Thanks for your reply. It's helpful to know what others do
1) I've had some people stay five nights and want to wash two items (seperatel loads of white and dark) a day.
I have changed from free to only free if staying a week stay and a £10 charge a load for less than one week stay. Is this more or less what you do?
It's mainly I just want to discourage it. I do nightly lets. With two rooms. Two loads a room. I don't have washing and tumble drier time to start washing guests clothes for short stays. It takes three hours to wash and dry one load. That's 6 hours of washing each room.
Do you let them use it the entire time or from night four?
2) I did this. I put selection of cereals out that go away after breakfast time and put bread slices out to see frost in person in communal fridge.
People took all the extra bread slices intended for other guest/other days, left second guest with nothing.
So I've bought a toaster and put two slices of bread in their own fridge in their room every day.
They then raid the communal fridge in kitchen for anything they can find. Or come and ask for extra bread at all hours. I feel like bread police. I may need to stop the bread. It's just asking for sandwiches extra toast and because it needs to be frozen I can't easily store it
3) I didn't allow it. I offered tin foil. Or washed takeaway box I didn't care about.He took tupperware from where he knew my stuff was and then vacated with it
4) I do it because I don't want them using my £600 heat pump drier breaking it( which has happened before and couldn't be fixed) or putting one thing in the washing machine on a three hour cycle blocking me from washing bedding when I have a quick turn around for rooms and no where to store loads of dirty laundry.
I'm happy to try and accommodate around my own washing. But the cycles take too long for someone to start taking over my machines which happens when you give free reign and also people wanting to use the machines late at night on the last night of their stay and then I have to baby sit the stuff through three hours when I've been busy all day. It's too much hassle for no reward I find.
I'm hoping the one week stays free. Less than one week, £10 a load charge focuses their mind on if they really need to wash constantly on a short trip
Also, deter those from even booking want who turn up with a small carrier bag and drop their clothes the second they arrive wanting the washing machine because they want to travel light and only book places with free washing machines
(this happened constantly. I was stunned that every three night stay wanted clothes washed the second they arrived as I had assumed no one would need to wash for a week or so. Evidently not
I'm fairly new to this and only did it in winter season before to UK guests traveling for work or to and from France in the ferry. Never any issues..
The summer international holiday guest is whole different animal it seems