Hmmm, is that an Aeropress in your pocket or…?
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I love Mae West!
As I buy everything I can second hand for my listings, when things go walkies, i don’t get too stressed about it. An areo press is and expensive way to make a coffee.
Personally, I like a French Press and that’s what I use for myself and my home share guests. It’s fine to have a Nespresso machine, I would just also provide a simpler method as an alternative for those like me who have never used one of those fancy Nespresso or Keurig machines and would also not want to use those environmentally unsound throw-away pods (although I know there are refillable reusable pods). It could even be one of those simple Melitta filters that you set on top of a cup and pour the water through.
BTW, I have read some pretty horrific stuff about the bacteria found in those machines if they aren’t thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis.
So, get this, Our current guest is a self-professed germaphobe, especially her son, she says. They rented for 15 days, but the first three days no one could enter the unit, even them. Then their son entered, with, she said, a UV light, to detect germs, viruses, dirt etc. She says we passed.
We had just done a deep clean as we had a gap in bookings and took advantage of it. But I love this idea of the UV light and told the cleaner I will be rechecking each time with UV now (of course, kidding).
I had purposely not broken the seal on the spices and condiments because I sensed (how could I miss?) that they were finicky, and explained I had done so for their benefit as normally I would break that all of for convenience. She said they had noticed and appreciated.
My offer to bring sundry groceries to them was not engaged because, she said, the food or anything brought to the property needs to go through a five-day quarantine period as well.
She was thrilled that the home had a written emergency plan, which say she said she ‘studied.’ She also appreciated all the documentation, saying we had thought of everything.
The universe has brought us our perfect guest, and with a UV light to boot, which I had never considered, especially for those coffee machines!
In fairness to them, this is not COVID related. I have no judgment on whether they are being reasonable. These are two ladies, one 91, one 70; the older one with cancer in chemotherapy, the younger one with leukemia. So they are immune-compromised.
I am glad that I have commercial insurance, but we also have done all we humanly could have done, though never thought of using a UV machine.
Any thoughts out there on is there anything we could have done, do next time, to prepare for a guest like this? Are there certain products beyond Lysol we should be using? We have plastic wrapped the remotes and door knobs.
Whew ! You’re better than me !!! If a guest alluded to this before they booked - I would decline to let them book. That’s too much stress to try and meet that standard. You can’t pull those requests with a hotel and I doubt they are paying premium hotel rates to request that level of service.
I fully understand being immunocompromised - but I wouldn’t even want to begin to offer to provide a “medically” safe environment - for liability reasons . If hotel room clean isn’t good enough - we are not the right place for them.
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What in you opinion would you think stingy? For one night stay how many rolls does a host leave…1-2-3?
I was glad to offer cooking facilities, and folks that used it actually did a pretty good job of cleaning. But I had my druthers, I would have preferred that they not cook, because I always would have to clean after they did.
So why are you so focused on getting guest to cook when most hosts would rather they don’t? By encouraging them, you are making a lot more work for yourself (or your cleaners).
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declined a guest who asked my 5 times how clean my listing was.
Asked her what her possible issues were.
In the end - canceled her as i felt she would be looking for issues and I am not playing in that sandpit!
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No, I had no idea it would be like this. Just glad that we somehow passed, though maybe most would with the place in quarantine. This was one of our deep cleaning periods between guests and in advance of the summer.
No, we don’t presume to offer a medically safe environment for the immune-compromised.
BTW, though, I have read of one of our competitors who cleans the bed covers with every turnover. Says so in listing. We spray covers with Lysol disinfectant for fabrics each turnover.
One cleaning site says hotels clean quarterly; they suggest cleaning monthly, but say some Hosts use duvet covers, have two, and change with every turnover.
We have wondered about that. Think we should seriously consider changing bed covers with each turnover? Monthly? Quarterly?
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I know. I know.
Well, it seems disingenuous on our part to tout our kitchen, which is objectively one of the more competitive features of the listing, but then not make it super easy to use.
On a more selfish interest, IF our kitchen REALLY is a valuable amenity – as we hint or say – then we need to follow through and have faith that in the end we will be compensated, in price, rebooking, referrals, something.
Alternatively there is an ‘option value’ way of looking at this. Some people might choose not to cook, but feel that at any time they COULD choose to cook, that it would be easy to do so, fun with the tools and gadgets, spices and condiments, and ascribe value to that even though they are not cooking.
This might seem far-fetched to you, but I believe that many of us make decisions on this kind of ‘option value’ basis. This of course is a win-win for us, but also for guests who feel they have more options, and do. We are now getting into human behavioral decision-making, a fascinating topic.
Wow, I would never stay somewhere I was sleeping under Lysol sprayed covers or sitting on Lysol sprayed furniture.
Yes, most hosts wash all the bedding between guests.
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Good to know. I’d like to hear others chime in, as that is not what I have read, though no rigorous studies that I’m aware of.
So, you don’t spray the furniture? You can’t clean it each time, right? Isn’t spraying better than nothing?
I leave 2-3 rolls per bathroom . We have 4 bathrooms. I think 2 per bathroom is reasonable.
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Why wouldn’t you clean bed covers for every turn over, spraying it with Lysol, I didn’t know hosts did that. I would wash bed covers with every turnover. Guests don’t miss a thing, cleanliness is the most important thing to guests…at least in my opinion and in my experience.
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Thank you, that is what I leave.
Spray what furniture? My guest room has no upholstered furniture, I wash the furniture down with a damp cloth and cleanser between each guest. And I wash the bedcovers.
If I hosted an entire house, I wouldn’t have any furniture, throw pillows, etc. that didn’t have slipcovers I could take off and wash.
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Given that I don’t know what kind of rental your have or how directly you manage it yourself I’ll have to give a broad answer.
For one night, guests get a brand new roll on the holder. There is a second roll, it might be a substantial part of an opened roll. If there are two guests staying two nights I put the jumbo Costco roll out with the second roll under the sink. I don’t tend to have long stays and I also live here. Their space is separate but it literally takes me 30 seconds to deliver more to their door.
It’s a matter of perspective: you see thieves where I see a guest with GI issues or women on their period.
Stingy is running out. There are variables that are stay dependent. If I had a whole house rental and I wasn’t able to be right there (I noticed you didn’t answer my question) then I would leave an abundant amount. If it’s a house that I’m getting $1500 for a week, I’d have no problem leaving a couple of multipacks of mega rolls. If people walking off with TP is a problem for your bottom line, raise your price. Another $5 a night won’t cause you to lose bookings and will pad your bottom line so that disappearing TP won’t bug you so much.
I’ve hosted over 800 stays in the last 8 years and I don’t recall all the TP disappearing. Ever. Maybe it’s that I only host a max of 2 and usually have 1 night guests. Some guests hardly use any so I figure it balances out. But if I had multiple episodes of entire packages seemingly going out the door with the guest I might become stingy.
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I usually have guests for one night as well…. and also live on the premises. I feel some what offended that “I see thrives”… bit harsh! I’m out, no need to respond.
I felt the same when I read this:
As a guest I’m offended that you would limit what I have because of what someone else did. Really harsh! Not words but actually limiting me, a paying guest! I tried to be nice in my initial reaction but you ignored my question regarding your proximty to your rental as well as my other questions.
And now you’re the one offended.
You aren’t the only one here and this isn’t a private message thread. The topic is “upping the game.” Since you want the opposite, I don’t think you’ll be missed. I’m replying for the sake of everyone else who thinks rationing toilet paper, and who is open to doing better, to read and think about.
OMG, yes.
Even before the pandemic it’s best practices. I’m going to admit that there is the occasional guest after whom I don’t wash the duvet cover. It’s always the one night solo traveler without a pet. I hate to even admit it because it’s not anything I’m proud of or would advertise. I’m just honest to a fault.
One of the great things about my rental is that it’s not a hotel. I stay at airbnbs when possible but the hotels I’ve stayed in recently all have a duvet cover or triple sheeting or even a thin top layer that looks like a tablecloth to me.
In the winter I have a duvet inserted into a cover. In the summer I have multiple thin layers that can all be easily washed. I live in a hot region so no duvet insert in the summer works.
I also don’t have any cloth covered furniture in my rental any longer so that’s not an issue for me. The leather look seats on the chairs get wiped down. I don’t have rugs or curtains either.
I don’t believe that most hosts with an entire home are sanitizing, spraying, washing, every square inch or taking a cover off and washing it. Every host has to find a balance that works for them. But I would never argue that not washing everything on the beds is the proper approach.
When I first came on this forum I was hosting the guest room in my home. I had an American style comforter that cannot be adequately laundered in my washer. So it would get aired out on the line and washed occasionally at the laundromat. I grew up in a home with bedspreads that seemingly never got washed. But I found the arguments in favor of washing it all compelling. So I changed my approach.
I don’t think someone can argue they are upping their game if they are skipping the most basic functions: a place to sleep and clean oneself. Skip the spices and fresh slices and flowers and focus on clean beds, warm or cool rooms and plenty of TP.
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