Charging for additional amenities?

[Adele46]

Does anyone charge for additional amenities, sort of like Homeaway does? (They have a pantry, sort of a minibar system, of sorts)... We offer a number of complimentary amenities, and as an ecofairtrade listing, we’ve thought about offering more, but charging for the additional items (more sustainable toiletries and some organic foods)... Thoughts? And if so, any ideas on how to implement?

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Adele46

We don't charge for some of the items you mention (or more correctly we build it into our pricing). The only thing I can say is they should purchase them in advance and you bill them via the platform. Otherwise you may end up out of pocket - there are many posts on here about hosts who provided extra items then struggle to get paid otherwise.

Once a booking is confirmed you could email them with a list of optional extras: eg Breafast basket, or lunch basket etc.. Not sure you will make much money on it as people will not be prepared to pay over the odds. But its a nice service to offer if people are arriving late etc..

[Adele46]

Seems cumbersome, eh?

[Barry-and-Lera0]

@Adele46: We leave coffee, eggs, a few beers, wine, fruit, snacks (chips, pretzels etc) for the kitchen. Bathroom there is too much to list. Everything from earplugs to single pack aspirin. Overall we leave a lot of amenties and people love it. We do not use a housekeeper so our cleaning fee goes toward stocking with extra amenities. We aren't big fans of nickel and diming people for every little thing so we just set a high nightly rate to compensate for any additional costs.

[Adele46]

Thanks! That’s helpful. We used to do that, as well, but couldn’t set our rates high enough to compete in Atlanta. Just thought it an interesting idea,since Getaway is doing it and they sre super successful... (and are similar to our shipping containers). 

[Adele46]

I wrote Homeaway and meant Getaway! Sorry!!!

[Terrill0]

We have a woodfired oven that we are planning to offer for guest use. We'd like to offer a one time charge to cover that, as it is an "experience" of sorts...It would also be so nice If I could see it in the reservation so that I confirm with the guest and plan for it...I hate sending a "request for money" blah! But getting it all set for guests with wood, tables and special tools is, I think worth it!