The Coffeemaker

[Michelle53]

Hi all,

I recently had a guest complain I have no coffeemaker.  Yes, ok, I'm still "steamed" about that. Pun intended. 

When I first set up my Airbnb space, there were a number of things I considered carefully. 

1. How to provide some very basic refreshments, in line with the Chicago regulations regarding providing food to guests requiring a food handling certificate and inspection.   

2. How to deal with keeping items cold in summer and warm in winter, in such a way as to not encourage "bugs" from my outdoor space (garden)  encroaching into my indoor space. 

3. How to keep cleanup and "sanitizing" of utensils between guests, per regulation, to the minimum, since there's so much to do already.

4. Preferring not to encourage food preparation, but, rather, having folks go out for meals, while trying to provide a level of convenience. 

With all that in mind, I provide a small refrigerator, microwave and electric kettle for boiling water, and single-serve coffees and teas.  

I also try to be as environmentally friendly as possible, which isn't easy given guest expectations, so the idea of a "Pod" type coffeemaker is unappealing, due to the vast amount of plastic waste generated by single use pods.  I don't use one in my own kitchen - I use a French press. 

I could, of course, add yet more wording to my listing description regarding kitchen appliances, but since my listing does not offer a kitchen, and the amenity "coffee maker" is not checked, I'm not certain that would be of any use anyway. 

Any constructive suggestions, anyone ?    

[Sarah977]

@Molly38  Of course it counts as a coffeemaker. A coffeemaker is anything that is designed to make coffee in. That's not to say some guest might not complain about it- guests can complain about virtually anything. Thy could complain that you provided a Mr. Coffee drip machine instead of a Cuisanart. You can't worry yourself about that.

[Daphne70]

@Michelle53  this is a very interesting topic because good coffee is vitally important for me personally.  I have considered providing a French press but have been wary about going ahead for two reasons. Firstly,I have the cheapest Airbnb in our area, not self catering, and can only accommodate two people so there is the additional cost to consider. Secondly, there is no kitchen sink in the unit so guests would need to wash the press out in the bathroom basin and that may make a lot of mess which I could lose stars for if they felt inconvenienced. I do supply good quality instant coffee and Ceylon and rooibos tea, fresh milk and rusks. The pod machines are very expensive in South Africa and I cannot justify the expense.  

[Michelle53]

Hi @Daphne70    I'm from South Africa originally - been in the US 25 years. Oh - coffee and rusks 🙂    It's been a really long time since I had that.  I do buy good Rooibos tea here, though.  

Price is also a consideration for me - I attract mostly short-stay "value" guests, due to my location, so I don't want to over invest in appliances, or make more work for myself.   

The idea of what constitutes great coffee is very subjective for people. There's a good coffee shop 5 minutes walk away, so I try and encourage folks to go there. 

[Helen350]

@Daphne70 Like you, I provide the cheapest accommodation in the area, in my case private rooms in my own house. I can't justify expensive machines, & have the same washing up issues - my kitchen, which guests can use is downstairs, bedrooms & bathroom upstairs. So I offer a french press (metal, double skin) in my kitchen & coffee bags (like tea bags, only coffee) in the bedrooms. 

[Robin4]

@Michelle53 

Oh Michelle, there is a certain type of guest out there who will tell you, no matter what you provide, it will not be good enough, or there won't be enough of it!

I am beginning to wish I didn't have to accept bookings from guest couples in their mid to late 60's! It doesn't matter that you provide them with......... a comprehensive cheese plate, an electric bed with 6 motors in it. full clothes washing and drying facilities, with laundry powder thrown in, a heated and cooled ducted air filtration system, eggs, bacon, fruit juice, chocolates, a beer and a cider in the fridge, even a bowl of fruit! All of this and heaps more for $90 per night!

There was still these little things I had managed to overlook

My last guest left me a note........

OK, lets look at these things in isolation!

1/......A bit more butter. I provide 1/4 of a block of butter for each guest, enough for about 8 slices of toast of which I provide 6.

2/......Tomato sauce......really, how many listings provide tomato sauce as an amenity? Where do we stop there, should I get involved with Ranch dressing, Balsamic, a bit of Soy sauce....as it is I provide olive oil, pepper and salt, never thought I would get pinged for overlooking Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)!

3/.....Paper towel, yes, it was there, a full roll of it, right next to the dish cloths in the bottom draw! Look for f***k sake!

4/........Some way of adjusting the shower head, There sure is! There is a lever on the shower head that lets you adjust it from a waterfall to a fire hydrant.....maybe I need to paint it red so it is a bit more visible!

5/.......Oh boy, I just love this one.....Yellow or white strips on the two steps leading to the bathroom. Can you imagine walking into the Savoy Plaza and there is safety strips all over the floor surfaces, jeeeeeeezzuuus!

6/.......Handrail to get off the 'bog'! Well I will give the guest that one, I had not thought of it before and no guest has ever mentioned it before but, a legitimate bit of feedback. I am not sure I need to be pinged because it is not there but, I take the comment on board and you can rest assured, before next weekend there will be a disability grab rail there for assistance in removal from the toilet!

7/.......Cloth for wiping down.....oh she did actually find that.....but still missed the roll of paper towel next to it!

8/.......Box of tissues, there were actually 2........ a small travel pack next to the flowers on the bathroom bench and another next to the snack and sandwich maker on the lower shelf in the kitchenette! Perhaps they were not where she would have ideally liked to have seen them!

*

She did have some nice things to say but I have this feeling a less than 5 star review is on it's way!

Michelle, we do our best, but sometimes our best is not good enough.

What you can be sure of, with 173 beautiful reviews behind you, that guest's comments will say far more about the guest than it says about you......Move on possum, you are better than that!

Cheers.......Rob 

[Michelle53]

@Robin4    Thanks so much for posting this - you made me laugh, this morning. So needed a bit of levity !!

[Helen350]

@Robin4 How rude!  - I too have received the suggestion that I stick yellow or white tape on my step to the kitchen! Grrrrrrr........!

[Helen350]

..... and as for "cloth for wiping down" - I got a 1* cleanliness review from some nutter, with a complaint about the PRESENCE of 'cleaning rags' on the bath! (It's a shared bathroom, I have to give guests the means to deal with spillages, not hide them away.)

[Dimitar27]

Espresso machine,  "Moka pot", one regular  "Turkish coffee maker" and  some instant coffee packs.  That's all, what i have.

The single use pods are environmental disaster.

[Zappa0]

That note with the tomato sauce is crazy.

I just had a guy mark me down and saying "we need some photos of the inside of the boat in our listing" there's 25 photos and a slew of them are of the inside. Click the arrows.... 

He also Wrote "late host" because his flight arrived after the check in window, so he didn't bother booking that night. He booked the next day instead, then marked me down for not checking him in the day before his booking took place, and outside our check in window. "You should have offered to check in after your booking window." Are you serious dude? If a store closes at 5pm, should it magically know that you expect to have VIP shopping privileges after hours? 

This coming from a guy who I sat down with for over an hour to answer any and all questions he had because he was thinking of living on a boat. Sure man, I'll make time for you since you are thinking about buying a boat. And then he knocks us for stupid things like that.

And that is why I STOPPED READING REVIEWS. It is the MOST FREEING THING EVER! Seriously...try it!

Just don't care about the reviews guys! Most of the people on here area great hosts and we need to realize that people will ALWAYS find something to complain about. We can never make them all happy, and obsessing over little things people right is just stressful. And if we lost SUPERHOST status -- who cares! Unless you have a ton of AWFUL(like completely hideous) reviews most people will book anyway. 

Also, this is my last season doing this so full disclosure I'm a tad jaded 😉

[Michelle53]

I think I'm going to take your advice and stop reading them too 😉   I lost superhost status at some point in my second year. I'm forever grateful - meeting those goals was beyond stressful !

[Sarah977]

@Robin4  If you provided Ranch dressing, they would complain that there wasn't a selection of French/ Caesar/Honey-Mustard/ Italian.  Or that it wasn't low-cal. Or that it wasn't organic. Or gluten-free.

I'm sure you'll be keeping your eyes peeled for a good deal on cartons of tomato sauce now 😉

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Henry and I prefer Starbucks Via (instant single serve) over bad drip coffee from old, stale grounds.