Wine in welcome basket?

[Kelley-Marie-and-Camilo0]

Is it ok to provide a bottle of wine in a welcome basket?

[Linda108]

@Kelley-Marie-and-Camilo0  How lovely of you to provide the welcome basket and want to include wine.  What do you mean by "OK"?  Hosts can provide whatever makes sense in the marketing of their listing, however, there may be some regulatory restrictions, such as, no under age guests or if the wine is a home brew.  What are your considerations about this generous gift?

[Kelley-Marie-and-Camilo0]

Thanks Linda!  I saw that some people were concerned about legal consequences.  I just want to be sure that we're doing everything correctly. 

[Wayne-And-Michelle0]

I would check on your state's liquor control laws. As you are operating a business, it may not be "legal" to provide alcohol without a license. While very well-intentioned, this kind gesture could backfire on you.

[Kelley-Marie-and-Camilo0]

Thank you!  We also have a small winerack with 4 bottles in the dining room.  Just to be safe, I think I'll just remove it.  Thanks all!  🙂

[Annette33]

@Kelley-Marie-and-Camilo0 , lovely gesture! Obviously for your Cape Cod listing.
As long as you have your tax situation and business license worked out for your places, I wouldn't worry about a bottle of wine. Like who is going to come after you for it? 
I also have a bottle of wine ready for my guests, but I feel strongly that it has to be of decent quality: to buy the cheapest there is is no good, then none is better. In relation to my nightly price , to have a nice bottle of wine (retail ~ $12.00) seems appropriate to me and is always appreciated by my guests. Some don't even touch it, others let me know they don't drink wine and I substitute nice chocolates.
But once guests mention the welcome treats in their reviews, make sure to be consistent and to  have a clear policy about it so that no subsequent guest would ever wonder why they are not getting it. that is why I wrote in my description that a bottle of wine is added for 3+ days, so that the 2 nighters will not feel discriminated about it.
I made that change after a two nighter requested a $38.00 Pinot Noir: I used to ask before arrival, red or white, and a guest listed this specific wine. so I learned - I am not asking any longer, it's just there - enjoy it!
In your case, with 7 people max. I wonder a bit about how large your welcome basket would be: To not appear skimpy, it should have more goodies in it for 7 people than for 2 or 3:?I see that you have no extra charge for extra people. You may want to adjust that, maybe make the base price a bit lower, but then charge 10 or 20 for any extra people beyond 2 or 4 ? That would give you a bit more $$ in income for larger crowds and then you could provide a more generous welcome basket for parties of 6 or so.
But in any case, do take away that wine rack with the 4 bottles. (also take that picture out.) No need to tempt guests and then be surprised when all that wine is gone....bottom line: be generous, but also cost conscious. Good luck!



[Rachael26]

@Kelley-Marie-and-Camilo0

I do exactly the same thing. We have a wine rack in the Great Room and during check-in and showing the guests around I mention that the home is theirs for the duration so to help themselves to anything in it, including the wine. I buy 2 red 2 white from Walmart at $4 a bottle (it is quite palatable believe it or not!). Over the last 20 stays it has worked out this way - 12 guests did not use any, 7 used 1 or 2 bottles and 1 guest drank/took all 4. 

However, I do believe that it would not make any difference to my reviews or my bookings if I did not do this. But as the place is my 2nd home and we have fitted out for friends as well as guests to use - I feel that it fits the advertised 'home environment' to have some wine in the rack and I do make a note of when it gets used and always replace them. I have yet to check out the tax deductible qualifications regarding alcohol (In the UK where I used to live you could not claim) but regardless I think I will continue to provide it in the home. It is not mentioned in the listing though - and that is where you might have a problem with licensing or county rules etc. so just don't mention it, or show a picture in your listing, and it will be a nice surprise for some guests.

I also have a welcome basket with breakfast and snack items also - and if a booking is for a special occasion I will include a bottle of bubbly in the basket.

Here's a quick story and lesson learned from my earlier days of hosting - I had my first anniversary booking for a couple - so I tied a balloon and ribbon to my welcome basket, and added pancake mix and blueberries and a bottle champagne in there. And some flowers in a vase with a ribbon around that as well. (Yes, I hear you all cry - how much was all that extra! - it was early days and I was still learning and I know I went over the top!)

 

 Luckily I took this photo before they arrived  - because it's all I have to remember as the guest enjoyed the goodies - and proceeded to take home the balloon, the basket, the flowers as well as the glass vase! 

That's the great thing about Hosting - lots of fun and lots of things to learn!

Bottom line - whatever you have in your home - consider the possibility of it being used, touched, moved, broken or taken. So if you want to keep 4 bottle of wine in your rack - there will be a possibility of all 4 being taken - every time. Could be a costly exercise and one that does not really make any difference to reviews or bookings.

Best Wishes.

[Isabelle193]

Not if you wish to have wine stains all over your duvet bedsheets and carpets 😉

[Annette33]

@Isabelle193 , o c'mon, give guests a bit of credit for not being slobs. 

[Ilan1 · Accepted solution]

I am not sure if a bottle of wine is the best option for a treat.

Muslims may find it offensive.

People that were or have been alcoholic may be tempted and relapse.

 Your idea sounds nice for 90% of the people, but there are better options.

[Kathleen5]

I think you just have to understand who your property attracts. If you're supplying a cheap twin bed in a college town, well, duh, you're going to get underage guests visiting friends, doing a campus tour etc. If you have an expensive townhouse in a posh ski area, it's a different crowd. If you're in wine country, I personally think it would be odd NOT to offer a bottle of wine.

We leave wine for our upscale Airbnb in Seattle; it's always a decent (but not expensive) Washington state wine. We find about 70% of our guests end up drinking it. We also leave local chocolates and other treats which vary depending on whether we're in town or not. If we're in town, we also leave homemade muffins or croissants from a local bakery; if we're gone, they get a nice local instant oatmeal collection and local caramel corn. We do increase the "booty" based on the number of nights people are staying, and the quality of the wine is better for people staying four or more nights.

We have had at least a couple of people whose faith didn't support alcohol consumption. But they understood the intent, and they totally dug the muffins, chocolates and fresh flowers. They didn't appear offended; they just got it was part of what we were doing to be welcoming. 

We also leave wine and beers (usually Coronas) at our beach house. They are *always* consumed. I suspect this is because it's a) a beach house and b) there are enough people in the party who drink that someone partakes. (The place sleeps 10.)

A lawyer friend checked into the local liquor laws and the key is that it's clear they are not purchasing the wine, but that it's a gift. (You can give a hostess at a dinner party a bottle of wine without violating the law, after all.) At our Florida house, we have a minimum age requirement of 25 years of age, and our welcome card addresses the person booking and says "As a thank you we've left this welcome basket for you." If they have underage guests who drink the alcohol then it's their issue as they providing social consent.  

We have had nearly 100 guests at our property in Seattle and we have had only one booking by a guest younger than 21. It's a more expensive property (it will be a A-plus as soon as they take the photos). She said she and her friends were all 19 or 20, so we didn't leave her any wine. (Interestingly, they were able to secure some legal recreational marijuana, though.)

At the beach house, we leave salt water taffy, coconut "candy" that's local, a special coupon to a local seafood place (that isn't available in general; we worked it out with the seafood place directly) and coconut oil epsom salts (which we buy in bulk, then pack into smaller jars). If we're in town, we leave fresh flowers at both places. At our Florida house, it's usually flowers and greenery cut from the property. So it's not just, "Here's your alcohol, welcome!" but part of a basket of welcome gifts.

[Ned-And-Laura0]

I used to provied a proper basket with fruit, granola bars, chocolate and a bottle of wine.  But we dropped the fruit basket because nobody ate it and we would just trow away the fruit when it got too ripe.  But we still leave a bottle of wine and a chocolate bar.  What I find really odd is more then half the people don't touch the wine.  So strange to me.  It's a free bottle of wine!  Even if you don't drink you know somebody who does.  We even put a little sign next to it saying it is "with our compliments" yet most times they just leave the bottle.  Not that I'm complaining, saves me some money, but dang, I'd at least grab it and save for a dinner party or something.

[Adriana100]

I'd reccomend against it because

a) not everyone drinks

b) even if they drink perhaps they are not the wine type of person, perhaps they like beer or cocktails

c) even if they drink wine perhaps they prefer this or that and not what you offer.

I much rather go with home made jellies/cookies/nuts. These last and everybody like them, no matter their religion.

d) they might have underaged kids

e) they might break glasses/stain your stuff

But to be honest I was thinking about coming to Port Clinton. I'll have to look you up. Love the area.

[Dave--and-Dana-0]

We took it a step further and created our own custom-labeled wine at NapaValleyPrivateLabelWine.com.  The wine is reasonably priced, and guests not only love the wine and the gesture, but also the fun label on the bottle that's a bit of a keepsake from the trip.  

[Eva2606]

I was considering an optional DIY wine tasting option with a short write up of the wine and/or video presentation that the guests could enjoy.  The wine would not be sold for profit, but they would have to pay for the wine and I would just be the personal shopper.  There would be a small fee for the wine tasting resources.  Does this fall under "serving wine?" I would not be there - it is just an extra service. I presently do a breakfast basket like this.