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!
I have an old washing machine and dryer located in a 2nd floor room where I keep all my extra bedding, cleaning supplies, coffee pods, snacks, extra dishes etc. I don’t feel comfortable letting guest in there to do laundry. I keep it locked and do not have it listed as available in my listing as I use it to wash the bed linens, towels after guest leave. I recently had a guest ask if there was laundry available in the building. I said I did but it was not set up for guests. They were here for a week. I feel awful but I did not offer it to begin with. What are your thoughts?? Just curious. Ps. The storage room is located in between the two apartments at the end of a hallway. I live downstairs.
No, don’t feel bad. It’s scorching hot here in El Paso and I don’t offer a pool. I don’t offer a kitchen and I don’t feel bad when guests heat up hot pockets in the microwave.
OTOH, if it’s something you could monetize maybe you should consider it to give you an advantage over other rentals.
We have a laundry room on the premises (not in the apartments) that guests can use.
I supply detergent. I also supply quarters as the machines are coin-operated. I point these out during the house tour.
So despite the guests knowing about the laundry room, and having what they need to use it, very few guests have ever done so.
By the way, I’d be a little concerned about guests laundering your white sheets and towels (if that’s what you use) along with a non-colour-fast red t-shirt. Because the appliances are older, it would not be good if the washer or dryer conked out when guests were using it.
So I’d say there’s no reason why you should offer it and you should certainly not feel guilty about it.
I do not offer washing machine use to guests and I often get 10 day- 2 week bookings. I happen to live where the weather is warm year-round, so guests tend to live in light summer frocks, shorts, and t-shirts- it’s not like they end up with a bunch of dirty jeans, socks, long sleeved tops and sweaters.
Many of my guests just wash out underwear and light clothing by hand and hang it over the balcony railing outside their room, or on my clothesline.
However, what I do for guests who stay longer than a few days, is when I am about to do a wash myself, ask them if they have anything they would like to add to it. Several guests have taken me up on it.
I think this is a nice gesture that on-site hosts who don’t want guests to use the machine themselves can offer.
And if a guest has a two week booking, I will often ask them if they want to do a wash before leaving so they don’t go home or wherever they are heading next, with a suitcase full of dirty clothes.
But I don’t mention anything like that in my listing.
I sometimes offer to do wash (no folding) or let guests use the washer if people are here 5 days or more. I actually say - “You are welcome to use our washer and dryer in the creepy old cellar if you like”. I have a crappy laundromat within walking distance, but I don’t think it’s a great option. I also tell people about wash and fold service in the next town. Those who are visiting others often use their laundry. I don’t put laundry available in my listing so I never have to offer it. I was amused just this week when a super environmentally correct guest was going to do wash. I assumed she would use cold water and the short cycle. She put it on warm and the longer wash cycle. This is the same woman who turned off the refrigerator in her room to save electricity thus defrosting the freezer.
Same for us. We have machines in the basement and they are coin-operated. But we leave a zipper pouch full of quarters and directions to the laundry in the apartment and there’s detergent, etc provided down there but few guests ever use the laundry.
But one time we had a very cute but very young (19?) couple meet up for a long weekend. He was military and she was in college. They unloaded a good 8 loads of laundry from his car
We once had an older couple who were on a road trip in a small RV. They brought loads of laundry with them too. It seems that they’d spend about a week or so in their little RV then stay in a rental so that they could enjoy a proper tub … and do a lot of laundry.
If I do offer a guest to do a load of laundry, what I do is get them to put their laundry in the machine, but then I add the soap and turn on the machine. Then they can remove it and hang it up when the load is done. (I don’t have a dryer)
This avoids having to explain all the digital settings to them, having them add too much soap, or use a higher water level than needed.
Hot water isn’t anything I need to concern myself with. My machime only has a cold water connection. And as the water comes out of a big black tank on the roof, and I live on the tropics, the water is never really cold. Anywhere from tepid to quite warm. I don’t even use my hot water heater in the summer here.
My washer and dryer are also located in an area where I don’t want guest access. I tell them to separate their laundry and I will do it for them. I give them a basket, and when it comes out of the dryer, I just throw it back in the basket, no folding. Sometimes I charge, since my information describes an additional fee, and sometimes I don’t.
My son has a tiny house, washer is in an attached shed, he only allows access only to guest staying 30 days or more, and he removes all of his back stock storage for those stays, we get snowbirds here in winter, and those are given access
