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Each place is different in what they offer and people who stay in a lot of vacation rentals know that it will vary. Even hosts in my own area leave different things than I leave.
This whole thing of guests complaining about hosts not providing toilet paper for the group’s entire stay is an Airbnb host complaint issue that I only hear on Airbnb host forums. I never hear about this on other forums where owners have been renting out self catering homes for years, and many with high end homes too. It’s a given that the group arrives and goes shopping for their supplies, groceries, etc.
As much as you believe the host is cheap. The host likely thinks that his guests are demanding and too cheap to purchase their own at the store.
When someone provides an amenity like a washing machine, it does not mean they are obligated to buy the products for guests to launder their own clothes. Think of it like a fireplace amenity. Some hosts provide enough firewood for one fire per evening. Some provide unlimited wood. Some provide just enough for one fire. And some provide zero wood and guest must supply their own.
I would tell the host about a plumbing issue that will affect the next guest’s stay. Maybe the last guest also did not say anything to the host so the cleaning people did not notice the tub filling up when doing a quick clean. The host may not even be aware of the issue at this point.
I had a guest this past summer not let us know that the tub drain/stopper wasn’t working correctly. We had a back to back to cleaning day with guests checking in and were really in a bind trying to get this fixed within a 5 hour window. And needing to maybe drive 40 minutes just one way into town to get the correct part.
Another guest let us know the microwave wasn’t working as they were leaving. And also didn’t bother mentioning one person in the group somehow took off the Air conditioner lever. All of this again on a back to back day when it took two men to get the microwave pulled out from the wall, etc. That’s my number one issue with guests. They don’t say anything about something that needs to be fixed, but every guest wants the place to be running perfectly for them and they all want early check in top of that.
I think, as others say that the place looks pretty basic and I also agree that one roll of toilet paper is insufficient (and mean!) . And if you are offering the use of a washing machine isn’t it rather obvious to provide detergent? @cabinhost mentions that pre-Airbnb holiday rental hosts used to expect their guests to go shopping for necessities and I’m sure that’s correct, but these guests were usually staying for a week or more.
It’s a shame you’ve been jumped on for expressing what seem to me to be pretty reasonable expectations. I think that in the same way that guest reviews are written for the information of other hosts, you should write yours honestly so that other guests know what to expect. It doesn’t sound as if any of your complaints really call for star reduction but I would certainly mention the rather basic facilities, along with the things which you liked (convenient location?) in order to make it even-handed.
Indeed. Many of my competitors don’t even provide sheets and towels. It shows up in guest reviews, “my fault for not reading the listing closely enough”. But really … you want to take a chance on people sleeping and sweating, all gritty from the river and woods, on your naked mattresses? Okay. Not me. Because that is exactly what is going to happen when someone doesn’t read the listing closely enough and rolls in at 9 pm when all the stores 50 miles away are closed. As someone who intends to actually sleep on the same bed as my guests, ew, no.
That’s quite new for France, particularly outside of the more wealthy Northern areas.
We put new loos in when we renovated our house in The Languedoc 15 years ago; French plumbers are amazingly skilled at putting loos into obscure places! However, the drainage/soil pipe leaving the house was the responsibility of the local water supplier. We had no idea how old it might have been, although I don’t think such niceties existed when the house was first built.
Hmm, I meant to mention to the OP that expecting a well-functioning loo in France is like, erm, expecting snow on the Costa del Sol. I’m sure there are still some of the old toilettes a la Turque around (though hopefully not in Airbnbs)
I think many feel that just because the guest is choosing to book a self catering home for a day or two that it doesn’t now all of a sudden become the hosts responsibility to purchase their supplies.
It’s kind of like paying a cleaning fee. The host has that expense for each rental whether the guest only wants to stay one night or a full week, they still have to pay the fee. It’s their choice to book an entire home for a short stay.
I do remember these in places I stayed in the '70s, but haven’t seen any in France for years now, but in Turkey they still abound in restaurants and bars.
Do you remember the old pissoirs, for men, set around the trunks of Plane trees? Too funny by half.
They’re dying out in many regions of Turkey, the more westernised areas mainly such as the west and south west tend to fit a standard (as we know it) WC in new builds and refurbishments. Istanbul and Izmir still has a bit of a mix when out and about.
That said, the firm I worked for had brand spanking new lavs but if you went for a number two it was a game of Turkish roulette as two cubicles were western style and one the hole in the ground. The ladies was all western, so I was told
One of my local bars near our house was a hole in the ground and some of us used to come up with fanciful figures as to how many mobile phones and wallets had disappeared down that hole, having just a few seconds previously been in a back pocket!
On the other hand, sometimes it is illegal to provide sheets and towels.
In my country STR is forbidden without a commercial license. This is nothing new and has nothing to do with AirBNB, it is a regulation from the early 70’s.
There are 2 exceptions:
Private hosts renting a room in their own home. And all the work is done by one of the family members living in the home.
Renting out a space without any extra services. Towels and bedding are explicitly mentioned as an extra service in the regulations.
This is why AirBnB has scrapped the bedding of the list of obligatory requirements. It would be against some local laws and push hosts do do something illegal.
Exactly! It so easy to have your bias dictate your perception of things!
I have been to many airbnb’s who’ve done things I wouldn’t have but that did not deter me from giving an honest review based on the listing and its pricing etc.
THIS. We can quibble over what feedback to include publicly vs. privately, but at the end of the day, taking off stars for these things, to me, is just petty and mean-spirited.
Yes here in italy we do not provide toilette paper for the all stay. In a lot of places you will find only 1 and not Basic like powder for washing maschine. I have been in uk and carabien
@ZeroZ It is a budget stay for lots of people in southern France. We spent a week in Avignon a few years back. It’s a wonderful small city surrounded by many things to do and see.
At that price point, it is perfectly reasonable for the host to provide a minimum of consumables.
The poor drainage in the shower needs to be addressed by the host. It was very clear that it was backing up during the shower the entire time.
I would give 5 stars but make it very clear in the public review about the poor shower drainage. At that price, I would not deduct a star.
Did you actually read the description /rules and everything? Once I stayed in an Airbnb in Outer Banks that did not provide toiletries!
It was specified though in the listing, so people had to bring their own shampoo, soaps, tooth paste…
I wouldn’t be bothered that much, except by the slow drainage. But heck, to me as a host, it happened to run out of toilet paper or not to leave enough out although I had more in the basement and the guests went out and bought some. I don’t provide detergent either. Not that many people do laundry and I forget to buy it.
Other than this if everything is functional and as described I wouldn’t be bothered at all.
