Where would you place this info?

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Hi there

I am about to update our listing before opening for next years bookings. I would like to clarify a few things to our guest about what they can expect to find in the house - or more what NOT to expect.

Our villa is our own private holiday home so its not run like a professionel Bed’n breakfast or hotel. We live far far away from the villa, so a neighbour takes care of the cleaning and washing between guests. This means that we can not provide everything that at household needs for longer stays. You can book the villa for a stay that lasts between 5 to 21 days for 4 persons.

We provide towels and bed linen and end of stay cleaning / washing. Besides that our guests will find two rolls of toiletpaper “to get them started”, a few tea towels and dish cloths, bags for the trash cans and salt and olive oil. Thats it. There is a washing machine free to use.

When we open for the season we always leave the kitchen cupboards with some baking paper, small bags for food storage and some detergent. We have always assumed that our guests would replace these things if they empty / use the last one. Its not always like that but our guests rarely complain about it. Except for this yeat where a lady mentioned that she would have liked to know in advance that she could not expect to find detergent in the villa.

So, its not really a problem for us but I would like to explain to our guests how it works in our villa. And now to my question: where would you place these informations in your listing: under House rules or About or in a direct message or another place?

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I would put it at the ends of your images. Write on a Goggle slide and save it as a picture. Or you can create a starter kit and take a picture of it and post it at the end of all your photos. I would also list it under house rules and also mention it in a direct message. Cover all basis to ensure guests know what to expect.

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Good ideas - thank you.

Would you write something like this:

Detergent and things like baking paper, plastic bags for food storage and napkins are not something we provide as a standard, but when we open for the season, we make sure there is some of it all and we hope that you will consider leaving a little for the next guests if you use the last of something.

I dont know how to formulate it. I mean - we can only encourage them to think of the next guests - not expect it…

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1 - we loved Crete. 2. Guests don’t read anyway :slight_smile: Whenever we travel, regardless of Europe, Asia or the USA/Canada we never expect detergent and we usually book a place with a washer.
.
That lady was silly. If we found any detergent, we would absolutely assume the last guest left it, not the host.

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I would also put it in your welcome / booking message. Something along the lines of a starter pack. I would double the toilet paper quantity available. ….
Replacement stock wouldn’t take up that much room and I would be utterly amazed if guests actually replaced it!

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Here in the US folks expect a lot more amenities, but when I travel in Europe I look forward to hitting the local market for supplies in the first day or two. That includes any consumables like toilet paper and detergent. I think your guests are more likely to replenish than those here in the US, so your plan sounds solid.

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I have details of what I supply under “the space” part of the listing and in my House Manual. I have the word “some” in front of each area’s list (Bath: Some toilet paper, facial tissue, body wash, etc…).

I think I’d identify what I will replenish between stays & note all other essentials must be brought/acquired unless a previous guest has kindly left some behind from your “start of the season” stock…which is what it sounds like you do and people just don’t read.

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I offer propane for the BBQ and I write something like “We purchase a full tank of propane for the grill at the beginning of each month. Therefore, we can’t guarantee that you’ll have a full tank during your stay.” Maybe you can say something similar.

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Put it in both and the guest might actually read it.

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I would double the toilet paper quantity available. ….

We dont have that much space for storage, so Its not really a possibility. Anyways, we have never had any complaints about that…

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I chose a wording very similar to this and placed it under About…-> Other things worth noticing. I will also mention it in the welcome message in the future. Thanks :slight_smile:

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