Clarification on essential amenities: Hosts can choose

[Airbnb]

Earlier this year, we announced that hosts will soon be required to provide a specific set of amenities in each listing that we consider “essential” to a comfortable stay.

Since then, we heard it was impacting some hosts’ ability to host successfully. So now, we’re giving you the choice.

You can choose whether or not to include the essential amenities in your listing. Having said that, we strongly encourage hosts to include them. Guests come from regions all over the world, and many tell us is that these five items are the minimum that they expect to find in a listing.

The five essential amenities include:

Toilet paper

Soap (for hands and body)

1 towel per guest

1 pillow per guest

Linens for each guest bed

We’re currently exploring the best way to keep guests informed about which amenities are provided in each listing so that accurate expectations are set.

Please, only select the Essentials option if you really are providing those items in the listing. Keeping listings as accurate as possible is a really important part of building trust with guests and setting you up for success as a host.

Listings that have Essentials selected but don’t actually provide the five items listed may be subject to penalties, including removal from Airbnb. 

Read this Help Center article for more details on essential amenities.

Thanks for being a part of the Airbnb community and for everything that you do to provide great guest experiences!

[Chantal6]

Hello,

yes, I agree that the host, especially the superhost, would know best when it comes to "essential" amenities in their area. Our rooms have electric kettles and drinking water; our suite has a microwave, a refrigerator, an electric kettle, dishes/cutlery and a corkscrew. As a host for over 20 years, I have learned to adjust to my guests needs and know what is required for their comfort.  I realize that  countries have different views on "essential" amenities.

It is very helpful to have amenities listed one by one for clarity.

[John1080]

As a guest, I personally would expect linens and towels in any property I would visit with the exception of a special accomodation such as a camper trailer or such. 

In my property, I provide such items and would provide them whether they are required by AirBnb or not. That said, I feel the property owner should make that call and guests can choose whether they want that service or not and if the host does not supply such items, they can look elsewhere or perhaps make a special request to the host whereby the host and guest can work something out for a particular stay. 

[Lizzie]

Great to see you like this update @John1080. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

[Karen-and-Will0]

I strongly believe having the choice is the best way to go since this issue can be different by region.  Now with my opinion on Airbnb’s question aside, this question came up a year or 2 back and I will share here what I generally shared there.  My 2 entire homes are in a beach town where no linens provided is the expected norm.  However, to gain the competitive edge I provided organic linens.  At first I gave the option and asked guests if they would like them.  Everyone said yes.  So we took that out and just started providing them along with a “starter pack” of toilet paper, soap, coffee, etc.  Most guests stay a week and number around 7 in a group so we didn’t want to supply for the whole week since the consumption varies from group to group.  Since providing the linens and starter pack became the norm for us we communicate it again prior to check in through a template “welcome” letter.  Some guests express surprise that we supply these things.  One guest even showed up with her own lines and was surprised she didn’t need to use her own (another guest who didn’t read the listing 😉

Perhaps in addition to having the choice to offer or not maybe hosts who don’t provide could add places to acquire linens in their area within their listings so that guests who expect them have a resource.  Hope this feedback is helpful

[Lizzie]

Lovely to see your post here @Karen-and-Will0, I hope you are both well. 🙂

It's so interesting to hear your experience with this and how your guests reacted to having this. You are so right, it seems to be slightly different all over the world and this is difficult in a way for the guest to know what to expect – it's nice you have addressed this in your welcome note. 

I like your idea here. How do you think could work on the site? 

[Charmaine1]

Airbnb means different things to different people. 

Perhaps its time to categorize and market different Airbnb listings  so each host/guest finds their own niche?.

Has Airbnb not alrerady started doing this with its  AirbnbPLUS selections?

To belong to the PLUS group you have to meet the category requirements Airbnb stipulate - if you dont you can't be listed. Simple.  

Having sub-categories means  no surprises  - it is clear what is on offer and what is not supplied within that category. No disgruntled guests, 

There could be Camp Airbnb (ie no linen /bring your own sleeping bag) , Beach Airbnb (host supplies beach umbrella/ chairs/ suncream/ beach towels) Family Airbnb (home has baby crib, child safety plugs, or dangerous drops in the home ) Airbnb BUDGET (hostle style where you have several beds in one room and shared ablutuons etc. 

There could even be AirbnbWILD (if you have that tree house, igloo, or lighthouse, old car or something outrageous you've transformed into a living space).

There is a market for everyone because people want and expect different things.

Airbnb certainly cannot be thinking 'one glove fits all"  - thats Booking.coms job!

which

[Lizzie]

There is so much 'food for thought' in your comment here @Charmaine1. 🙂 

Do you think there would be lots of overlap between the different categories, especially if there are different options in your listing? 

[Patrick79]

Whenever I travel in Ireland, or anywhere else in Europe or the USA, I expect linen and soap/toilet paper to be provided. These days you cannot fly with shower gel, shampoo etc-and I am definitely not going to be flying with linen /towels/pillows. If your 'area' does not provide them, or you feel you 'know' your guests better than airbnb, then you should state that your listing is suitable only for people in your area. Airbnb is worldwide, travelers come from everywhere, i have always provided linen/towels/soap- if guests bring their own, which has happened twice, they can use theirs if they like-they never have.  Airbnb is not a hotel service, it is also not supposed to be like regular rentals, it is welcoming people to our area, and making them feel as at home as possible. I have been hosting since 2014, and have over 300 reviews, a 95% occupancy rate.

[Lizzie]

Thanks @Patrick79 for sharing your experience when travelling and as a host, it's really insightful. 

I believe, as I've mentioned elsewhere before, it's  important to manage expectations and that guests know what will be available for them, this way they have the choice whether to book the listing or not. Now there is a tick box on your listing, this should make it easier for guests to see what the host is providing. 

Do you think this will help your guests when viewing your listing?

[Stephen341]

I'm not so sure what the big problem is here. We have never provided these essentials because in our area we do not. If someone is flying in and asks me if I would, that is not a problem. I'm sure most hosts would. We just don't want to be forced to all the time. Thank you airbnb for recognizing this and correcting that.

[Lizzie]

Great to see you are pleased to hear the update @Stephen341. 🙂

[Liz418]

We have been providing holiday accommodation since 1992 and it never occurred to us not to provide bedlinen and towels.  It is expected here in the U.K. And I would expect to find beds made up and towels provided when I go away.  Yes, it all has to be changed, laundered and ironed but that is what guests expect.  We are in the hospitality industry - the clue is in the name.

We also provide loo rolls, cleaning materials, etc.

[Elaine243]

Totally agree. I host Airbnb in an area (The Lake District) where the competition of professionally run self catering properties, B&Bs and Guests Houses all provide bed linen, towels, soap and toilet paper; I prefer to go one better rather than be sqeezed out of the market. As other hosts mention, it’s all about knowing your market.

[Helen591]

I agree entirely that providing essentials such as linen and towels should be optional according to local practices.  Our chalet is in an area where many guests do not expect linen and towels to be provided as standard and laundry costs are very high.  Our guests want to have the choice about whether they bring their own and keep their holiday rental costs low (many of our guests are travelling on very tight budgets and around 80% drive to our chalet from their own homes so have no issue bringing their own bed linen and towels) or have us to provide for them at a higher charge (for those coming from further afield).  This should not affect the classification of the chalet in any way - it just gives our guests more choice.  Like many of the hosts commenting above we provide many family amenities including children's toys, DVDs, board games, sledges, use of garage for storing skis in the winter and bikes in the summer, washing machine and dryer, bbq and parasol for the large terrace in the summer, microwave, dishwasher, oven, hob and so much more.  

 I would also like to see more choice with the cleaning - that guests can choose if they leave clean and tidy themselves or they wish for us to organise a cleaning service for them.  This allows those travelling on tight budgets to keep their costs low. 

Ideally all this would be completely transparent to the holiday makers so they can make their selection either at the point in time when they are making their booking or retrospectively.  (We have guests who book 9 months in advance which is the maximum we allow in order to secure the chalet for their holiday dates).

We are not running a hotel service - we are just looking to rent out our much loved holiday home when we are not using it ourselves - and want our guests to love it as much as we do. 

[Hilary104]

I am amazed that linen towels and toiletries not provided.What kind of profiteering is this?

I would be embarrassed to have guests arrive bringing  their own supplies.

When I stay airbnb myself admittedly only in Europe,I have always had those essentials provided.

Even hostels such as YHA in Britain have excellent provision of these items.