Supplies for longer stays

[Kimberly719]

Hello fellow hosts! I am both a STR host and LTR (furnished) host. I have a condo with a minimum stay (per HOA rules) of 30 days or more. It has rented well, but I usually have a traditional lease and my guests for the condo come from another site. I’m hosting a couple for 36 days from Airbnb soon and I’m wondering should I supply them with enough dishwasher pods and laundry pods, refills of toilet paper, paper towels, etc to get them through their stay? 

 I usually supply tenants who are staying for 3 to 6 months with a few extras so that if they want to do laundry or make a meal right away they have supplies, but they have to replenish. 

[Ted307]

@Kimberly719 

I have stayed long term, and we bought our own supplies like those. I would give a few loads of soap, tp and such. Unless your machine requires special soap. I once had a small front-load washer that needed He soap that was more expensive. I supplied it to keep tenants from wrecking my nice washer.

[Ted307]

@Kimberly719 

You might need to make a note on your listing for long term renters that this is the expectation in your listing, people seem to be very entitled lately! I would never expect a longer term rental to provide all the TP I could use in a month, but with some people you need to cover yourself, if you get my drift! You might print our the house rules, with this info and other things they need to know, and leave it in the unit.

[Kimberly719]

@Ted307  great point! I’ve never done a stay longer than 2 weeks at an Airbnb, so it’s good to hear what others are providing and not. 

I also feel like long-term travelers have their own personal preferences for TP and consumables. 

[Ted307]

@Kimberly719 

We have rented cabins for the summer, some through AirBnB, some independently. None have provided these things in more than a few days quantity. But, we do not want a guest to claim "not as advertised" and collect a refund, when you do not give them free TP for a month!

[Huma0]

@Kimberly719 

It's really up to you. A lot of hosts just leave a starter pack for longer stays. I have supplies for the duration, even if they are staying for months, but then I host in my own home, so obviously we are not going to run out of toilet paper! However, that also goes for anything else I include in my amenities, such as tea, coffee, sugar, salt, pepper, oil, soap, shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

I find that, apart from toilet paper and dish soap, most long term guests don't actually use that much of the other stuff and usually will buy their own. In fact, they often leave these things behind so I have to buy even less of them.

The most important thing, as @Ted307 mentioned, is to make it clear on your listing if you are only supplying a starter pack and they need to buy their own supplies after that. It's all about setting expectations. Under promise and overdeliver... Never the other way around.