Essential Amenities: Missing Soap

[Graham146]

I've noticed that I've had a few 'missing soap' resonses left when being reviewed.

We have liquid soap on every sink in the house. Soap in the shower and on the bath. Face wash, shower gels and shampoos in the shower. They are not hidden and completely obvious to anyone that uses the facilities.

Is there a different exepctation for what we should be offering? Am I completely missing something?

[Kath9]

@Graham146, maybe you're just completely missing that a lot of guests are twats 🙂 Anyway, I have all this too, but I also provide a jar of guest soaps in the room, just to make it really obvious.

[Rubén16]

I also had a "Missing soap" response in one of my reviews, and just like yourself I to have soaps in the sink, shower, and extra in the bathroom shelf. So what I started to do was to include  "plenty of soaps" for your use as part of my introduction when guests arrive and  I welcome them to my cottage.

(No more missing soaps thereafter:)

[Cathie19]

Hi @Graham146. Are your bottles labelled? 👀  (I know........)

alternatively, you can place an unwrapped soap in the vanity or with towels. Generally, most people leave them and use the liquid soaps and gels. But beware, I have camper travellers who sometimes like to stock up, so always make sure you provide enough, but not excess.

[Graham146]

That's all good advice.

I just messaged the last guest to ask about the supposed missing soap. Apparently she saw all of the soap and gels, it just wasn't the type she wanted to use. 🙄

[Sarah977]

@Graham146  Unbelievable. I guess we all need to ask our guests pre-arrival what exact brand of soap, and liquid or bar, they prefer and run right out and buy that now? Likely to be some designer soap at $8/bar. And woe to us if that's not available in our area.

I used to work for an arts organization which booked bands to play for dances. Often they would send a "rider". One rider specified that we were to provide a large bag of M&Ms (plain not peanut) and a carton of xxx brand cigarettes. We had a good laugh about it and ignored it.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Graham146

I am speechless....

we buy toiletries in 1 L package and refill our plastic dispensers with them. Every dispenser has the same self adhesive label we designed and printed. So, no logos, no brands, nothing... just big bold black letters  SOAP, SHOWER GEL, SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER  so guests can't miss them.

No complains  🙂

And btw we use containers with the smallest hole we could find so they last long 🙂

[Graham146]

That's a pretty good idea. I think I'll give that a go.

[Emilia42]

@Graham, do you have bar soap? Just a guess but when I think "soap" I think a bar of soap. Liquid hand soap and body wash are in different categories, in my opinion. I would never complain about this but maybe some guests think the same. 

I am assuming you are seeing this in your reviews when guests are asked a series of questions about what you provide in the listing at the end of the review process? Maybe they are doing the review quickly and they're recalling that there was no bar soap in the shower ... therefore clicking no soap? Just a thought.

[Graham146]

We put a bar of soap on the bath, one in the shower, 2 different shower gels and liquid hand soap on each othe 2 sinks. It's beyond me why we get that type of comment.

[Inna22]

@Graham146 

A guest messaged me that she could not find dish soap. I said it was on the kitchen counter. She replied that she saw that but it was hand soap. When she departed, I looked at the bottle and it said: hand soap-brand name- dish soap. I took a picture and sent it to her. Put a lot of smiling faces after not to look combative but wanted to make sure she does not give lower stars. I wonder, does not become an idiot as soon as one leaves their home to travel or are most people that way?

[Clair14]

Phew! I’m glad it’s not just me. I leave a little basket of unwrapped soaps, new razor, new toothbrushes, shower caps, sewing kit , shampoos etc right on the hand basin next to shower. My guest did not even ask me for soap, yet felt compelled to mark me down a star because of it? A) just ask B) it’s right there on the bench.! Anyhoo, I now leave an unwrapped bar of soap in a soap dish next to the basket . 🙂  now to find out more about why our location is an option for grading ......

[Chris232]

@Inna22

Its getting to the point where guests have to be assumed to be an idiot.

Or

as my young son would say "If they had a brain cell they would be dangerous"

my eldest would retort with "If they had a brain cell they would be classified as a plant"

Which ever, am just glad the younger generation have an imagination

[Inna22]

@Chris232 

Your sons are hilarious!

[Rachel0]

@Graham146 No, you aren't missing something and you have great reviews.  I provide individual tubes of body wash and shampoo plus a bottle of M & S hand soap and matching body lotion by the bathroom sink.  My most recent innovation is to provide individual boxed shower caps in the hope that they will cut down on the amount of hair that gets left in the shower and so far it seems to be working.  Do you point out the toiletries when you are doing the walk around with the guests on arrival?  That might help.