I always provide fresh milk (and I mean fresh, it’s pumped from the farmer’s pasteurising station up the road)... but it’s not really the point. Hosts provide what we say we provide and for each of us that is different and depends on what is available, at a reasonable price, in our part of the world.
Guests are notoriously bad at reading listing details, thus some come with expectations of their own making, from their (sometimes limited) experience in using Airbnb... or even travelling. Oddly, the worst guests I’ve had are those who travel regularly and have wild ideas about what should be provided, based on whatever they have seen... whether it was in a 5 star hotel or not.
I often have guests who arrive after 9 hours driving or 18 hours flying. So many arrive late, tired and hungry... they even get agitated about it... it’s insane. For this reason I have started keeping a pile of Instant snacks I can prepare and offer them for $10 per person. Check out my listing, you will see it listed there under “upgrades”. Luckily in NZ, being compensated by visitors for offering food in a private residence is outside the scope of NZ food licensing laws, although liquor licensing applies so we can’t sell them a bottle of wine. Check out your local laws before offering cooked, unwrapped food. It’s nice to know what you can and can’t offer.
One thing you could do is provide an “honesty box”. A friend of mine (in the middle of nowhere) does this. She puts all manner of food snack items and even bottles of wine in a cute little wooden box with a sign saying “take an item, leave an item”. The idea is, if people arrive late, hungry and unprepared, they can dip into the honesty box to fix themselves a snack, then replace items when they have had time to visit a supermarket. This takes the pressure of you and means you can’t be caught by any food licensing laws, plus you are making it clear about what you provide (and what is extra). Apparently guests really like this approach. It’s different than a hotel minibar because you are effectively saying “I expect you to swap things back in but they don’t have to be identical”, as opposed to the unofficial, sneaky restock approach to avoiding minibar charges... (oh c’mon we’ve all done it).
Guests apparently love this approach for wine. Also, if they don’t replace an item, you can leave a subtext on the sign saying they will be charged. This is different to selling liquor because it’s charging for “theft” technically... neat little loophole 🙂
