Wow. I worry about this happening all the time. Why are guess like this.
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As other hosts here have suggested, it isnât something you need to worry about- just provide enough for the number of people and length of stay, and figure it into your expenses, assuming guests will either use or take it all, which in fact most of them wonât.
I make a point of saying that the amenities are 'for your use during your stay."
Sadly, my check-out letter sometimes says: âUnlike a hotel the amenities are only for your use during your stay, not anything to take with you.â
I add that as needed.
I have not changed a thing, I still overstock the amenities and then some. I have not had anyone empty the basket since. I think leaving a note would be tacky.
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I stock snacks and I donât care if guests take them.
But I wouldnât want them taking the bathroom shampoos, conditioners, etc. or all the kitchen spices, oils, coffee, etc.
Maybe I need to be more specific.
The odds are against this happening more than once in a blue moon. I would rather come off as generous than cheap and micromanaging.
RR
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No one wants to come across as cheap. As to micromanaging, when is it the pejorative micromanaging and when just communicating?
I find the phrase âfor use during your stayâ to be communicating and not cheap nor micromanaging. As in a reference to âshampoos, conditioners and other amenities for use during your stay.â
It seems to me that a phrase like this might â just might (no guarantees) â give the otherwise clueless guest a clue that they shouldnât take the amenities.
This suggestion is a general one, not directed at the situation in your original post.
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Sure seems a lot easier to only provide what you think will be adequate for a booking, letting the guests know to let you know if they run out of anything, than to worry about them making off with stuff.
For instance, complaining that 4 guests went through 18 bath towels in 2 days is silly- why provide 18 bath towels when 8 would have been sufficient for any normal person?
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Well, thatâs surprising to me.
I donât see how it could be thought of as âcheap.â To me that suggests that it is âcheapâ not to want guests to take off with 16 oz+ size bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
I thought that perhaps a Host here might feel it presupposed that the guest did not know better, in which case â whatâs the word? â if so, such guests might at first feel that it was condescending? I say âat firstâ because on reflection it might be considered as just straightforward communication.
I would think that Hosts here would know that guests come in all kinds and to say that the amenities are for their use during their stay is straightforward communication.
We did have one guest who took a full near-brand new bottle of shampoo. So I see it mainly as preventative.
One of the things that I thought I had learned here was the importance of communications, that we as Hosts often make a mistake by assuming that the guest has the same kinds of knowledge we have as guests, or that we think guests âshouldâ have, or the knowledge or culture of different guests.
So I learned here that some Asian guests might think itâs not an issue to get water all over the bathroom floor because at home thereâs a drain in the floor. Some guests might think that if they see an insect inside the house, even in the tropics, that itâs an infestation. Similarly, someone might think itâs OK to take all the bathroom or kitchen amenities.
â>. So, from what Iâve read elsewhere here in this forum, my takeaway is communicate, communicate, communicate. But concisely!
Sure itâs a long shot that someone out of ignorance will take ALL the amenities but there seemed to me to be little to no downside to point out to guests that we hope that they enjoy the many bathroom and kitchen amenities weâve provided for use during their stay, and not to hesitate to let us know if they have recommendations for others.
True, funny story.
Years ago, this is the late 1980âs I had a job that involved a lot of travel and hotel stays. On one of these trips one of the companyâs benefit analysts, who had never travelled on business before, joined us on one of these hotel stays. As he was checking out the front desk asked if he had used anything from the mini-bar. He responded âWhy do you ask?â The clerk responded that there was a charge for each item. He scurried back to his room and put everything he had taken from the mini-bar. He had EMPTIED IT OUT and thought this was just a non-discussed perk of traveling!
He was a lawyer.
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Exactly. Guests who make off with a 24 pack of toilet paper or a 16 oz. bottle of shampoo (which does very occasionally happen to some hosts) know they are thieving and a note saying the supplies are for use during their stay isnât going to stop them.
I actually end up with lots of almost full bottles of toiletries that guests have brought and left behind as they donât want to pack them. I sterilize the containers and have a basket full of that stuff that guests can use if they need them. Itâs more than I could ever use up myself, or things I have no use for, like mens shaving cream.
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We just got our first three-star review. One of her private complaints to me was that we should leave out unlimited bags of coffee so she wouldnât have to ask our staff for more coffee.
My sympathies. Sounds like the kind of guest who would find something to complain about no matter what.
Assuming there was a normally adequate amount of coffee provided, thatâs a real attitude of entitlement, the assumption that there should be âunlimitedâ amounts of anything. And that she resented having to ask for more- what a jerk.
In a week, she and her boyfriend went through over 2 lbs of coffee and all our coffee beans and was frustrated that our housekeeper couldnât find more beans - texted me about it then complained again at the end of her stay.
I drink 2 and a half cups of strong coffee a day and a kilo of coffee lasts me 6 weeks. Sounds like they are either total caffeine addicts or were making more coffee than they actually drank and dumping it down the drain.
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At least if she whinged about lack of a limitless supply of coffee beans in her review, sheâll sound like an idiot. Hope it didnât mess with your average rating!
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No, she was too clever for that. Vague âneeds love and attentionâ, âmaintenance issuesâ, etc, countered with âhad a lovely stay and great vacationâ.
Fortunately, we have so many five-star reviews on Vrbo that it doesnât change much. Although we might lose Premier Partner, which doesnât mean much anyway.
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I have 3 oz bottles and refill from larger bottles I get at Costco. Iâve only had mine about 2 years but if they get raggedy looking, a guest just left their two new 3 oz ones behind so I have replacements.
Over 1000 stays and if anyone has ever taken everything, Iâve forgotten it. I have more people leave stuff behind.
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Same here. No one has ever taken anything at all. But I have a basket full of almost full toiletries guests have left behind, and have gained 2 umbrellas and several good quality beach towels.
When I first started I got all kinds of extras that Iâve never needed and that just take up space in my home. Now that bookings have slowed compared to pre-pandemic I sometimes think I should just give up and give a bunch of stuff to charity and put the new stuff out even though I donât need to.
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