What do you leave in the refrigerator for your guests?

Answered!
Elisa
Community Manager
Community Manager

What do you leave in the refrigerator for your guests?

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Hello everyone 😊

 

Today we want to invite you to share your experience on what you leave in the refrigerator for your guests. We have noticed two major trends:  

 

  • Some hosts decide to leave basic items like ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and water.
  • Others prefer to keep the refrigerator completely empty to give a clean feeling to new guests.

What kind of host are you? Maybe you decide not only to offer the basics, but also some additional food items, such as fruits?🥝

 

Tell us in the comments how has been your experience leaving food in the fridge.

 

Regards,

 

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1 Best Answer
Robin4
Top Contributor
Mount Barker, Australia

@Elisa 

A couple of things come into play here.

A/......There are remote hosts who can't spend the time or money on supplying anything other than a rentable space and for many guests that's all they want! They don't want host interaction in any way.

B/.......Then there is the host who is personally involved with their guests, and for these hosts there is more likely to be a hosting experience involved and guests that choose these listings do so for that experience.

 

I fall in the latter category and I have done deals with a number of the local traders which enables me to offer a wide selection of condiments for my guests.

Every guest gets a cheese plate, eggs and bacon, fruit juice, a bowl of fruit, milk, sparkling and still water, a bottle of wine, crackers and nuts, cereals, bread for toasting, tea and coffee. 

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plus a range of spreads, pepper & salt and personal wipes and sanitizers.

 

Sure I go overboard, and if a guest had to supply what I provide it would cost them around $50-$70 but, as I said I am a bargain hunter.

When cheeses and other perishables get close to their use by date or get a bit pulled around in the display cabinet they either go in 'Robs Box' out the back or they go in the supermarket dumpster. I never pay more than 50c for a cheese, a pack of bacon, a carton of fruit juice. And the wine costs me nothing, it was part of a wine shipment the Chinese government rejected in 2020 and got written off to insurance. Here is my current stock of 28 dozen, and it didn't cost me a cent, so every guest gets a bottle of wine! I have enough wine for 5 years of hosting

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Although it looks an amazing spread, my average cost per guest night is less than $7.50.

Some guests will clean me out, take everything with them when they go! Their rationale is, 'we are paying for it we might as well take it'!  Other guests (mainly overnighters) will use nothing, and then there are those in between that will use just what they fancy so, the cost to supply all this is pretty minimal.

It all goes to form part of a welcoming homely type of hosting. It won't be practical and doesn't suit lots of hosts........but it works well for me!

 

Cheers........Rob.

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61 Replies 61

Yes.  I try to have things that I would like as a guest.  I have never been to an Airbnb that didn’t have bottled water, coffee, & some sort of snacks.  & we haven’t stayed at “high end” ones either.  

Susan1188
Level 10
Marbella, Spain

Elisa,  I would like to weigh in on a few points about this.

(1) LEGAL and TAX implications in certain markets
In some markets, if you start providing food and drink this is REGULATED.  It could also make you pass from a "short term rental" into a "hotel similar" tax bracket.  So you should inform your Airbnb hosts to check with local guidelines and tax laws what they can provide.

(2) ALCOHOL is often regulated and in some areas the host could be in trouble legally if providing alcohold beverages for guests; Guests MENTION THIS in reviews which AIRBNB does NOT ALLOW to be deleted;  So a host could follow your "best answer", provide wine or beer, have a guest mention it, and be in trouble with the law years later.

(3) CULTURAL differences are surely to be considered, we have guests who would not welcome pork products or alcohol in the refrigerator.

(4) Food safety regulations differ in every country and area, but what Airbnb hosts should know is if they provide something once (champagne? home baked brownies?) the guest may mention it in the review and this could come back to haunt them years later.

So before providing anything check with your local rules, regulations and tax authorities.

Sorry to be a party pooper,