Can you ask guests to not cook curry or smelly foods?

[Wendy-and-Aaron0]

I have an apartment rental with a kitchen. I keep getting international guests, and I am fine with that. The problem lies guests that cook Curry in the kitchen of the rental. There is no vent, nor can I install one, and the curry smell just saturates the apartment after the guests leave. It takes me days to air out the kitchen and get rid of the smell. I've been lucky that I have a break between guests so I can get the smell out, but is it okay to prohibit guests from cooking smelly foods?

I'm getting tired of the smell, and I'm worried it will be offensive to the next guests.

[Andrea9]

@Wendy-and-Aaron0

This annoying issue seems one many hosts have had to deal with.

If you'd like to review all the comments, views, and tips hosts have given to this topic just type "curry" into the community search box.

That way you'll have a good idea of what you could do in your personal situation.

Good Luck keeping the smell away and remember - Your house, your rules.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Wendy-and-Aaron0 I'm not sure how it would go over with guests to rent them an apartment, then tell them what they can't cook. Also, it would be difficult to come up with a comprehsenive list. You might outlaw curry, but what about garlic? Outlaw garlic, but what about fish? Outlaw fish, but what about cabbage? Also, it would be difficult to enforce.

If this is a constant issue, then your best bet might be to invest in a plasma air cleaner. They will completely break down any odor causing molecules.

[Shirley1]

My guests love to cook plenty of bacon the morning they checkout. Even with a stove vent smells like curry or in my case, overcooked or burnt bacon, will linger far too long. Wendy I appreciate your concern. I've not acquired teh stamina yet to inhale the smell of curry and not gag. 

I have an open floor plan for kitchen/dining/living room and for some reason the place where the cooking odors are strongest are in the entryway. I definitely do not want my guests to have their first memory of walking into my house being the smell of cooked food. 

When the cooking odors are the kind that linger, I'm trying out an electric wax/oil burner and warming orange or lemon citrus oil that's on for several hours while I'm cleaning. 

When I was researching what to include in my rental agreement, did come across rental agreements with a clause concerning strong odors left behind from cooking.  I didn't note the 'consequence' they included however.  

[ZoZo1]

 I wonder how chain hotels handle guests who cook with curry? It fits into the catergory of smoking. It creates extra cleaning expenses and creates the risk that your next guest may not be comfortable in the unit.

[Maria1233]

I have a Chinese guest from the USA right now. I woke up today in an atmosphere of a Chinese restaurant. All my flat smell of something that seems to be chicken, oh what a bore! Iam glad, she will stay just few nights. Next month I will have a Japanese guest for a complete month...I just hope he doesnot know how to cook. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Wendy-and-Aaron0 uh, it happend to us ones , it took us 2 days to vent the place, after that we put new house rule "it is forbidden to cook smelly spicy food, fry fish etc.. " but our average stay is just 2 days and we are in the city center so our guests usually don't cook but eat in restaurants instead, there are plenty of them everywhere on walking distance.

If it happens often I would remove the beautifull retro stove and lave them just a small cook top with 2 burners and microvawe. Or just a microvawe and watercooker, toaster... you know, like a kitchenette. And I would remove this cool woman power poster 😄 and replace it with a picture of a sexy woman enjoying on the beach 😄 just to remain them they are on holliday , you know... feng shui hehe

We leave them a lot of leaflets of restaurants of all kinds (vegan, chinese etc...) , we allways recommend them some nice ones with croatian food, we also have plenty of city guides, a list of all events and festivals in the area etc... so they are to busy to cook 🙂 Try to do the same it is cheaper then plasma air cleaner which someone suggested 😄

[Lina53]

@Wendy-and-Aaron0. In your house rules or under things to know maybe write something like:

"no heavy cooking, no aromatic food (tie in a consequence... $100 air out fee?)"

Then when chatting with guests mention that the kitchen is to be used for light cooking only and the preparation/cooking of strong aromatic foods is not allowed. [include 'preparation' as smelly foods can be heated up in microwave, i.e. Cabbage-pork dumplings or fish noodles at 8am).

If this does not work for guests then they can book elsewhere.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Wendy-and-Aaron0

I think the best way is to get rid of the stove and just have a microwave, toaster, electric kettle and hot plate. I've been to Airbnb listings as a guest where the stove was covered up so that guests cannot use it. You could try having rules about not cooking "smelly foods" but "smelly" is subjective 🙂 

[JT-On-Behalf-Of0]

@Wendy-and-Aaron0 Hi Wendy, I don't think it's ok to discriminate over cooking preferences. I recently hosted a family from India for 10 days. When they left, the smell of curry was very strong. They were otherwise very clean and took great care of my home.

I opened up all the windows and burned some candles. After a few days the smell was gone. 

[Carolyn157]

We have the same issue. Really lovely family has just left this morning.  Next guests due this afternoon.  Strong smell of curry is lingering.  The family left the place otherwise clean and tidy.  I have essential oils burning, have used Fabreze on all soft furnishings, vacuumed, cleaned, polished, microwaved lemons in water.  Still the smell lingers.

[MelissaR-and-Pau-0]

I have guests every night in 6 rooms in 2 homes. Many cook strong smelling food AND DO NOT USE ANTI-Perspirant or deodorant in Florida! My shared apartment stinks right now. But as soon as the guests leave for the day, I open my front door and patio door turn on the central ac and fans, wipe the kitchen, table, bathrooms etc with bleach cleanser fantastic 5 is good. And febreeze or hotel grade sanitizer and deodorizers work well. On furniture or ac filters. Upon checkout, I wash and bleach the mattresses and pillows and wash the blankets and everything is fine. Within 30 min the offending odors are gone either way. 

[Rene-and-Zac0 · Accepted solution]

@Wendy-and-Aaron0 George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelics!

“We want the Funk!”

I have a two pronged attack to battle funky smells left behind by any cooked food or just the general body odor of guest.

1. Get a box fan and place the fan in the window blowing the air out into the world. This will suck the smelly air out of the room quickly. 

2. Is a cleaner called “Fabuloso”. It fights the funky curry smell and will have your place smelling 

“Fabulous!” But just in Spanish. I enjoy the passion fruit smell personally but the others are good too. This works for cigarettes and weed smell too. 

Make sure the entire kitchen is wiped down with a degrease, like Pine-Sol because the smell stays in the grease. 

‘You know it’s hard out here for a Host’

[Sarah977]

Haha I live in Mexico/ I LOVE Fabuloso. I also love the smell of curry. As I live in the tropics and doors and windows open almost all the time, luckily cooking smells don't linger

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Sarah977 Our old housekeeper was from Jalisco and she turned me on to the Fabuloso. 

Post a link to your listing, I can’t see it on your page for some reason. 

‘You know it’s hard out here for a Host’