Lack of common items supplied in a rental?

[Basha0]

A good friend of mine originally from Tuscany Italy, now a restaurant owner in US, took his girlfriend back to Italy and rented through Airbnb. He said he had to pay extra for bedding! What?! Is this common?  Plus no toilet paper?! This doesn’t make sense.

Can someone enlighten me?

[Basha0]

@John5097  I too supply all the staples and with a fully stocked kitchen there is also spices, oils, vinegar, sugar, flour etc. It's a bit of a drive to run out for those kind of forgotten items  when they plan to prepare their own meals.  My last guest who gave me 5 stars did private message me that there was chocolate powder that expired. Who does that?! I think you are correct that there is some pressure to tell us hosts what we can do better like discard perfectly good chocolate powder that expired.

[Huma0]

@Basha0 

To be honest, I think that the more you supply, the more some guests are likely to expect, and therefore more likely to complain. Do you think your guests expect chocolate powder? Do you think they would have complained if you didn't offer it? Probably not. But, when you leave it there and it's expired, well some picky person is going to take note of that...

[Robin4 · Accepted solution]

@Huma0 

You are right Huma, it pays not be too descriptive in what you offer.

Particularly during the warmer months and with return guests we do interact a bit socially and I make a point of stressing that no mention be made of any meals or social interaction publicly by guests because it does lead to the perception, that sort of activity comes with the booking. 

As much as I do enjoy hosting there is no way I would want to spend an evening with a high percentage of them.....best it just gets kept in private! 

Cheers.......Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

I don't think I've ever asked a guest not to mention something, like I cooked a meal for them or baked or that I took them somewhere nice. I guess I am also quite selective about that so the occasional guest mentioning it in their review hasn't been a problem so far. 

I do remember that once I had a lady stay with me for a month while she was doing a full time floristry course. Every day, she brought home beautiful arrangements of flowers. We started running out of places to put them and it's a big house! She even gave me some to give to family members. Quite a few of the bouquets lasted a week or two after she left and one guest wrote in their review "Huma's house is full of flowers!"  I thought, oh no, are guests now going to expect this? No one has mentioned it though but I do feel pressure to have at least some fresh flowers now 🙂

[Basha0]

@Huma0   Yes, I think you are right. This weekend after the current guests leave I am removing anything except the most basic

[Gillian166]

@Basha0  @John5097 
Back in the 80s and 90s it was very common for STR beach houses to not supply linens. You either had to byo, or hire them from a linen company. This situation still exists in some places, mostly on the islands. where there isn't a lot of staff or laundry facilities. I've heard from other American hosts that the same situation still exists here and there. 

In my welcome message that I send 3 days before the trip I outline that all linens, tp, toiletries, tea coffee water, even pool towels, are supplied. Pretty sure I learned that here. I really didn't think it necessary in the beginning but it stops all the questions.