Guest emptied pantry

[Simone954]

I am a new host. My space has a nice full kitchen which I stocked with some basic food items for making some breakfast, grab a healthy snack on the go, heat up one of the packaged soups when arriving late, etc.

A couple with a newborn (my second guests) stayed for one night only and left this afternoon 5 hours past check-out time. They had asked for an additional discount so that they could afford to stay close to where the husband had a job interview.

They left my place pretty clean but took about $35 worth of snacks and food out the cupboard,

basically cleaned me out. 9 KIND cereal bars alone cost about $12. A whole box of cereal, several other snack bags and more.

8 bottles of water.  I am so disappointed that someone would honestly think that this is ok to do. Am I at fault not making it clear to guest to be considerate when helping themselves? 

[Simone954]

What a great idea! haha. why not

[Manuel3308]

I once left extra towels- a whole box of 15 and guest used them all. We need to be realistic and professional and leave only what can be used. Simple. I also leave a cupboard with a code padlock, in case something is short i email the guests instructions and the code to help themselves, so im never letting anyone down. Overal i leave some consumables but also instructions that they have to buy more during their stay they wont be replenished..

[Suzanne302]

@Simone954 These guests are absolutely entitled and at fault, but, as other hosts have mentioned this is a great lesson to only leave an appropriate amount of supplies for each stay. And yes, guests who ask for a discount 99.9% of the time will turn out to be difficult guest.

Did you give them permission to stay 5 hours past check out?? If not, I suggest a review using @Rowena29 's tactic:

[Guest] stayed for one night with her husband and newborn. She was a bargain hunter so I granted her a generous discount. The couple left the space clean and over the course of their one-night stay managed to consume a whole box of cereal, several snack bags, nine KIND cereal bars, and eight bottles of water. They also seemed to assume check-out time was just a suggestion, as they didn't leave the space until five hours after the posted check-out time.

[Helen350]

@Suzanne302 Great review wording! Makes their taking liberties crystal clear, without actually accusing them of stealing or malicious intent. Excellent! 

[Simone954]

I like that idea, thank you.

[Martin333]

Yes, there are guests who will take advantage of "freebies". It is something we all have to learn to balance.

I admit I can't resist shampoo bottles in hotel rooms.....

In one of our properties, we offer a complimentary bottle of wine (local).

It is fun to take internal bets on who will or won't....

Here in Europe - and this is just our general observation - Spanish guests take it. French / UK drink it and leave the bottle, Germans tend to drink it, leave the bottle (or two) and replace it.....

We still don't know why just some guests take the toothpaste but leave the brushes in their packaging...

World of hosting never dull....

[Yadira22]

@Simone954 I am so sorry! Entitled behaviour exists everywhere, unfortunately. 

We used to leave snacks, milk, water, soft drinks and fruits for all our guests- and stopped as a lot of guests simply did not consume these and I hate wasting food. But the worse time we had with a guest was this one in particular who stayed one night only and refused to touch any of this but the moment they realised it was complimentary, they literally opened their backpack and tipped everything into it! *SMH* and 4* in value and overall! 

Honestly- at the moment it’s a bit sickening and cringe but with time it becomes funny! Learn and move on,... life is too short! 

happy hosting 🙂

[Simone954]

Thank you for all the great ideas and advise! I am already a lot smarter at hosting. 

[Tracy600]

As a host of 5 months - the learning curve is steep.  Now in my house rules I ask guests to be sure to book the number of guests they are bringing.  Too many times 1 booked guest turns out to be 2-3.  Also, last week a guest smoked in my place, when questioned she said she didn't see any signs up about no smoking.  She said she didn't read the house rules when booking.  I also now put the check out time in my house rules.  I no longer leave extra ANYTHING in the guest house which is a pain.  But, I avoid washing every blanket, sheet and towel I own now.  Dogs is a whole different can of worms.  Good luck, I keep trying to focus on the many awesome guests I have had.  Summer guests seem to be best so far.