Kitchen staples for guests

[Lisa8805]

Hi, I'm just wondering how many hosts leave kitchen staples, like flour, honey, etc. I think one of the nice amenities of my home is the well equipped kitchen. I know that my family and I like to cook together in homes that we've rented and appreciated the staples left for us to use.

[Kimberly1281]

Though it depends on listing, I’ve always found people really appreciate (along with coffee, teas, etc) instant oatmeal packets and those little single serve almond milks. Even in a bnb surrounded by restaurants, sometimes travelers are in a hurry and oatmeal is so quick and easy:) 

[Kelly2344]

Hey all!  Our cabin is somewhat remote so we do provide all cooking utensils, from grilling to baking, and our guests truly appreciate it.  We also supply non-breakable cups/plates, etc. and a full set of nice dishes and glasses along with serving ware.  As far as condiments, we provide the basics, as well as spices, stocked coffee bar w/ pods, teas, olive oil, etc. and a lot of our gests bring and leave what is not perishable.  We don't have an issue with expiration as most items are used quite frequently and appreciated.  We throw out whatever is left that can expire or would not be sanitary to use, such as milk.  

[Lin29864]

Hi there!

We only provide the basics coffee maker and kettle for tea, coffee, green tea, sugar, creamer, salt and some spices. I also provide some water, pots and pans, cutleries.

We haven't had anyone cook a meal yet but they do use the essentials that we provide which makes me happy. Most of them order in to eat even though we have a stove & oven.

[Kevin3628]

I leave coffee, tea, individual sugar and sweetener packets, olive oil, salt and pepper, spinning spice rack. I used to leave big bottles of condiments in the fridge, but I felt it was a little gross and finally stopped that. I compromised and bought individual condiment packets in bulk from www.minimus.biz. But to be honest, I think they look a little tacky and I will not resupply those in the future. I leave a 12 pack of bottled water in the fridge, and I feel it's a much cleaner look without anything else in there.    

[Kathleen1065]

I agree with Lisa, it depends on the listing and what they are willing to offer.  Tin foil, cling wrap is always helpful.

[Maureen685]

Hi - I leave the basics - tea, coffee, milk and sugar sachets, salt, pepper and cooking oil spray (all specifiedil in the listing). It's up to guests to supply anything over and above this.

[Alex]

Hi @Lisa8805! 

Hope you had a lovely day. 🤗

I'm happy to see that you got a lot of answers in your post from members telling you what they leave for their guests. Did you check their answers? Do you share ideas with them? 👀

Let us know what do you think! 

Alex

[Ken3951]

Good evening

There are of course thousands of vacation rentals in Myrtle Beach.

I,do not know of a single one that supplies any staples. This is probably related

to costs, liabilities, etc.

Ken

[Maria22946]

Hi Lisa,

We just started our Airbnb so are very new. We have a Keurig +a variety of k-cups, tea, stevia & single serve creamers for all of our guests. They are restocked after each guest stay by our cleaners. This is only my personal opinion...I have very specific brands/quality that I prefer for the types of things you listed so I likely wouldn't use what was provided. So based on that we have chosen not to stock those types of items. I do believe though that there are guests who would appreciate and enjoy having those things available! Our kitchen is fully stocked with dinnerware, cutlery, pots/pans, plastic storage containers for leftovers, bakeware and a variety of other useful kitchen utensils. We also have a toaster and blender.

Hope all the input helps. I have enjoyed seeing what others have posted...helps me too! 🙂

Maria

[Karun27]

Hey Lisa! 
Wishing you well on your hosting journey and if you are being careful about the things that your guests would appreciate, it shows that you would be a great host on Airbnb 🙂 

Now coming to the staples, you can first stock up on inventory yourself about everything you think the guests might want and appreciate and keep it in a compartment/a part of your home which is accessible by you and the guests, this way you can get a better idea of what your guests need the most after a few days and what all they will appreciate. 

While being a host to more than 18 listings for the past 4 years, I firmly believe that knowing your guests and what they want is the best way to keep improving the hosting experience by small bits every now and then, this would help you grow a lot and make better relationships with your guests! 

I hope it helps

Wishing you loads of success on your hosting journey 

[Lilian-Lucy0]

Dear @Lisa8805 my listing usually has family visits. And I found that basic tea, coffee, sugar and salt are very much appreciated with a few spices. I recently had a family come in at night travelling with a young child and I left a snack box of a few goodies and included some hot chocolate for the young one.

[Ken3896]

Like others say, it is up to you, but we only leave the simple things to eat with like sugar, salt & pepper.  Other cooking type items and creamer we leave to the guest.  We do leave coffee also as a nice convenience.

[Lauren456]

I have salt/pepper, farm eggs. But I tell guests beyond that they need to pick up anything they may want. I actually had a guest one out of a hundred say NO to the eggs. I agree it is difficult to know the dietary needs and that gets into a crazy spiral... cream no cream non dairy, nut milk the negotiation goes on.   I often will put a few sparkling waters in or smore s because we are an outdoor nature experience it just depends where i am at the booking in my inventory or if they are a celebration etc. 

[Lujain3]

Hi @Lisa8805! I totally get that having staples is convenient, but I’m not comfortable leaving containers of flour, sugar, or coffee, etc.. I prefer sealed, single-serve options (like sugar packets) to ensure everything is fresh and clean. Hope that helps explain my approach!

[Lorina14]

@Lisa8805 

I guess it depends on your location, price point, who stocks it (cleaners, you, as to keep track of stocking can be a problem if you live far away or have someone manage it for you), and more.

We provide organic sugar, stevia, teas, 3 different types of coffees, hot cocoa packets, olive oil, sesame oil, salt/pepper grinder, basil, thyme, oregano, cinnamon, hot pepper flakes, garlic powder, ginger, bay leaves, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, individual packets of creamers, honey, maple syrup. I think that’s it… some people have left behind things that were unopened and we left it but one needs to be careful if it’s alcohol as the next guests were underage once (19/20) and I didn’t know and just left the alcohol in the fridge or any unopened item would expire soon. We do not have a large kitchen space in our garden suite so we have limited our kitchen supplies to a toaster oven, microwave, water filter, electric tea kettle, coffee bean grinder and coffee maker, and the essential kitchen pots/pans/utensils, pizza pan and cutter, wine opener/beer bottle opener, mini whisk, shot glasses, wine glasses, a full set of dishes, potholders, foil, plastic wrap, disposable containers for food storage, grilling utensils for the grill outside, and some gallon, sandwich and quart plastic bags.

I remember how it’s hard to travel with all the spices you need to cook - I usually brought salt/pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce wherever I went if I was going to cook and we drove to the Airbnb - sometimes I brought a hot plate and a single pot/spoon to cook with if the place had a kitchenette only. Some places we have booked didn’t even provide salt, pepper, or oil - I think that’s along with garlic powder are basics to provide at a listing. But everything is negotiable depending on your listing and your target market.