Toilet Paper for extended stays

Hello Fellow Hosts,
I generally set 10-30 days as a minimum stay, ocassionally I may “fill” gaps with shorter stays (but never less than 5 days).
For 20-plus day stays i usually leave a few rolls of toilet paper and presume that guests will go shopping for additional toilet paper and other basic household items. However, today I got a message from a guest asking for more toilet paper; while I didn’t think it was reasonable for the guest to ask for more paper, I decided to offer reimbursement for TP via airbnb. However, the guest wanted the paper to be delivered. I don’t want to be petty, so I’m hoping to hear from you. I have read your sage advice about leaving enough TP to avoid guests using paper towels (and clogging toilets), or, God forbid, bathroom towels, but is your advice relevant for extended stays?

I would direct them to my store cupboard.
I have received this request for delivery numerous times

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I guess I’d have to evaluate how much TP I left in the listing, how long the stay is, where they are in the reservation, and whether you have “essentials” checked in your listing, but honestly, unless it was something really crazy, I’d just deliver some cheap Kirkland TP from Costco.

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I always leave extras and also have more in the closet that guests can access, if needed. If it were I, I would drop off TP to guests if it was requested. It would be awful to get a bad review over TP.

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There was another thread on this same issue not too long ago, with lots of opinions about ‘starter kits’ and house rules. It’s always interesting to see how differently people see things.

My listing is like yours— typically a couple of weeks, sometimes as long as three months. For consumables I generally leave enough for about a month, and my guests seem to be happy with that. I guess I’d bring more if they asked, but I don’t feel obliged to keep topping up their supplies.

Like you, I would find the request unusual, but I don’t mind accommodating unusual requests if they aren’t too costly or inconvenient.

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My max stay is 21 days but whether a guest is staying for that full three weeks, or is staying for only one night, they get three rolls.

They’re going to be shopping for food, for goodness sake, so they can get loo paper at the same time.

Although that is my logic, yes I’ve had guests ask for more and yes I’ve supplied and delivered it. I don’t think its a big deal at all.

It’s all about having happy guests who are going to become valuable long-time repeats or who recommend you to all their friends rather than quibbling over a few loo rolls.

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We have stayed at many monthly rentals and have been provided with enough tp and paper towels for a week. I do not expect them to provide my food and necessities so why should they have to provide paper products too. If I wanted that sort of supply I’d stay at a hotel.

We do short term rentals with our properties. I leave one full roll of tp and paper towel out and have 1 each in the supply cabinet for them if needed.

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Yes. Oct-April most of my rentals are 30-60 nights. I usually stock the $13 Costco package of TP & similar Paper Towels. Most don’t use them because they purchase their own. Sometimes they leave their extras behind.

I stock it anyway because a $13 package of TP is not the battle I choose to make or break my rentals.

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Two views:

  1. Leave enough TP on site to cover the stay. But if they are using like 1 roll a day for 2 people and they run out point out you have left 10 rolls for the month which you consider reasonable for 2 people. Then add that more may be obtained cheaply from nearby store X.
  2. Is the cost of extra TP worth a negative review and 3 stars or less?
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Leave plenty plenty of TP. 95% og guests don´t use that much of it. I eat the loss of the 5% to avoid the hussle like you are involved in.

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@ZeroZ , @JamJerrupSunset , @jaquo , @Lakehost , @mica555 . @Ritz3 @Debthecat
I’m grateful for your feedback. Yes, I agree, it’s not worth getting the guest upset over toilet paper even though the unit is located a block from a supermarket.
A week ago a guest staying for 5 nights contacted me just before 11:00 PM to ask me about toilet paper; I asked if he had checked under the bathroom’s sink (cabinet) and he told me that he had not looked there – you’d think that if a guest would run out of toilet paper, looking under the sink for extra rolls would be a no-brainer…
Anyway, I will make sure I leave more paper than I’d normally leave going forward; it’s not worth the aggravation.

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Our listings have clearly stated that they are provided with a starting amount of TP and that they have to buy their own.

Most of them go shopping anyways.

If they ask we give them 2 extra rolls, but tell them to buy their own.

We provide 3 Rolls as a start and we had guest that managed to use all of them in less than a day. I am not going to supply 20+ Rolls for their week stay.

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I say the same thing on every TP thread. I hope all of you bitching about people who use too much TP refund the guests who hardly use any. I also hope you never stay with some cheap host and have an illness that necessitates the use of TP.

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I agree with you.

And this calls to mind a funny story.

A single friend with two preteen sons married a very precise scientist who’d never been married. The husband had ideas about how to be economical that included conserving toilet paper use. He gathered my friend and her two sons to explain that there was never a reason to use more than four sheets of toilet paper. He was very sincere and—he thought—rational.

My friend laughed uproariously and said “You’ve obviously never had a period and diarrhea at the same time!”

The toilet paper tradition never did take hold in their family.

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As is so often the case, if you’re worried about toilet paper, raise your rates by $1/night and just give the guest a roll or two. Of all the things to worry about in hospitality, this is the one you shouldn’t worry about. Just do it.

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I nag my other half to please go to the loo at work and use their loo paper and not ours.

:rofl:

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$1 here, $1 there, and another $1 there…… and before you know it you have plenty of TP because no guest will book because other listings have better rates.

99% of my guest bring their own TP, and their own food, and their own alcohol…. thats why its Self catering.

FYI a bidet dramatically decreases your TP budget.

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Unfortunately I cannot fit them.
But I found an in between system: Toilet paper moisturiser.

The big advantage is that people stop using those pre packed plastic moist TP. Which are a desaster for the sewage system.

Now they can use normal TP, hold it under a foam dispenser and they have instant moist TP.

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At the risk of being the “bidet know it all”, all the bidets made to retrofit are not make/model specific - in fact the only concern you will have is the seat, which the bidet mfr’s all list on their websites for compatibility. I have 4 on 4 different toilets and they all work fine.

Using ‘moisturizer’ adds chemicals to our waterways… bidets just use water.

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