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No, it certainly doesn’t sound like “a lot of work” and many of us, both hosts and guests, do not want to participate in a throw-away culture. Also, I, and I think most people, would prefer to eat off of real plates, using real flatwate, than off of disposable plates using plastic forks.
And if there were a sink in the unit, the guests would still have to clear the table, carry the dishes to the sink, and wash them. Or are you suggesting that hosts who provide a place for guests to prepare food, come into the unit when guests are finished their meals, and “bus the table” and wash the guest’s dishes?
It sounds like guests don’t have anywhere to prepare meals in your rentals and that you aren’t aware that hosts don’t usually provide disposable dishware- guests deal with their own dirty dishes.
@Keugenia I had bought 6 pairs on Amazon a little over a year ago and it seems they no longer have those. They have held up pretty well considering I wash them with towels every single turn-around, and they come out perfect I did search Amazon to see if there is something comparable to what I have, and this slipper comes pretty close to it. This company has two similar slippers, but one has more reviews than the other. Although they do say to “lay flat to dry,” I never overdry anything, and the ones I have always come out fine after tossing them in the dryer with the towels.
I do only provide foods that I would gladly eat if the Guest does not eat them, but yogurts have a long expiration date, and they are almost always consumed. Individually wrapped single-serve cheese lasts months too, and they are always consumed. My listing is a room attached to the back of my home, so I can check fridge often and take out what’s going to expire (which I will gladly consume). I have never had to throw anything away thank God.
I’m sure either disposables or “room service” hallway exchange will work.
Having real dishes doesn’t make a stay more upscale for me personally. As a guest, if I’m buying food or ordering takeout, I’m likely to eat it out of whatever container it comes in (e.g. I wouldn’t transfer yogurt to a bowl – or pizza to a plate unless I’m reheating it in the microwave.)
Again, just me personally, I would have a slight preference for a few real coffee mugs, which are easy to slosh out in the bathroom sink and re-use, and a few plant-based disposable plates, bowls and utensil sets, to having to scrape dishes into the trash, load them in a tub and leave them outside.
It’s hard to put my finger on, but I would also feel a little weird that the host had to collect and wash my dishes like some sort of scullery maid, but again that’s just me. Somehow a big hotel seems more impersonal, so sending out my laundry or leaving a room service tray in the hall has a different feel than an Aibnb host/guest dirty dish interaction.
I get the reluctance to add to the world’s disposables. If nothing else, I would consider providing bamboo or sugarcane-based coffee cups with lids for to-go convenience.
My advice is- dont have anything there you dont want to ‘lose’. Things like the cables you mentioned etc. Things very occasionally ‘go’ in my place and while its no big deal, i find it very disappointing that someone did it. I dont always notice until too late.
When I was losing more cables than I was gaining, I put some velcro-attached cable ID tags on all my cables with “Property of [address]” written on them.
I, too, would never book an Airbnb without at least a true kitchenette with a sink. If I don’t plan to cook there are hotels and charming BnBs that would get my attention first.
I do appreciate it when hosts describe their areas as “Dry kitchenette”. Or mention there is no sink so I don’t have to scour the pictures looking for one.
OTOH, for me, without need for dishes and a sink, your place looks charming! I for one am not a busboy nor have a need to judge a host. If you see what is in the listing and read about it, it is more than poor manners to critique it based on what you imagine ‘should’ be there - it is hurtful and potentially costly to a host. Reviews matter…
I don’t provide charging cables myself, but I have read several posts over the years with hosts saying once they labelled them, they stopped disappearing. I do think it’s just accidental- guests aren’t “stealing” them.
A friend of my daughter’s who stayed as a house guest for a couple of nights walked off with my new $25 USB cube- I know it was unintentional.
Unless something like a device cable looks distinctive, it’s easy for people to forget that they were using something that was already there when they gather up their stuff. Since cables aren’t high ticket items, for a guest to risk a bad review for intentionally stealing it seems unlikely.
I didn’t intend to provide charging cables, mainly because even though I’m a scatty packer I’d never travel without one.
But so many were left in the rentals that now there are several in both apartments. If ever any disappear, some more will appear soon from a forgetful guest. (They seem to multiply - like wire coathangers).
Like @muddy, I believe that a lot of “shrinkage” is accidental. It’s pretty easy for a guest to accidentally scoop a towel into their suitcase when packing in a hurry. And as someone who once found a spoon in an empty yogurt carton in the kitchen waste bin, I know where cutlery can go too.
P.S. The spoon in the yogurt pot wasn’t in one of the rentals, it was in my own home. The other half of course, not me …
I’ve found several pieces of silverware in my compost box when I screen my compost once a year. After my grown kids and families came for Xmas lastyear, I couldn’t find my vegetable peeler anywhere. Found it 3 weeks later when I was turning the compost pile, after finally buying a new one 2 days earlier.
I used to have dozens of high-quality art hangers that matched the main color of my house. One by one, they were replaced with cheap wire hangers by guests who arrived with their suits or robes on flimsy hangers from the dry cleaners and then left with their clothes on my beautiful hangers. I can’t even blame them—they’re always in a hurry. This all happened back when I opened my house to meet ‘local demand.’ .
I did search Amazon to see if there is something comparable to what I have, and this slipper comes pretty close to it. This company has two similar slippers, but one has more reviews than the other. Although they do say to “lay flat to dry,” I never overdry anything, and the ones I have always come out fine after tossing them in the dryer with the towels.
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