First long term stay.

[Jodi-A15]

I have a question.  I have the month of October booked by one guest.  Just wondering.  Do other host leave a months worth of TP, paper towels and laundry detergent?   I’m thinking no that’s on the guest but I also would like to hear what other host do for long term stay guest. 

[Brian2036]

We usually keep the house stocked with enough to last at least a month but we’ve rented short term many times and most of them provided one roll of TP in each bathroom and one roll of paper towels in the kitchen.

Often nothing more, no soap, shampoo, tissues, nada.

We do provide some extras but if someone is going to be there for more than two days they need to provide for themselves. 

In my opinion most of us are providing too much and creating an inflated sense of entitlement.

[Jodi-A15]

Thank you!

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Jodi-A15  I've never accepted more than 2 week bookings myself, but a lot of hosts, if not most, would provide a starter amount, say for one week, and expect the guests to take care of the rest. It depends somewhat on whether they got a sizeable discount for the longer booking.

But it seems to me like something you need to figure out before accepting a long term booking, not after. And then make the terms clear to the guest before accepting. If the guest is expecting certain things to be provided, only to be told after the fact that they won't be, that could lead to disgruntled guests and a bad review. 

[Jodi-A15]

Thank you!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Jodi-A15 

I used to host a lot of long term guests who were exchange students, so they stayed anywhere from 1 month up to 5 months as a guest in my private room listing. I state in the listing description that basic amenities such as TP, soap, shampoo, body wash, kleenex, paper towels, clean hand&bath towels (2 hand + 1 bath towel per week) are provided throughout the guest's entire stay. We also allow guests staying longer than 1 week to do 1 load of laundry per week for their personal clothes, detergent+softener is provided. (We handle laundry for all guest bed sheets/covers and towels to ensure they are washed to our standards) The expense and effort to provide all this is reflected into our nightly/monthly rate (even after weekly/monthly discounts are applied) and in the end it's easier for both us and the guest because we are home hosts. 

Many private home hosts seem to provide a starter kit and if the guests needs more then they need to supply themselves - if this is what you plan to do, make sure you communicate this to guests in advance and very clearly on what and how much is provided. 

[Jodi-A15]

Thanks so much! 

[Bruce-And-Patty0]

@Jodi-A15 This is a good question.  Before my husband and I became hosts, we stayed at an AirBnb in South Carolina to attend a wedding (there were 5 of us staying there).  The place was beautiful, but the host left ONE trash bag, ONE pod for the dishwasher, no laundry detergent (which we did not expect anyway) and NO extra toilet paper.  I thought it was odd...until we became hosts.  We have had guests help themselves to toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, dishwasher pods and Tide Pods that we left in our supply closet (which is now locked).  When I say "help themselves," I do not mean they used what they needed for their stay.  I'm talking about a couple of guests who took our entire supply to bring home with them.  It was then that I realized why the South Carolina host did not leave ANYTHING extra.  

When we have guests staying for a week or two, we try to leave as much TP and paper towels as we think they may need.  If they need any beyond that, they need to go to the store.  However, we had one guest contact us to let us know they had run out of TP and could we please bring them more.  We live almost an hour away (if there is no traffic).

[Lori2496]

I have a triplex in California. My county does not allow a unit to be AirB&B for under 30 days. Does anyone have any experience with only allowing long term (more than 1 month) bookings? I am concerned what my rights are if the guest doesn't leave. From reading other posts, it sounds like AirB&B has some licensing powers to help get them out, but I am worried long term guests might need to be evicted like regular tenants. Evictions are very hard to do in California with all the Tenant rights and COVID pretty much has banned evicitions for non payment. Any advice you have I would be grateful.

[Brian2036]

@Lori2496 

I would be extremely worried about it too.

I guess I would either go into the long-term 12-month lease business or sell out to someone foolish enough to want to do that.

 I used to stay in RV parks in California years ago and I still remember how adamant they were about limiting my length of stay to 29 days. You WILL remove yourself on the 29th day or they will remove you.

 I seriously doubt that Airbnb is able to do anything about removing unwelcome guests, particularly in California.

The fact is that California wants to put you out of business and if this little trap doesn’t do it they will think of something else.

I’m wondering if there is some way to legally avoid the minimum length of stay requirement. After all, there are hordes of “time share” schemes, with millions of dollars behind them, and I doubt that they are going to get shut down.

Maybe you could turn your triplex into a timeshare but retain all the “temporary deeds” yourself? Then you could offer “prospective buyers” a few days to visit for a modest cleaning and service charge.  NOT RENT. NO SIR, we definitely do not charge rent, ever.

It would take a California attorney to set this up, and I suspect that someone is working on it right now.

Good luck. You will need it.

[Stephanie2086]

These posts have helped as far as supplies are concerned. I'm having my first long stay (2 weeks) and what I'm not sure of is if I should change sheets and towels? Or, if I provide these items, should they replace them themselves? I've provided a hamper in the room, so if they fill it with dirty sheets and towels, is it my responsibility to wash them?  It's really just the sheets and towels I need to know what my responsibilities are.

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie2086  I get lots of 2 week bookings- I personally don't consider them to be "long stays". Long stays are generally considered to be a month or more because they are usually heavily discounted and the guest becomes more of a tenant.

Yes, you should deal with the sheets and towels. (If guests wash these, they often end up stained beyond redemption, as guests won't pre-treat stains).

I offer clean sheets and towels after 1 week. I ask the guest if they would like me to remake the bed or if they would prefer to. My experience has been that they all say they'll do it. So they either prefer their privacy or don't want me to bother myself with it.

If I get say a 10 day stay, I'll offer clean stuff at the halfway point, 5 days. 

[Stephanie2086]

Sarah -- Thanks so much for the advice! I really appreciate it.

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 @Stephanie2086 

Yep, pretty much what I do.

I offer long term guests two options. They can either change the sheets themselves, in which case I supply them with extra clean sheets and towels at no extra cost. Or, I can clean and turn over their rooms (including making up the bed) for a small fee.

Funnily enough, I find that female guests usually opt for the former, while male guests usually opt for the latter 🙂

[Stephanie2086]

Oh! So you charge for changing the sheets? Never thought of that. How much do you charge?