This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Great idea to stay there while you set it up. Sounds like you have everything well organized and are doing this properly.
I have a popper as well. I get bulk popcorn from “BulkBarn” (Canada) the kernels are big and round consistently. I have it stored in a mason jar and doesn’t seem to go bad.
I find the microwave stuff tastes too much of chemicals and has way to many additives. Plus the extra packaging.
Love it!! The source of the milk! Brilliant!
Me too<><. and ice makers make those grinding gobbling noises all the time. We use trays!
We’re in Florida and not one of our two apartments, or the one I look after for a neighbour, has an ice maker. I have tray ice in the freezers but it’s very rarely used. After all, although it’s new for every guest, they don’t know that.
Sometimes guests have bought ice but only rarely.
We’re at the upper end of the price scale and one of our rentals has stainless steel (in there when we bought it) and as @KKC says, it’s not harder to keep clean but it does get fingermarks the first time the guest uses it. Some it looks worse than white quicker. This means that the guests’ final impression is of a ‘dirty’ fridge door. And as we all know, it’s that final impression they have in their minds when writing reviews.
Our rentals are fully booked year round and as they both have different appliances (one has white, the other has stainless steel) it seems that it makes no difference at all to guests. Coming here, they are not spending a great deal of time indoors anyway - and certainly not in the kitchen.
There are much more important things to guests so I’d stick with the white.
Yet another opinion 
Anywhere really. And although we definitely have the view, it’s the bottle opener that’s the really important thing. 
We keep ours white in our 1928 mountain cabin. It more fits with the character we feel. (We don’t have granite countertops either. Just replaced the linoleum with LVP) However , after 12 years and 90 reviews, we did just get this-
“Has all you need except updated kitchen.”
@sjde 1930 catskills mountain cottage here! Good for you and your authentic kitchen choices and your unappreciative guests should stay in a hotel next time. The American obsession with renovated kitchens and “dated” appliances is a nice glimpse into our empty, gaping souls, although all the better for those of us who happily buy their salvaged cast offs.
I have air poppers in both Airbnb units, and a jar of Orville Redenbacher (sp?) popcorn that I refill as needed with the store brand. Both machines were acquired from the local Goodwill at less than five dollars apiece. One of the best investments I’ve made, based on feedback – though occasionally it’s a pain in the neck vacuuming up spilled popcorn kernels.
I would never put microwave popcorn in my rentals – they leak in the microwave, and that fake butter smell seems to last forever.
Florida and bugs. Make sure it’s in a sealable glass container. It will spoil faster here, too.
Exactly the thoughts that went through my mind as I saw that “Has all you need except updated kitchen” !!! We spend way to much in resources etc to replace perfectly good functioning cupboards etc…
Hahaha ahhhh - guilty. My garage is filled with perfectly good, shaker style kitchen cabinets from a high end reno from a country estate. Happy with the cast offs indeed!
Now watching HGTV “Beachfront Bargain Hunt” and shaking my head. Young couple with two children looking at beachfront condos.
In a beautiful white cabinet kitchen with really nice upper end white appliances, husband complains appliances are not stainless steel. He would be happier with lower end appliances if they were SSteel.
His perception is SSteel means updated.
I like to cook. I want the better appliances-regardless of finish!!!
then go for it, what stops you?
The purpose of HGTV is to sell things, first and foremost the idea that we always need the newest trend and that our abode’s color palette should be changed every year or two.
I was watching that this morning, too!! My eyes rolled so hard at his statement that I hurt myself. And thought of all of you.
I want my appliances to work and be of excellent quality, regardless of finish. Why pay several thousand dollars more for SS in a beach condo? I live on a salt water canal and the SS finish on my dishwasher is already pitting after 5 years - and the appliances are high end Samsung (another rant for another day).
I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one mentally critiquing my accommodations when I stay away from home. I think it’s part of being in the hospitality industry! When I’m with family and friends I remind myself that a private guest bedroom is a luxury for most people in the world and beyond that, most private hosts don’t give it another thought.
As with my rentals, I took the advice my husband’s aunt gave me decades ago - sleep in your spare bedroom! She and my uncle gave up their bedroom to guests once and took the spare room. She hadn’t realized how worn the mattresses were and had a night of very poor sleep - she ordered new mattresses the next day.
In my family it’s considered an insult not to stay when offered accommodations. I can often use my husband’s large size to wiggle out of many situations. However, later this month I’ll be traveling on my own to see my aunts and will experience a week of uncomfortable sleeping situations.
Do you mention these things (bathroom hooks, luggage racks, etc.) to hosts when staying at a STR? I always mention it in the private notes and have never had a response back from a host. I’ve frequently seen snide comments in the forum about “know-it-all host” guests. I’ve never deducted points for these things, but as a fellow host I consider it common professional courtesy to mention something if I see it. Chances are it’s bothering all of your guests, but no one is saying anything.
That’s just wrong. In this business, the host should at least reply “Thank you for your feedback - we appreciate hearing ways we can improve.”, even if they have no intention of doing what you suggested.
My guideline is that I need to hear the same thing three times before I do anything about it - unless it’s really small like move something around or buy a $10US item.
I always respond to guests who leave me private feedback like this - even just a “thank you for letting me know”. They took the time to tell me so the least I can do is acknowledge that.
I had one guest tell me that the bathtub drain was leaking when he tried to close it to take a bath - I would never have known this otherwise.
If my friend’s place had been an STR I might mention the improvements. The only thing I can recall mentioning to a host was needing more TP in the building. He didn’t reply. I believe all my other hosts had enough of everything or close enough. I’m a little surprised at the lack of hand towel racks and reading lights in Airbnbs and guest rooms. But it’s not a huge deal.
I mentioned to a host in private feedback that the toilet and tub wasn’t really clean and that I was a bit disappointed because I had planned on using the tub but didn’t feel up to cleaning it myself. He responded, “Ok, thanks, I guess I should clean the bathroom between every guest”. Doh. He was a superhost and not new but the rest of the stay was great and I felt like a primadonna mentioning it and almost didn’t so I guess no one else had.
I can’t tell you how many times I have stayed at friends, family or AirBNBs where the beds were awful. I want to take all of the great things I love from travel and incorporate it with my properties.
Having a great mattress is the number one thing I will do. I travel all of the time and rarely do I encounter a decent mattress. But when I do, it’s like bliss.
What the what?!
I’m beginning to think my standards are higher than they need to be. Between what I’ve experienced and the some of the posts I see here it’s clear that a lot of people don’t have the same idea about clean that I do. I stayed with a friend three years ago who gave me a sheet/blanket/pillow that smelled so funky (like my dog blankets smell after a few weeks) that I almost couldn’t sleep. I’d be mortified to do that. I guess they were nose blind even though they were half my age.