Beverages for guests - is cost effective best?

[Jenny]

Hello everyone!

There’s nothing nicer than a rest and a drink after a long day of travelling. I’m sure your guests feel the same, whether they’ve come from the same country or from further afield!

As someone who loves a nice coffee after reaching their destination, nothing makes me happier than seeing a selection of hot and cold drinks on offer.  Everyone’s got their own take on it though - for sunnier climes it might be more appropriate to offer water or juice.

There’s also the matter of budget!  

I’d love to know your thoughts on beverages for guests.  Is it cheaper to buy tea bags or bottles of water in bulk?  Is there a concern that an over enthusiastic guest might liberate the supplies when they leave?  Ground or instant coffee, budget or brand name tea bags? Tap or bottled water?  Do you offer anything more exotic?

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Take care!

Jenny

[Laurelle3]

@Jenny a choice of beverages to offer the traveller can be endless but can be difficult for hosts when making a choice to implement.

For me, I put a fresh bottle of tap water in the fridge on day of arrival. Fortunately, we have clean running water in our area and was voted No 1 for NSW state this year.

I leave 3 types of tea (Dilmah, English and Earl Grey sahets)

3 types Asian tea(Jasmin, Mint and Lemon sachets).

Coffee pods (Decaf, strong, medium, weak and Chia).

Mocconna/milk sachets.

Instant Moccona coffee and Milo (chocolate)

There is a Lemonade tree ( a cross breed fruit between a lemon and orange) in their private garden that they can also use. 

[Jenny]

What a wonderful selection @Laurelle3 - I think you've got everything covered!  Milo isn't very easy to come by in my area, but I've developed a taste for it as a breakfast drink, when a tub pops up at the local supermarket.

I hadn't heard of a Lemonade tree before - how lovely!  Is the fruit suitable for simply juicing and drinking?

[Patricia2526]

Hello @Jenny 

We offer our guests locally sourced snacks.(banana chips), bottled water, locally craft beers,  we also provide cereal, oatmeal packets and coffee and tea supplies. 

We buy local,  it helps in building a strong and resilient local economy, it also helps to preserve the local culture and promoting cultural exchange. Yes! We buy them in bulk to get them discounted.

I also leave them a hand written note welcoming our guests  and expressing our excitement to host them. 

[Jenny]

How lovely @Patricia2526 - it must be so nice for your guests to have a hand written note to welcome them - a sweet personal touch.

Local craft beers - what a great idea!  Buying local is such an amazing way to support the local economy, as you say.  

[Cathie19]

Hi @Jenny @Patricia2526 & @Laurelle3 

I think beverages on offer depend on “what you are” as either an LTR or  STR, and how your guests arrive.  For us, most of our guests fly in to the city and rent a vehicle. This includes interstaters and internationals. So, as we are a family friendly homestay space, we try to make it more like a tidy sample cupboard from home…

Often guests are arriving late in the day or even during the night, so no shopping time is immediately available to them to grab what they need.

Like Laurelle we have great running tap water but we are also in a climate that is always hot. Just add wet season & humidity or dry season less humidity, depending on the time of year.

In the fridge: chilled

So we have two x one litre bottles of tap water in the fridge and we also supply a sealed 500ml bottle of water per guest. This way, if they want, they can reuse the bottle and refill as they tourist around the city, or visit landmarks or go further afield. This is as much about safety in the heat as offering a chilled complimentary drink.

They'll also find 2litres of basic orange juice (no pulp) for breakfast as well.

In the cupboard:

teas:    As a variety of travellers use our premises, we offer small plastic containers each labelled with a variety of teas. I usually leave about 10 -12 bags in each container.  They are English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Peppermint, Lemon & Ginger, Jasmine, Chai and also green tea. Sometimes branded, sometimes not.

coffee: There is always instant coffee, usually something decent like Mocchona. Plus some good ground coffee to use with the electric coffee drip machine or the portable French press plungers. We did have an expresso machine in the past, but I’ve gone for simple since. A coffee connoisseur will enjoy the plungers and I have an aversion to using pods. But that’s just me! Lol…

There is also either some chocolate Quik or Milo for adults or kids depending on the shopping. Sometimes drinking chocolate if I know they also don’t drink tea or coffee.

We also leave a few basic apples etc in a bowl in the fridge, but we don’t make fresh juices on arrival as they can purchase them at our many local markets, or they can buy their more exotic fruit themselves, and make use of the blender also left in the space!

It’s not something that many people comment on, but it’s there and I’m sure it helps with comfort and our reviews.

[Jenny]

It sounds like you've got everything covered there @Cathie19! Glad to see someone else with an aversion to pods, I try and avoid them wherever I can, if there's a plunger then I'll use it!

[Doris439]

Very helpful. 

Thank you

[Ted307]

@Cathie19 Do guests use the blender often?

[Jennifer3056]

@Ted307 My place, they use Blender , water kettle and toaster. These are more used. We also have Rce cooker,and pressure  cooker.

[Cathie19]

@Ted307 The electric kettle, pop up toaster and microwave are always used. But for the blender not routinely; but I do here it sometimes, depending on our guests. We upgraded our own so it was no biggy to place it in the cupboard. Things like that, as well as some baking items and a basic rice cooker do get used. Separately from the microwave containers and saucepans/frypans. 

[Lionel286]

Respondo no como anfitrión sino como viajero.

Hace poco fui a la Ciudad de Querétaro, México; llegue cansado de manejar por un poco más de 3 horas y con el estres de un evento al siguiente día.

Para mi hubiese sido genial poder tomar una cerveza o un café al llegar. 

Lo único que encontré fue una gran botella de agua, lo cual se agradece, pero un detalle más lo hubiese agradecido. 

[Paula]

Hola @Lionel286 Bienvenido a nuestra Comunidad 😊

De acuerdo contigo, al llegar luego de un largo viaje, una buena tasa de café ayuda a recuperar fuerzas. Creo que acá estás dejando un tip importante para nuestros anfitriones.

Te invito a que explores también nuestra Comunidad Hispanohablante donde puedes conectar con anfitriones de México y de muchos otros países. Acá te dejo el link:

👉Comunidad Hispanohablante

Saludos,

Paula

[Ana30551]

Hi I am new in the community. 
Our private room is mainly used for airport transfer as either arriving on a flight or overnight to go onto a flight.

We usually have coffee sachês, hot chocolate and tea with both brown sugar cubes and or sweetener. And we provide also a water jug than can be drinkable or to top up the kettle. 

[Paula]

Hello @Ana30551 and Welcome to our Community Center 🙂

These options sound great! When traveling, whether arriving or departing, all I want is coffee or tea. I'm sure your guests are very happy to find this option available at your place.

Paula