My last guest has taken my towels.

[Tanya120]

I have had a number of guest taking my towels now I have have non because my last guest just took the last that I have. 

Now I have non to give to my next guest and I live on an Island so I'm unable to buy new ones... But why should I have to do this!!

[Helen3]

Hi @Tanya120

How odd, I've never had guests take towels. If you don't have any friends locally who can lend you some, it sounds like you will need to take a trip over to the mainland.

It was rather risky of you to only have one set of towels for your guests because of possible damage or loss.

Contact the guests who took the towels. Say they must have inadvertenly packed them and could they either return them or send you costs of replacing.

If they don't answer or refuse  you can open up a request for payment through Airbnb resolution.

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Hi @Tanya120 People can be so strange! We've lost a few items as well - towels, 4 bottom sheets (??) and a few Henckel knives. It all comes with the territory of being an Airbnb host I'm afraid. For the towels, you will need to quickly find a way to access some towels for your next guests - they will definitely expect to have towels & will mark you down if not. It's likely best that you make the trip to the store ASAP to really stock up and then leave only as many as necessary at your listing, and keep the extra supply with you to replenish as needed. You can put in a claim through the resolution Centre for the cost of the towels, although I'm not sure how successful you'll be. Airbnb may see that as the cost of doing business, akin to wear & tear like stained sheets. Best of luck with it - Karen

[Julia66]

@Tanya120  Hello to the Isle of Skye from the Isle of Luing!

Really bad luck that you've had towels stolen, twice.  It must take you more than a day to make a round trip to a towel shop.  As others have said, collect some towels - your own or friends'.  Apologise to the guests if the towels aren't matching/big/fluffy and maybe leave them a little gift like locally made soap or shortbread.

Some hosts raise their prices a little so that they can cover costs like this.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Tanya120 

just to let you know, kitchen and bath towels do get stolen quite often. If you are far away from the shop then buy more and stock for such situations.

Maybe you could contact your next guest, explain the situation and ask him to buy few towels on his way and then you buy them from him.

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Tanya120 always be “prepped and ready”. Amazon is your friend in this business. They ship fast! Then build up your stock when you see it on sale or when you take trips. Everything in sets of threes. Three sets of sheets and linens for every bed, three sets of towels for each guest staying in the house(bath towel, hair towel, wash cloth and pool towel), that’s 18 “sets” of towels I have on hand minimum because that’s what my guest expect. The extra bed sheets and linens also allow for quick turn overs. Housekeepers can just grab all the sheets and laundry for offsite cleaning or when you have more time. Oxyclean and pinesol get out most stains. Pinesol cuts through the grease in stains, let it soak overnight for best results. You always have to be looking to restock your home. If you see they are giving away samples, done, it’s going in the rental. When the towels go on sale, I grab them by the stack because we go through them but when you get the cost down to barely anything, it’s all included in the fee the guest pays. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Rene-and-Zac0

This host isn't based in the U.S.

We are an international forum so many of us are not within easy reach of an Amazon delivery.

In this case the host lives on an island off Scotland so it's a long trip to the mainland to get to the shops and similarly deliveries take a while.

That's why I and an another UK based host suggested borrowing from friends and keeping a stock.