Today's Airbnb guest arrives with sky-high expectations. They're not just looking for a place to stay, they want a home that feels like a hotel, without the hotel price tag.
They expect a king-size bed, fluffy towels, fast Wi-Fi, a local guidebook, and, of course, a pantry stocked with every imaginable treat. Heaven help you if there's no tea. Even worse if there's no coffee. Some guests will knock off a star for far less.
Then there's Italian law.
Legally, I'm not running a hotel. I'm simply renting out my property. And that's exactly what I'm allowed to do: rent a home. Nothing more. I can't serve breakfast, offer snacks, or provide drinks, not even as a complimentary gesture.
Many hosts do anyway. They leave sealed coffee pods, cookies, jam, long-life milk, cereal, everything factory-sealed, untouched, and seemingly harmless. But they do so at their own risk. If a guest were to become ill, that small act of hospitality could turn into a legal liability.
In fact, during inspections, some Italian local authorities have ruled that properties advertised on Airbnb were operating as unlicensed accommodation businesses rather than simple rentals because they consistently provided packaged food, drinks, and the little hotel-style toiletries guests have come to expect.
Once you line up coffee pods, cookies, jam, and single-use shampoo bottles next to the kettle, the line between a private rental and a hospitality business suddenly becomes much thinner than most people realize.
To cross that line legally, you need a completely different type of authorization. You must register as an approved accommodation business such as a bed and breakfast - file the required paperwork, comply with food hygiene regulations, maintain a food safety management system, complete any required food-handling certification, and ensure full traceability of any food you provide.
It's one of those uniquely Italian paradoxes. Guests judge your hospitality by whether you leave them a coffee pod. The law, on the other hand, may see that very same coffee pod as the first sign that you're no longer just renting out a home.
