OH dear, maybe I should have some, a few gallons in the garage for fly-ins!
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It’s easy to bring stuff like distilled water when one drives to a location…but not so easy to acquire when flying into an unfamiliar area, especially if it’s a foreign country and one’s doesn’t know what stores carry what and where they are located.
My first two AirBnB hosts tried to help me find distilled water but none of the stores they suggested had it. I finally stumbled across it my 5th day in Ireland when shopping in downtown Donegal. It was the 3rd or 4th pharmacy I’d tried (not to mention the places my hosts suggested). What a pain in the patootie!
Distilled water is very cheap and, if you need it, you really need it. My son (who works on vintage cars as a hobby) keeps it in his garage for car batteries. Some of them require distilled water.
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I hope it did not dampen your enjoyment of the Emerald isle- not having a necessity for 5 days!
I provide distilled water. So many people are traveling with CPAP machines and it is difficult to transport enough water when flying. It’s such a pain to track down water upon arrival and not using the machine can be life-threatening for people with severe apnea. A gallon costs me $1.39. It’s an easy thing to do.
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I use a CPAP and would guarentee a 5* if distilled water was provided! It is very annoying to have to track down a supply every time I travel.
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We always have distilled water, since I use a CPAP. We almost always have an extra gallon or two. We’d certainly supply that to guests.
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Ah ha! It’s the CPAP machines. When cleaning our houses we often find the opened distilled water. I was thinking these people must iron a lot! Which is weird for this area, clothes that need ironing would be considered very fancy in a place where people wear shorts to funerals.
We don’t provide distilled water, or milk for coffee, or pretty much anything that would spoil or is somewhat specialized. We do provide a golf cart. The market, with a whole aisle of distilled water available (even in a hurricane, when the regular water is gone!) is about a mile away by golf cart.
As a host, knowing where a guest can find distilled water is a good idea. Hosts are often asked for things.
In the USA, it is available at all pharmacies, grocery stores, and many hardware stores, so I would not think of this as something to keep on hand for a guest. However, if we had a message conversation and a guest asked that it be provided, I certainly would do that.
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mmm, same. you can get it at supermarkets here in Australia, so it’s not hard for a guest to track it down.
I have a CPAP and always bring my own water. I also know that using another bottled water a few times in my machine won’t really do any damage so I don’t fret if I forget it. If anyone mentions it, I’m happy to share mine since I buy it by the case. I don’t think that anyone should expect it and I expect that it might get wasted by guests who just drink it when they run out of regular water.
I bring my own when traveling by car—that’s easy. But if flying, it’s not possible…and it is a hassle to remember to buy it on the way to the AirBnB. Not to mention you are likely to be in an unfamiliar area and might find it a hassle to locate distilled water.
For a minimal price—under $2—you can make things much easier for your guests who have CPAP machines. They are a lot more common these days. If your guests tend to be over 50, there’s a decent chance they’ll have a CPAP machine. “There are more than 8 million CPAP users in the United States, according to SoClean CEO Bob Wilkins, and their numbers are increasing by 8 to 9 percent yearly.”
I know I would appreciate a host having distilled water available at the AirBNB.
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Interesting. Almost all of my friends are over 50, many 20 years older than that, and none of them use a CPAP.
Here are more stats on sleep apnea and use of CPAP therapy. I highlighted the bit about age and sleep apnea.
I should add, not all who have sleep apnea use a CPAP machine. And some who do, don’t talk about it at all. I have a good friend who uses a CPAP machine. I’ve known her for several years and did not know she was a CPAP user until I mentioned something about problems in getting used to my machine and she mentioned hers. So you may have friends who use one but have never mentioned it.
I have a Walgreens, CVS and grocery store within a half mile and Walmart and other grocery stores within 1 mile. I have some distilled water on hand and if I were asked for it, I’m willing to supply it, along with most anything else I have in my home that might be asked for by a guest.
But I live on premises. If I had a remote rental I’d appreciate being alerted about this potential snafu.
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