Would you tick the Kitchen box in Amenities if you provided a Kitchenette?

Hmmm, can’t imagine why the pasta texture changed but it sounds horrid. I don’t do slime. (ulp!) If it was a take-home restaurant pasta dish, I wouldn’t be surprised but if it was something you made, I would just put a tablespoon or so of water in it, cover lightly and nuke it for maybe 1-1/2 min. 'til hot. I don’t know about re-heating coffee. I put my morning Joe in a thermal cup and enjoy it until it’s gone.

Kabocha…yum. One of my most favorite ways to prepare it is to cut it in 1/2" wedges (like slivers of the moon), dip it in a simple batter (egg, flour, water & salt) and fry. Oh my!

For the spaghetti squash, cut in half length-wise, scoop out the seeds and goopy stuff with a spoon, fill the center with water about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way and cover lightly with flat microwave cover or a piece of plastic wrap. Place on a micro-safe plate (like a dinner plate) and nuke for 5 min. in at least an 1100-watt oven (rather than the little 700-watt ones). Let it sit for a couple of min., then dump the water out. It will be super hot. Scoop out the “noodles” with a fork or pair/tongs, load it with maybe a half cube of butter, generous with the salt, some black pepper and parmesan – to taste, of course.

[Sorry all for taking this off-topic. I’m done.] :upside_down_face:

Addendum: I’ve made some yummy cakes and deserts with flour and sweet rice flour in the micro.

1 Like

It was pasta that I made. I didn’t know that you’re supposed to add water when you reheat food in a microwave. Thanks for the spagetti squash recipe.

I do reheat rice in the microwave. I actually spritz it with water before zapping. That works pretty well. Mr. SMT will add butter too if I am not looking.

1 Like

I have 3-cup and 5-cup rice cookers but we don’t consume but maybe 1/3 cup of cooked rice at a time these days (watching carbs). It’s silly to make such a small amount and have a bunch sticking to the pot so I will make the small pot capacity, pack individual serving portions and freeze. The Dollar Tree has 1/2 cup plastic containers with lids, 4 for $1.00.

To serve, I add about 1-2 tsps. of water in the rice, loosely cover with the lid and nuke for about a minute, 'til hot. Perfectly steamed rice as if freshly scooped from the pot. Been doing this for years.

2 Likes

Not one person has ever used the griddle. The olive oil spray just sits there, untouched. It’s part of a cute retro unit by the Nostalgia company that I have on top of a Haier dorm size fridge. They definitely use the the coffee pot and the toaster oven parts.

I have a microwave and an electric kettle too, on a serving cart next to the fridge. Sometimes people like that amenities are there but never use them. Only a minority of my guests use the washer/dryer combo. Also, oddly, nobody has ever made the microwave popcorn. And I guess the Quaker Instant Grits packet is just plain scary.
I was looking at adding a small hot pot cooker or induction cook top, but then I’ve got to deal with spatter and smoke, right? I tiled part of the wall behind the kitchenette, but I think I would want to replace one of the window lights with an exhaust fan if I provided more cooking potential – more handyperson work for me!
Instead, I buy mac&cheese in a microwaveable cup and ramen on sale, in addition to continental brekkie and the other snacks. I am about 1/2 mile from the nearest grocery, but I get a lot of people arriving at weird late hours or leaving at 5 a.m. to catch flights. My guests are blown away by these non-gourmet treats. They all eat the cheese sticks and the chips.They could actually survive for a day or two without visiting a restaurant or grocery.

3 Likes

Oh, and a separately plumbed washing up sink outside the the bathroom (I ripped out a second closet). I could not imagine my guests having to rinse strawberries or something in the bathroom. Yuk. That extra sink also gets a lot of positive comments.

1 Like

It’s misleading to call that a kitchenette. You would at least need a toaster oven and a hot plate or burners. That sounds more like a dorm room set up to me.

Thanks all for the responses, and especially for reading my full question/post.

As I’d mentioned there, I suspected this would disappoint guests. That’s confirmed now.

This hasn’t seemed a problem to me, or to the guests who’ve done this over the last several months. But thanks for bringing this up, need to think about it.

I’d want to avoid any extra work of them handing out dishes for me to do on a regular basis. I’m trying for this to be hands-off for me once I’ve checked them in and provided all this stuff. But still, the idea of a dishpan is interesting…

Glad you’re with me then! :slight_smile:

Wish I could do this. I’ll have to rip apart half the place! :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I personally think a kitchen should have at least a heating element and a sink. We have a pod coffee maker, toaster oven, mini-fridge and kettle as well as cutlery, plates, cups and glasses, so we called it a kitchenette.

Our very first guests pointed out the difficulty in washing dishes in the bathroom during an extended stay and recommended we offer paper plates or provide access to a proper sink. We didn’t want to have any shared spaces, so we added “room service”: Guests are asked to leave their used dishes and food items on a tray outside the suite when they leave for the day and we clean and replace them for their return. The silver tray we use was one that hubby’s grandparents buried in the back yard when the Nazis were rounding them up for the camp so it makes for an interesting story. Guests love it.

5 Likes

Did you charge extra for this? This is probably easier if you can use a dish-washer, mine’s now become a storage cupboard lol.

I might think of the paper plates though it’s a recurring cost - maybe I’ll just keep some and offer it only if I sense guest not keen on washing up.

No, we don’t charge extra. It’s to our benefit because they don’t leave food scraps around that attract bugs.

1 Like

Oh my gosh, finish the story. How did they survive? Were they liberated by the Allies? Did they immigrate?

I would filter for a microwave!!! I don’t cook!! But I like to heat up leftovers and my coffee if it’s gotten cold.

1 Like

Ha, I reheat my coffee in the microwave all the time. I guess I’m weird. I am a caffeine addict and will take it any way I can get it pretty much LOL.

2 Likes

I reheat YESTERDAY’S coffee in the microwave. Totally addicted.

1 Like

(urrp!)

The good news is that the microwaves will kill the mold.

2 Likes

We have no kitchen but are fortunate that our place is in easy walking distance of downtown and restaurants. We literally say “why would you want to cook?” and then have good photos that show the microwave, mini-fridge, coffee maker, etc. We also provide a LOT of information and phone numbers for take out/delivery places. We have just the bathroom sink but I do provide a small folding dishdrainer. But then I also provide paper cups for coffee and paper plates (in addition to actual mugs and plates).

1 Like

Guests (non-first-timers) who checked in recently were expecting access to the kitchen.

My response: “When you were looking to book, you actually looked for a place without kitchen before reserving mine.”

Her facial expression turns as though she just saw her exam results and she’d flunked.

I then mentioned each Airbnb place was different, some have a jacuzzi some a pool, it’s what they choose. They mutter an “Oh, it’s ok”, let’s see how bad a rating they give me.

They were East Asians. I mention this not because I want to be racist but I think those cultures place a lot more value on cooking food - although for a 2-night stay, I can’t see why it should be that disappointing.

2 Likes

What does this mean? How do you know the search criteria that a guest used?

1 Like

I didn’t mean they explicitly looked for a place without kitchen. But implicitly. I’m tired of people booking without reading, coming here expecting kitchen access, and then rating me down - or even the risk of it.
So, this is a way of saying ‘Read before you book’.

Correction - typo in my post above: Not checked for, looked for.