Shampoo, conditioner?

Hey everyone,
I’m wondering what your strategy is for giving guests amenities. Do you refill bottles, let guests use your own products, or buy new products? Is anyone else uncomfortable with sharing their own personal products? If so, what’s your go-to strategy?

Thanks!

I leave shampoos, conditioners, body wash and luquid soap for guests. I don’t replace bottles after each guest. Many of my guests leave their shampoos and other products behind, sometimes almost full bottles., I just leave them for other guests.,for the past 3 months I didnt buy a single product because I have “leftovers”.
I think it’s essential to have toiletries available. It’s a very tiny expence. A bottle of shampoo lasts for e very long time. I buy hand soap for 3$, and it lasts at least a month.

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My guests have their own space. We make our own soap for them or leave shampoo and conditioner, just the usual stuff. If I am away at a conference I collect the small soaps, shampoo etc for us eat home.

Most guests bring their own.

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Make your own soap! What an awesome touch! I’m gonna do that!

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I buy individual toiletries at the dollar store and leave a basket in the guest bath. Leftovers I use myself.

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I do as Stephanie does. The top drawer in the bathroom is stocked with:
Sample size ($1.00 or less) of the following:
-Soap
-Shampoo
-Toothpaste
-Disposable razors
-Shaving cream
-Toothbrushes (individually wrapped or a set with toothpaste and toothbrush)
I also put in a Kuerig coffee maker so they can use individual coffee pods.
I don’t want one guest to have to use something another guest has opened.

I use the opened soap and shampoos in the outdoor shower area.

I’m also a soapmaker and my rentals (both are separate apartments with own bathrooms) act as a kind of showroom for my soap and toiletry products. I used to make miniature sets of shampoo, body wash and consitioner for guests, but as well as being expensive I began to be aware of how much plastic these were using and, like many hotels do, I use refillable large bottles. I sanitise the tops and dip tubes between guests and I cut my normal sized soap bars in half to make guest bars.

If I didn’t make products I wouldn’t provide these, as most peoplle have particular brands of shampoo etc that they use, apart maybe from shower gel. The miniatures you get in hotels, apart from very high-end ones tend to be of very poor quality … I always leave them behind!

If you have a local handmade soap or bath & body products maker, s/he might let you have guest soaps very cheaply in return for you putting a leaflet in your tourist info file. I do this with several B and Bs and boutique hotels - it increases my business and the hosts say the guests love having something unique and locally made instead of standard commercial products.

i leave miniature samples that i collect from business trips, vacations, etc…
for guests who stay a week or more i lave a full size bar of soap, usually “yardley” brand which i purchase at walgreens for $.69 a bar when they go on sale. they come in assorted varieties. i also leave any shampoos left behind by guests in closet so guests can use them if they wish. some guest use, others don’t.
My last guest left a six pack of beer so i left it in the fridge for the next guest. if guest wants it they can use, if not it will stay for the next and next…

Great! Thanks for your responses. Hoping to continue this conversation with a few questions:

Would you rather provide your guests individual, small bottles? Or leave a large bottle out?

What do you think of services like Hosty Club that provide individual boxes of toiletries for each guest?

Hoping to hear your thoughts,

While I like the look of leaving individual toiletries for guests, I just don’t see how anyone could afford to provide them all the time.

Let’s say there are two guests staying in one room - and each day each guest uses a mini bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash…how much would that cost if guest is staying for one week?

That would be 14 bottles of each item - multiply that by three and that is 42 bottles for 2 guests staying a week.

I agree, although a 30ML small bottle can usually last at least a week. Hosty boxes are $4.99 each - so it would be $10 for both guests that week.

So what would your thoughts be on subscribing to 5 boxes shipped monthly for $25 given each lasts a week? How many guests per month do you host on average?

Other hosts feel free to chime in!

I honestly cannot see how a tiny 30 ML bottle of shampoo lasts anyone 7 days. I am looking at a 20 ML and a 32 ML bottle and they are very small like hotel size.

Currently I have 4 guests staying for a week. But sometimes guests only stay 2 nights. So for me it would not be cost effective. I can purchase jumbo size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash for each bathroom, and it will last months. Even though they are shared by all guests, there isn’t any waste with half used bottles.

Unless you refilled the bottles for every stay. .

That’s a great point although I’ve found that this can last 7 days for travel (See http://maphappy.org/2014/11/how-long-travel-sized-shampoo-will-last-you/) which explains how long travel sized (30ml) shampoo can last.

What if you could spend just $3 on each guest for each box? Would you find that cost effective and worth the positive ratings + experience you’re giving guests?

Ok…I see in the article they are referring to TSA size limits and are comparing 89 ML and 100 ML bottles…and some say it could last them three weeks. I don’t know if most of those people are balding and just hanging on to their very last threads…but I have very thick hair and it’s not even long right now.

But I am looking right now at two tiny little bottles of shampoo: one 20 ML and one 32 ML and I do not see them lasting more than three nights maximum. Plus, you have to pound the product out of the plastic bottle and it is a real PITA and frustrating. There is no way a 30 ML bottle would last me 7 days unless I didn’t wash my hair every day. People on vacation aren’t conservative when someone else is footing the bill. So if you say you provide all the shampoos needed for their stay, then they just might be asking for another box after a couple of days. That’s what stops me from providing those items. I sleep up to 6 people and cannot provide 60 mini bottles of product.

You asked if it would be cost effective for $3 per guest? No, it wouldn’t. I can purchase a huge bottle of Tressemme shampoo, conditioner, Dove Body Wash, and Body Lotion for two bathrooms and it will last me months. Guests provided with tiny cute toiletries in a box like you provide are going to take off with them regardless if they use them or not.

I rent a self-contained space and already provide bunches of extras to make their cooking simple, complimentary coffee, creamer, etc. My little splurge for guests is in the theater room and they get all the popcorn they can pop in the machine or microwave and each guest receives a movie theater box size of candy. Each of those boxes of candy costs me $1 from Walmart. So short stays it does cost me more to provide that then longer stays. When I have four people staying a week then I spend $4 on candy. If I have three different stays during the week (with avg. four guests) then I am spending $12 on candy for that week. I have found that guests really tend to “value” the candy so I stick with it. But if I bought them each $3 worth of toiletries then that would be $12 per stay based on 4 people.

I think your product would be suited great for someone who has a really nice large house with upscale rooms that mimic a true B&B. I do think there is market for what you are offering.

Just an update. Talking to a friend who runs a small motel. She buys her soaps from “National Hospitality” and I have started doing the same. You have to buy in bulk but it is very cost effective (at least it is for me).