What would you say to a guest who is demanding bottled water?

[Julie143]

The tap water here is safe to drink. Whether or not it’s delicious is a personal preference. I drink it, but am not picky.

For anyone who doesn’t care to drink it straight from the tap, the fridge has a water and ice dispenser in the front. Both are filtered. The filters are changed religiously. I also put a filtering pitcher in the fridge.

If someone *really* wants bottled water, there is a nice grocery store that is a 3 minute walk away. 

The guest is saying I should include bottled water. They haven’t said anything specific is wrong with the tap water, or the filtered water from the fridge or the pitcher. They just think I should have given them some “as a courtesy, like in a hotels and the other 2 Airbnbs” they’ve stayed in.

Well, I don’t like bottled water. It’s a waste of money and natural resources in places with safe tap water.

[Anonymous]

Recycling a plastic bottle is better than simply chucking it into the sea, so I wholeheartedly encourage it. But even if that 10 cent deposit guaranteed that every plastic bottle got recycled (Rom Howard voice: it doesn't), it's an awful lot of extra resources and carbon emissions that go into producing, packaging, shipping, collecting, and re-processing just to deliver a product that we already have literally on tap.

Germany also has a deposit scheme (25 cents for a plastic water bottle), and every vendor is required to collect them, but even after explaining the system to my guests I usually wind up fishing their bottles out of the garbage with gloves on (yeah, sometimes I have to scrape off a crusty condom or two).

[Kath9]

@Anonymous, I have four bins, all clearly labelled, but STILL I have to sort out the rubbish on a near daily basis because my guests are clearly unable to read/don't care. Thankfully, I am yet to come across a crusty condom... 🙂

[Anonymous]

@Julie143  I totally agree with you on bottled water, and you have every reason to be irked by guests acting entitled to things that were not advertised in the listing.

It's not worth your time to argue this one with the guest on principles, so my best suggestion would be to send a message (in Airbnb messenger) assuming your guest had all the best intentions:  "Thank you for your feedback regarding bottled water. As a new host I'm happy to take all suggestions into consideration when preparing for future guests. In the meantime I hope you have found the filtered water in the fridge; let me know if you have any other questions or feedback."

And if/when the stay is complete, write a review that honestly reflects the guest's attitude and behavior, and make the position of your thumb a reflection on whether you'd want to host them again.

[David6]

Yes this guest sounds extremely entitled but if everything else has been relatively ok and she’s not been a nightmare -  on this occasion I’d just say ‘we’re really trying  to cut down on  plastic waste, but later I’ll get you a couple of bottles for sure.’ 

For the sake of $1 it’s sometimes just not worth the fight and an unhappy guest who’ll leave a negative review. I live in london the water is officially safe to drink, but tastes awful. We provide filtered water and also 1  bottle of water for each guest. So many guests mention it’s a nice touch. 

[Gordon0]

You think, David? I think it's pretty decent and wouldn't drink anything else other than 'Eau de Thames'. 

'A panel of experts including a wine critic and a top sommelier rated Thames Water's water, poured from a kitchen tap in South Kensington, as equal third best in a blind test of 24 waters. Several judges even rated it their favourite, well above Volvic which came in the bottom five'.

[Helen3]

I'm another who thinks London water tastes decent @David0

Even if I didn't I would drink it as I don't want to add to our growing needless plastic waste mountain of bottled water (I really wish they would ban bottled water from sale here)

If you have a water jug with a filter that should meet the needs of the fusiest of guests.

For me it is not about the cost of providing bottle water but that I run a home where I minimise waste and use eco-products wherever possible and haven't bought plastic bottled water for at least five years.

[Sarah977]

There's other nice touches hosts can provide without succumbing to being part of the problem of creating plastic waste. If a guest really needs a bottle of water, when I have a 3 gallon glass container of purified water in my kitchen that they can help themselves to, they can go out and spend that $1 themselves and be responsible for adding to the world's waste problem. It's not something I want to be a part of.

[Jody79]

@Julie143 I agree with @Sarah977. We also provide filtered water in the refrigerator as I try to use as little bottled water as I can. So far we haven’t had any complaints, but then we’re still new to this.

[Cathie19]

Hi @Julie143 . 

I agree with both @Sarah977  & @Marie21 . 

I have safe water, and offer the same as you, plus a bottle of water per person. I also see it as a safety issue.

If I was to supply environmentally friendly empty bottles, to decant and fill as they tour around, there would be questions of hygiene and more likely, they would “walk” with them to their next tourist site and stay.

As my climate is very hot and dehydration a reality, giving a bottle allows them to refill and take in the car. It costs me about 80cents Australian to do this per person. I consider this cost in my daily rate.

I’ve had guests who don’t use them as they travel responsibly with their own bottle/vessel for filling, or even if the water is safe, they go and buy copious water from the shops.

We can’t change a persons habits, just inform why we do or do not provide bottled water. 

[Mike1034]

@Julie143I always provide a couple of complimentary bottled water to guests on the day of their arrival. Then advise them to get water from my refillable water dispenser either with the bottle or with their own containers or the coffee mug I provide.

[Lisa723]

My listing...

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Julie143 What would you say to a guest who is demanding bottled water?

I don't respond very well to demands.

Our water is fabulous. Put a glass caraffe in the fridge before your guests arrive, have it chilled, save the world and let the guest sort his own water out like he needs to for his food and beer.

[Christine615]

We provide filtered water via a Brita pitcher in the fridge. That's it. If they need bottled water there are stores nearby. Although some people come from areas where the water is bad (i.e. Flint) so I understand the unease. Still - demanding things like we are a hotel is what makes hosts so upset.

Just write in her review "Better suited to a hotel."

[Sarah977]

There are places where plastic bags and single-serve bottled water are outlawed. There will come a day when these types of guests will not find bottles of water provided in hotel rooms either. That is, if the world as we know it still exists, hotels and all.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Julie143 

I think Henry and I would probably say something along the lines of " If you prefer to buy your own bottled water that's fine 🙂 " with a nice smile of course....and just leave it at that~

We have a water purifier dispenser and the majority of our guests actually bought themselves a nice water bottle they could use then take back home as a souvenir, fill it up at home and take it with them instead of buying bottled water