag full of dirty clothes, and want to wash it in my house before they go home. Room is 50$ a night. There are 5-6 loads of laundry in that bag. WHy??
WHy should i let them do that? They will be home in a few hours. WHy do they want to do their laundry in my house not theirs?
The answer is that its free, and in their house it costs money. Noway i am going to let someone to use me like this. Its not even about money that much but about people taking advantage of the whole set up.
When people charge 3$ its such a nominal fee that it should not even matter for anyone.
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You seem to have confused some things. Nothing I said was inconsistent. I donāt let guests use appliances in any case, whether washer, dryer, stove or dishwasher, to avoid possible malfunctions or accidents which could be blamed on me.
There is no comparison between guests staying more than a few nights and those who ARRIVE with dirty laundry from their trip and then regard our washer/dryer as a convenient laundromat. Think about this please. Most of the comments dealt with whether hosts should provide detergent, which is indeed petty. In addition, I never have more than two guests anyway since we only have one guest room. Even though I ask them they rarely need laundry done unless they stay
for a week or so, in which case I consider it quite normal to do their laundry. Of course it is the machine that does the work, not me. They give it to me, the machines wash and dry it, I remove it, they sort out their stuff. Quite minimal work
and vanishing costs. I consider this small amenity a normal part of my day AND they are paying me! I have never had anyone take advantage or request outrageous things or mistreat the premises or the guest room. I am quite amazed at the bad experiences people have had. But I assume they are charging enough to compensate. There seems to be a big difference between renting a whole apartment and being a paying guest in someoneās home with the hosts present.
I
Actuallly, almost everything you have said is inconsistent.
You seem to justify all of your decisions, yet other hosts are not justified in their decisions. [quote=āLornaS, post:41, topic:5776ā]
I have never had anyone take advantage or request outrageous things or mistreat the premises or the guest room. I am quite amazed at the bad experiences people have had. But I assume they are charging enough to compensate.
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Well of course you have never had a guest take advantage or mistreat the premisesā¦because you donāt allow them to touch your appliances!!
And no, the majority of the comments were not just about whether or not a host should provide the detergent. Many on here commented that they only allow use of the machine after so many nights are spent in the home. Some donāt offer it all. One person has a coin-operated machine. Some provide both for free, etcā¦
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