Amount of supplies left for guest & cleaning schedule?

[Nancy1609]

Although it was the boyfriend  who made the booking he explained that it was his partner Lisa who would be checking in and he would join her later in the month. I was with my family when she checked in and so my husband greeted her & tried to run through some of the specifics like showing her the emergency exit & fire extinguisher and other things on our house rules guide to make it easier. He felt she was rushing him & so I sent her the house rules that he did not leave with her so she could refer to it for the things that he had not covered with her like the garbage & recycling schedule & specifying when ordering deliveries that it is the bottom unit not the upstairs. 

Luckily I have a ring doorbell & found that there was a delivery made for her & left it on the front stoop for her a while.

When she checked in she explained that she was stayed with friends somewhere else a few nights that week & be returning the following week. Then she stayed with friends for another week from 12/4-12/9 so I changed normal cleaning schedule around her so she would have a clean & fresh linens when she returned on morning of 12/9 before she returned that evening. 11 days later she contacted me because there was a problem with the locking mechanism as well as the door pull that had become loose & she was afraid not being able to turn the knob if it were to fall off. Then she added that the bathroom sink does not seem to drain very well. Her partner (who is the airbnb account holder)  has joined her at the studio as of last week.  

I told her I would call & see about a lock smith but when she mentioned the sink my husband & I decided to call our handyman so he could handle both items. Our handyman was there in 3hrs with a new door pull & installed it. He then was to look at the sink but when he asked she said there was nothing else that needed his attention. It seemed that there was some miscommunication & was sending the handyman home thinking that my husband would take care of the sink later. I told her my husband was working & that that is why we sent the handyman. During this time she also said that the Schlage lock was not working. I spent an hour with customer service to later find out that Larry or Lisa were inputting the wrong numbers repeatedly. She had input the wrong code 12 times & apparently after 4 mis keying it needs 30 seconds to reset. It’s a safety measure against tampering. I told her to let the lock rest for 30 seconds & try the correct code & that resolved the issue.

The next afternoon she contacted me that there were some issues that she wanted to discuss. She was low on a few things like toilet paper, paper towels, dishwashing liquid & out of hand soap in both the kitchen & bathroom.
Not a problem, I told her we would get that to her but in a bit.

When discussing this with my husband we were confused because in over 10 years of hosting on a monthly basis no one has ever gone through as much supplies in less that a month not to mention she has not been there for one & a half weeks & the month had not finished & it’s only been her alone in the space until now that her boyfriend arrived to join her.

She had run out of a month’s supply of 2 - 7.5oz bottles of Softsoap, 7oz dishwashing liquid, plus the extra under the sink, 4 rolls of toilet paper & a roll & paper towels & and extra emergency roll that I keep under the sink.

She explained that she doesn’t like to cross contaminate & she washes all the dishes after every course and throws away a sponge after each meal, I think she meant each day.

When she explained that she uses the toilet paper for other things like makeup removal & perhaps cleaning other things I told her that by all means that that was her prerogative but that that was then up to her discretion & she was more than welcomed to buy as much soap, cleansers & paper products but that the cleaning service was not scheduled till the following week & that she would restock the normal monthly amount.

I explained to her that she has the right to wash her hands as many times & use 30 or more sponges a day & wash the dishes multiple times during her meals but that is her personal preference not to be at our expense.

Because of the holidays & the cleaning days landing 2 days before or after Christmas & The boyfriend  having mentioned when he booked the place that they had family in NJ and might be away a bit to visit.  I chose to schedule the cleaning on the 28th of December. 

She texted that they would prefer to have the place service on 12/23.

“You could always check with us before you make any future assumptions”. Followed by another text, “Fyi- I don’t think it’s reasonable to ask a person staying to use 2 oz hand soap for a month, let alone for a week is reasonable w/ COVID.”

(This was the second time she mentioned 2oz of soap. I leave 7.5 bottles of Softsoap hand was in the kitchen & bathroom & another bottle of 7oz of dishwashing soap.)

Since the boyfriend  was now staying at the place  I texted him that I would like to clear up a few things with him after I was done with work.

Since the Airbnb account is his & he is the one who booked it I would be communicating with him from this point on.

He and I spoke and he seemed very  nice and thought it was silly that there was much to do about 2oz or 7oz of soap. I agreed and explained that there was no need for her tone in those messages from his girlfriend.
(I don’t think he was aware of her texts to me.)

The cleaning service has been rescheduled for tomorrow 12/22.
Exactly 2 weeks from the previous date that the place was freshens up & linens changed & exactly 30 days from the booking began.

Like I said, we have been hosting for over 10 yrs as a monthly rental of our small studio. 

1. i would like to ask how much soap, toilet paper & rolls of paper towels do people leave?  

2. How often do you have the place cleaned & restock during a monthly stay?

3. How often do you change sheets & towels during a monthly stay?

 

 

I hope this resolved the issue & I only receive messages from the actual Airbnb registered guest. Wondering if anyone has had issues when booking to one person but dealing with the additional guest? 

Also, how much toilet paper & soap do people leave as guest for a monthly guest? Not to mention rolls of paper towels? 

I hope this resolved the issue & I only receive messages from the actual Airbnb registered guest. Wondering if anyone has had issues when booking to one person but dealing with the additional guest? 

Also, how much toilet paper & soap do people leave as guest for a monthly guest? Not to mention rolls of paper towels? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Nancy1609 You seem to have plenty of experience as to how many supplies are typically needed. It is a shame you have an awkward guest but you are far better off just ignoring her and putting up with a few more toilet rolls being used. It will all even out across other guests.

I know I am giving in to the Airbnb review system but a 1 star review is going to be far more damaging than  a few extra supplies.

[Mitchell189]

I agree that the cost of basic supplies is so minimal, and the risk of bad reviews too great. No guest takes the toilet paper with them, so providing infinite toilet paper is fine. Guests will take fancy soaps home, but very rarely if it's just normal basic softsoap, the $3 little bottles, it's fine. Sure guest, take my half-empty soap bottle, whatever.

Paper towel, I think, also, basically never taken by guests. Barely used by guests too, infinite towels are fine. I want my guests to clean up messes.

Dishwasher tablets are also never taken by guests, and are very cheap, a 115-pack is $13 from Costco. Essentially a year's supply. It's annoying, as a traveler, to need to buy dishwasher tablets. At $0.11 each, if they're paying $120/day, give them the tablets.

Salt and pepper are also very very cheap.

If any of it started "adding up", then I would just charge more for each night. Even an extra $1/night gives me an extra $365/yr to spend on soap and toilet paper. That's enough to buy enough dishwasher tablets for them to run the dishwasher constantly, new tablet every 2h, for a whole year.

[Lorna170]

Oh @Mitchell189 , you haven't had the toilet paper bandit stay with you yet!  

Your analysis of the cost of supplies is spot-on -- 

[Anna10110]

Hi. I’m a new host and wonder about supplies too.

I have stayed at properties myself and there have been minimal supplies provided.

my thought is that you should provide a roll of toilet paper for each guest for a week stay. I have about 4 boxes of tissues. Dishwasher tablet for each day, and some liquid for the sink.

washing machine powder for 1-2 washes.

Airbnb properties are holiday homes. I think guests staying over a week should provide anything that runs out, themselves. The night rate isn’t for all the groceries as well.

my current guests have messaged me EVERY day asking for extra supplies, milk frother, PS4 extra controller, more washing powder. They’re driving me nuts!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Nancy1609we leave the same supply for 2 nights and a month. A few rolls of tp, a bottle of dishwasher + hand soap, a few trash bags, and 1 roll of kitchen towels. They restock themselves during their stay. But our prices are low, 35€ for the studio and 50€ for 2 bdr apartment minus 10% weekly discount so....

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Anna10110 

Do you make it clear what is supplied on the listing, or do you find that most guests understand that you are just starting them out for their stay?

Because I am a homeshare host, I replenish toilet paper, cleaning materials, tea, coffee etc. as needed. However, I was chatting to a recent guest who had had a few minor issues at stand alone listings she had stayed at.

1. She was surprised that no towels were supplied at a listing in Nice. I told her I think that that's probably normal there and she should always check the amenities list in advance.

2. She was surprised there was only half a roll of toilet paper (for a two person stay). She didn't want to buy a pack as they weren't there for long, so she contacted the host asking for more. The host said no. I told her that, at some listings, the host will include enough supplies to get you started and it's up to you to supply the rest.

3. One host got very upset and left a bad review for her friend. There were laundry facilities and he accused them of using half his detergent. The guest said they bought their own and only used one of his laundry pods. This is an odd one. I assume if the host left the detergent there, it was for washing sheets and towels during turnover (he didn't live there), but if he doesn't want guests to touch it, shouldn't it be made clear?

4. Being from the US, she's used to a top sheet, but there weren't any on the beds, so her and her friend took them some from the laundry cupboard. The host was furious. I told her that she shouldn't assume everything there is for her use and the sheets could have been for the next guests and that she should ask first. Again though, if there is extra linen at the listing, it's probably a good idea to make it clear that guests shouldn't help themselves to it.

Of course, maybe all this was specified in the listings/house manuals, and perhaps the guest didn't read or take it in, but it goes to demonstrate that these things aren't necessarily obvious to guests, especially as what's on offer varies from listing to listing.

On this thread, I got some good suggestions from other hosts about a note to leave for guests (in the house manual perhaps), explaining what is and isn't supplied:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Circle/What-s-mine-is-yours-or-is-it/m-p/1553825