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Curious how many of you leave your guests some type of welcome gift and the details on yes or no. Answers for the poll are anonymous. Multiple choice y’all! Choose all that apply (but don’t be an a-hole and mess up the poll).
Yes: Always. Of course. Duh.
Yes: A handwritten note or card.
Yes: Fresh flowers.
Yes: A “basket” of goodies/stuff.
Yes: Wine, beer, or booze.
Yes: A local brand or thing representative of my area.
Sometimes: Only when it’s a special occasion, e.g. a holiday or their birthday.
Sometimes: Only for more profitable or longer bookings.
Sometimes: Randomly/only when I feel like it/am inspired/remember/think of it.
Sometimes: Only when I can afford it
Sometimes: Only when I’m concerned about the review.
Sometimes: Only for guests new to the platform/first time users.
Maybe: Do pillowcases count?
Maybe: Does a house manual count?
No: I hadn’t thought about it.
No: But they get what’s promised in the listing.
Not participating in your poll. Screw you and your stupid poll.
Just as part of my suite, I leave some starter foods and snacks to get them started. It’s not really a welcome give. In the beginning I used to make home-made muffins but it seems like may folks didn’t eat them.
I really trying to bring down my overhead as I move into my slow season and may even take these out.
We leave dinner and beverages. No restaurants nearby and most guests travelled 8-14 hours to get to us (fly-to location in the Caribbean). So it makes a good first impression.
It doesn’t feel much like a ‘gift’, but I leave a box of maple leaf cookies and some bagels and cream cheese. Recently I had been leaving some Hawkins Cheezies but no one seems to recognize what a delicacy they are so I may stop.
For reference, my guests are usually flying in from Asia and staying for a week or more.
No welcome gifts. We occasionally offer them freshly baked cookies or brownies. If it’s a repeat guest whom we know well, we often offer some leftovers from our dinner or a sandwich. Several people have taken us up on that.
We always have a fridge full of soft drinks, fruit juice, yogurt smoothies, etc. They’re welcome to any of that.
We occasionally have fresh flowers, but they’re more likely to be in the “public” parts of the house. I’ve tried putting flowers in the guest room and found that too many people are allergic.
We have two well maintained rooms with basic amenities and light breakfast at a very affordable price. We used to have customized thank you notes, but with inflation I have been minimizing my expense while only increasing my prices as little as possible. I put in fresh flowers when I have them and occasionally a birthday or special event treat. I also tend to do more for repeat guests who have basically become friends in our homeshare.
We do a basket of snacks (chips, granola bars, chocolates from Costco) and a personalized note. Largely for my enjoyment, as I really enjoy shopping for the stuff and making up the baskets. But I also think it makes people feel like we’ve gone above and beyond for a relatively small investment of time and money.
I make up a little bouquet of flowers and interesting foliage from my garden but I don’t think of it as a gift. However, several guests have mentioned it in reviews.
At the price for my single room I can’t afford to leave gifts and don’t want food in the bedroom anyway.
I have always left a basket of Stroopwafels, kind of a signature gift. Nobody has ever commented on it, but they’re seldom ignored!
As I have numerous gardens, the summer guests get fresh bouquets. If I know it’s a special occasion, they get flowers (regardless of the season) & a bottle of wine/sparkling cider- depending on circumstances…
Sometimes I’ll leave flowers if I have them in my garden, and other times I make a small bouquet of herbs from my garden, usually rosemary, oregano, and thyme – it lends some greenery to the space, a nice scent, and bonus, the guests can cook with them!
I also put out a dish that has an assortment of maybe 7 or 8 single-serve snacks – bags of pretzels, chips, nuts, etc., plus an array of wrapped chocolates from white to dark. This little gift was, I’m sure, born in my own experiences of going to a hotel, arriving late and tired and hungry, and looking longingly at the snacks in the mini-bar and wondering whether I am really desperate enough to pay $7 for a Snickers bar. The only thing that perplexes me is that some guests don’t eat every single thing in that bowl!
Snack queen here. You could survive for several days in my suite. In addition to cereals and breakfast breads, there’s rice and rice cooker, cheese, protein bars, 2 kinds of milk (cow and whatever plant-based was on sale), juice, yogurt and a couple beers or hard seltzers. It’s mostly ignored by older, presumably more affluent guests, used by young folks on a budget, and appreciated by those with late/early flights. I can eat the leftovers or expired items.
If the guest informs me of a celebration, I have little folded placards for Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday, etc. and I’ll leave a small bottle of prosecco in the ice bucket and a tote bag with Virginia goodies and maybe a t shirt. The tote bags and t shirts are heavily discounted prior year DC Cherry Blossom items. That $20 gift bag makes a huge impression.
I provide bottled waters with my logo and a few snacks. I don’t bring in fresh cut bouquets from my garden any longer since even one ant in the house rattles the guests. I leave bouquets on the front porch. I also don’t set out anything with powdered orange cheese - no Doritos, Cheetos, etc. That stuff gets everywhere!
I welcome each Guest with a welcome tray with fresh flowers or a plant and wine or beer (I ask them before check-in). I also offer my Guests a “continental breakfast” of sorts. In the mini-fridge I leave fresh cream or milk, cheese, yogurts, fresh fruit and bottled water. I do ask if they drink coffee or tea and if they don’t, I’ll leave a couple of bottles of juice. On my coffee cart, I leave a basket of instant oatmeal, granola bars/energy bars, and a variety of chips and other snacks, along with disposable plates/bowls and plastic utensils as there is no access to a kitchen in my Guest Suite.
If they mention they are celebrating a special occasion, I might leave something special too with the welcome tray. During the holidays, I will leave holiday treats as well
Love flying that airline that offers them!
