The tissue monster

[Zacharias0]

I have four long term guests and oddly enough some have no other plans outside of nesting in their rooms during their stay. These types of travelers no matter how many questions I ask  just seem to come with the terriority. How someone comes all the way from Europe as a couple to sit in the room is beyond me. Ive invited them out to no avail.

What I have noticed is that this group of seperate travelers  makes quite the mess and wakes up at the same time almost daily. Ive had to sleep at my friends place because of their walk abouts, early laundry sessions and door slamming during the morning hours. 

Ive had to clean my kitchen and bathrooms daily which ive never had to do before. While cleaning the bathroom Ive noticed in the week theyve stayed with me Ive went through no less than 5 rolls of tissue. Everytime I clean in the morning another roll is down to the brown cardboard and the spare is missing. In fact, it seems the tissue is disappearing at a faster rate than before. Anyone else notice this with their guests? Should i switch over to the 1 ply economy tissue? 

[Lawrene0]

For a short while many years before Airbnb, I travelled for work and stayed in youth hostels. (Cool job, dismal pay.)

I met those types. They took the biggest step in their life in flying to North America, only to spend six months clinging to safety in the lower bunk of the first place they booked.

I think they have always been around. You are right, @Zacharias0: they come with the territory.

I was only a brief roommate then, however, and not a host, so I don't know whether it came with overuse of toilet paper. 

Probably budget stuff is best for this bunch. Have you tried the trick where you flatten the roll before putting it on the holder? Slows down the rolling action and reduces use. Really does.

[Amy-and-Brian0]

"Tissue monster" - love it! 🙂

We've had only one person complain there wasn't enough toilet paper. We left them more than 4 double rolls for a 2 night stay. That's 8 full rolls... They complained there wasn't enough in a review - even though when we got there, there was still toilet paper on the roll! 
Plus there's a convenience store literally 100 yards from the front door where they could get more if they needed it. 

Some people just expect full Ritz-Carlton amenities.

The person staying with us today just complained that 8 towels plus hand towels and washcloths wasn't enough for 4 people for a 3 night stay. Plus we give them free washer soap and dryer sheets just in case. Not sure there are enough towels on the planet for someone like that...
No satisfying all people I guess.
Bracing for the "not enough towels" and a 4 star review now.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Zacharias0

We switched to economy TP very early on. At first we just used the same stuff Henry and I use - we always get 4-ply premium TP but our guests would go thru more alone than the two of us combined AND considering that Henry works from home....... that's a lot! The impression we got was many of our guests were not familiar with premium TP so they'd used the same length as they habitually use. 

So now we keep 2 different types of TP in our closet and we let guests use as much TP as they want 🙂

Based on our observations, of course if someone is home more they will probably use more amenities but if you get someone with really wasteful habits it won't matter how much time they are actually home. One of my long-term guests who spent the least amount of time at home actually racked up a pretty hefty water bill and probably used a record amount of TP & kleenex.

And we also have had guests that spend most of their time at home. Also......cook and eat almost all 3 meals at home. Henry and I can't imagine staying home all day when you've travelled half way around the world but.......oh well~~ as long as the guest seems happy to be staying with us we try not to mind. 

[TracieandJason0]

@Zacharias0 It sounds like you've kind of spoiled your guests and now at this point they have these expectations of you... using as much tolietries as they wish, not cleaning up after themselves, etc. I personally would just keep dealing with them but perhaps politely remind them that although you feel honored that they chose to make your house their home during their vacation, this is also your home and not a hotel and request that they please pick up after themselves more and be courteous to their shared space with you. In the future with long term guests, maybe you can think of some house rules that you dictate for them different than you would for usual short terms guests. These guests are staying for a extended period of time and start to become more like tenants than guests. Clearly state expectations to your guests ahead of time to avoid this kind of headache later. Maybe you can tell them you will only provide tolietries for the first week or two. Maybe ask that they only use laundry facilities between the hours of such and such.... Maybe you'll have to lock the basement door or closet access to the laundry, etc outside of those hours. I'm not sure but you can dictate preventative measures to your guests that ensure the best experience for both parties. 

[Sarah977]

@Zacharias0  I bet if you checked out their rooms (I'm not suggesting you enter the guest's private space, though) you'd find they have a roll of toilet paper in their rooms as well. That's probably how so many rolls disappeared so quickly.

If I were doing long term rentals, I think I'd make it clear in my listing description and when the booking takes place, that long term guests are provided with toilet paper, soap, shampoo, etc. for the first 2 weeks, and that after that, they need to supply their own. And make sure you don't have a 12 or 24 pack anywhere the guests can access it, or they're likely to raid it and stash a bunch of rolls before the 2 week mark rolls around 🙂

[Pete28]

They are stealing it and reselling it roll by roll on eBay 🙂

[Daniil3]

It all depends on the amount of time that they're staying at your residence. 

I've only had one experience like this and it was mostly due to the person being sick during the stay. He arrived in the evening and the next day woke up with a cold. 

Of course, you can't control these types of situations. Economically speaking, the difference in premium tissue and sub-par is very minimal (maybe a $1.50/$2.00). 

So unless the guests are staying for a long time, I would stick with the premium.  😄 

[Sarah977]

I think that if you supply thin toilet paper the guests will just use twice as much, so no savings.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

they have a fetish for toilet paper  , they eat it, wrapp in it.. who knows...  😛 :)))

[Niel3]

Haha when I started letting my rooms out I was warned (tongue in cheek) by a hotelier friend about how much toilet roll his guests go through - and he was correct. In my en suites I always have a full roll on the holder and one spare & often after a 2/3 night booking the spare is on the holder and down to a few sheets. The stockpile is in my main bathroom which is shared with the other 2 rooms & the pile goes down daily. I'm slightly gobsmacked about it all. 🙂