How many towels do you leave for guests?

Jenny
Community Manager
Community Manager
Galashiels, United Kingdom

How many towels do you leave for guests?

towel content.jpeg

 

Hello everyone!

 

Today, I’m here to discuss towels.

 

They come in all shapes and sizes, some are soft and fluffy, some are rough and worn, and the bathing experience would be pretty uncomfortable without them.  Unless you like air drying!

 

As we all know, guests come in all shapes and sizes too, and they all have individual needs and expectations when they book a listing. Some might bring their own towels, but others might prefer the convenience of having towels provided at the listing. After all, they’re bulky and take up valuable packing space.

 

I’m curious to know if you leave towels out for your guests!  How many?  What kind?  If you don’t provide towels for your guests, feel free to chime in and let us know more!

 

I’m looking forward to hearing your answers!

 

Jenny

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39 Replies 39

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

 

I wonder if those Eco Egg things come in unscented versions? I keep meaning to try them out as they are supposed to be a much more sustainable alternative to fabric softener...

I don't know about anyone else, but I hesitate to use anything chemical on my fabrics and in my appliances. Laundry detergent is plenty imho. I use fragrance free, septic system safe good stuff, and it doesn't give me a rash from folding towels ands making beds. Thus, I conclude the linens are guest safe as well. 

@Huma0 @Jenny 

I provide hotel slippers and also bathrobes. Potholders and towels in their kitchenette - Terry towels, hand towels, dish and glassware towels as well as washing dishes cloths. In our own kitchen which guests are able to share, we provide a lavish amount of everything. They also get to use our hand forged Dalstrong Shogun series knives,  and amazing cookware, with choice of gas or induction. 

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

 

As a homeshare host, I have pretty much everything guests need in the kitchen. It's easy for me as I would have this stuff anyway. However, guests do tend to ruin pans. That's another topic though...

 

The robes I can see being appreciated but also maybe not expected and adding a lot to the amount of laundry, especially when someone hosts a lot of short stays. I'm still undecided about that one. I guess there are more lightweight versions that would reduce the bulk of washing/drying costs, but they are not the same as the thick, fluffy, hotel style ones...

@Huma0 

I'm a home share host as well, and we have everything in the kitchen that anyone might want, and more. We rarely eat out of the house since it is so far to get to town. 

 

Our guests are so excellent in the kitchen - they are at least as - or more than - we are with respect for our pans, knives etc. This is a very foodie region and we get folks who are appreciative. They also clean the kitchen better than we do, so we love it when our guests use our kitchen. We also get cooking lessons! Our guests are extremely culturally diverse, so we get so many good cooking lessons. 

 

Our robes and other linens are the fat fluffy hotel style ones. True we pump our water from our very deep well, and do all that laundry. We figure that our guests are worth pampering. Unexpected is good. Pampered is better! Spare nothing to make our guests feel like royalty. 

We may not qualify for the fancy categories on the platform, but we supply all those goodies anyway. And we are Sustainable, green and solar. 

 

Now, if they would just put us and our FL Wright design house in Design category, we could raise our rates!

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

 

It sounds like you get a really high quality of guest. My guests don't intentionally mistreat the pans but, as the vast majority of them are quite young, I am guessing they are either not that used to cleaning up after themselves yet or just not used to having nice kitchen stuff. Who knows?

 

That being said, a current guest bought me a new pan for Xmas to replace one that had been wrecked, only she bought a much, much smaller one and I already have enough of those! She also bought a plate to replace a couple she had smashed, but rather than a dinner plate, she bought a very pretty small decorative thingy. I guess it's the thought that counts though. Most guests do not bother replacing damaged stuff at all.

@Huma0 

 

My guests are all amazing, not really young, and appreciate what is in my kitchen. I provide Cordon Bleu dishes for them, in their kitchenette, none has ever  broken. Very occasionally a wine glass breaks, they are so fragile anyway. I polish their glassware to a bartender's shine with the correct cloth. I'm more likely to break stemware. 

 

We have Zojirushi electrics, hotpot/shabushabu and even my heirloom cast iron is respected. My guests really know their way around a cook's kitchen. I've no worries!

 

Sad that you've had crazy things happen to your pots. And it is the thought that counts. We were staying with a family in Taipei, broke a plate, and had so much fun cruising the market stalls and shops to find a perfect replacement. A great day out and about.

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

 

Yes, I definitely appreciated the thought. She thought about the colours and what would go with the decor in my kitchen, so it was very sweet of her.

 

I want to have high quality pans, but each time I buy one, I just know it's not going to last. These pans come usually with 5 or 10 year warrantees, sometimes lifetime ones, but they get trashed pretty quickly.

 

My mum bought me a set of lovely copper pans a few years ago, but they are still stashed away in the dresser as I don't want my guests going anywhere near them!

 

One thing I will say though is that the guests never seem to touch the Le Crueset, or other cast iron pans, probably because they are so heavy and look very posh, so those are still unscathed after years. I only have a couple of them but have ordered a third...

@Huma0 

My bestie is a chef, and has all the finest everything. He is a sushi chef, does private events and cooks up a storm in a dozen ethnicities at home. Yes, they wear out! He gets new pans about once a year. He turned me on to the Dalstrong knives. They are hand forged in the traditional fashion, and are well balanced in the hand. When well maintained, they are effortless to use, they are so sharp.

 

My guests get huge smiles when I offer the use of my good stuff in the kitchen. It is just stuff, and I can buy more if needed. So far everyone honors and respects the fine craftsmanship that produced them. That is pay ack enough.

 

I feel sorry for the excellent cookware that is stored away.  

I use all the good dishes that are "special" and also the handmade ones. If I don't they'll end up in the Senior Center thrift shop when I'm gone. I just hope whoever gets my "left behinds" doesn't stash them away, but uses and enjoys them. 

 

 

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

 

A lot of hosts argue that it's not worth putting expensive things in a listing as they will just get destroyed. Of course, if you are a homeshare host, it's a different matter, because you don't have a whole different set of stuff for guests to use as opposed to what you use... at least I don't, and you don't want to hide all your stuff away in your own home.

 

I would of course use the copper pans, but I just know they are going to get trashed almost immediately and they are expensive, but also a gift, so I am a bit more touchy about them. So, it's not about NOT using things. It's about not letting guests use them!

 

I wish I could trust my guests with all of these things, but I have learnt from experience that I can't. Of course, a pan that is being used by a chef is going to get more wear and tear, but I'm talking about new or nearly new things being ruined by carelessness/cluelessness after a use or two.

 

With the pans, it's most often because people scratch them with sharp implements. It's also from not washing them properly and then letting the grease cook in over and over... I don't know why people don't wash pans properly, but I would say it's more common than not!

@Huma0 

That's so sad!  I'll bet these are people who don't cook all that much, and are not experienced with the various tools. Some places the street food, restaurants & markets are so excellent and so available that busy people don't cook.

We have high temperature silicone tools for the pans, no scratches. I guess you need to rewash the pots? My experience is that high quality things last longer and are harder to damage. Alas! As for rewashing - I do hand wash dishes from the guest dishes supply, their dish drainer, and I polish them. 

Again, I wish you better cooks in your kitchen!

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

 

Yes, I am often rewashing pots and pans (and putting glasses etc that the guests have attempted to wash in the dishwasher). Sometimes though, guests will reuse a greasy/dirty pan before I've spotted it and then the damage is done!

 

RE scratchy implements, well, you'd think it would be common sense, but I had one girl trash a brand new ceramic pan by using the pointy end of the chopsticks to stir. I think it's quite common in some countries to use them as cooking implements, so it's something I have to keep an eye on!

 

Also, if guests are used to an electric hob, that can be an issue. One couple were destroying my pans and I had to ask several times for them to be more careful. I couldn't understand what they were doing. One day I noticed that they had the gas on really high and were not watching or stirring the food, so they were basically burning the food at the bottom of the pan every time, and then couldn't wash it off properly, so would reuse it like that. 

 

They weren't experienced cooks. They told me they lived off ready made gnocchi back home, but I had recommended Hello Fresh to them, so suddenly they were cooking up a storm, but had no idea what they were doing!

@Huma0 

As I pictured the situation. Alas! I feel for you and your distress. 

@Jenny 

For a one or two night stay I leave two bath towels, a hand towel and a washcloth per person. I also leave three more sets of the same in the cupboard in the bathroom, plus 2 extra bath mats. I like a bath towel and a hair towel (same as bath towel) for myself, so my guests get what I personally prefer. I also leave a 4 pack of extra toilet paper and a roll of paper towels, plus 2 boxes of extra facial tissue in that cupboard. On the toilet I leave 3 extra new rolls of toilet paper. Extra sets of bed linens are in that cupboard, and 2 bathrobes hanging. I leave 4 extra bed pillows and 3 extra blankets and quilts. All my linens are plush, oversized and highest quality available. We provide a king bed for guests, so all bed linens, quilts and blankets are oversized. Linens are natural fiber as are quilts and blankets. Mattress and pillows are double covered with waterproof, dust and bug proof covers under the linens. 

Lorna170
Level 10
Swannanoa, NC

@Jenny   1 bath sheet, 1 bath towel, 1 hand towel and 2 washclothes per registered guest.  Additional hand towels are left hanging on the rail in the bathroom(s).  4 sets extra bath towels, hand towels and washclothes stored in the bathroom closet.  

 

Guests are of two varieties.  Some guests will use 1 towel during their stay, while others will use every towel and washcloth they can lay their hands on, including the stack of kitchen hand towels and dish clothes.