Beverages for guests - is cost effective best?

Jenny
Community Manager
Community Manager
Galashiels, United Kingdom

Beverages for guests - is cost effective best?

Jenny_0-1685972032203.png

 

Hello everyone!

 

There’s nothing nicer than a rest and a drink after a long day of travelling. I’m sure your guests feel the same, whether they’ve come from the same country or from further afield!

As someone who loves a nice coffee after reaching their destination, nothing makes me happier than seeing a selection of hot and cold drinks on offer.  Everyone’s got their own take on it though - for sunnier climes it might be more appropriate to offer water or juice.

 

There’s also the matter of budget!  

 

I’d love to know your thoughts on beverages for guests.  Is it cheaper to buy tea bags or bottles of water in bulk?  Is there a concern that an over enthusiastic guest might liberate the supplies when they leave?  Ground or instant coffee, budget or brand name tea bags? Tap or bottled water?  Do you offer anything more exotic?

 

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

Take care!

 

Jenny

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29 Replies 29

@Jenny 

This is such a terrific topic!

We leave all sorts of things for our home share guests' kitchenette. On the beverage department as follows: carafes of our delicious well water, bottled water for outings, fruit juice, non dairy milk. Coffee: 3 types of instant, 3 types of whole beans, 2 types of ground beans, coffee pods. Teas: whole leaf, bags, a total of several dozen kinds, to appeal to many cultures, both caffeinated and non/herbal. We have a coffee maker, hot water pot, coffee grinder, and French press, coffee filters, also a sweet Chinese tea pot. Everything is top of the line, no budget beverages. Does anyone take things with them when they leave? Not yet! 

Suzanne972
Level 5
Alpharetta, GA

Hello Community,

 

We are lakefront vacation property. We provide our guests a quick snack basket with bottle waters upon their arrival. I generally put out just a few bottles of water to cover the number of guests at that time.

 

We also provide both a keurig as well as a drip coffee maker. With those options we provide a “starter kit” of coffees both ground ( yes we use a brand such as Starbucks or Peet’s) and the Keurig pods.

 

We keep our refrigerator water filter maintained so the water is always filtered fresh.

 

Happy hosting!

Phil-and-Lacy0
Level 4
Key Largo, FL

Hi everyone. 

I think it depends on the kind of home, right?

 

We have a water filter at both properties so that guests always have fresh water. We fill those up and keep them in the fridge for their arrival. 

They can also find coffee and tea. 

The presentation is different in each home as one is a tiny cozy home with less traffic, and the other is a larger vacation home where large families come to enjoy family resort vacations. 


🙂

Carmen1913
Level 2
Deer Park, WA

We offer chilled bottle water for all guest (one bottle for guest for the first night). Additionally, We have a tea kettle, tea bags, coffee pods, as well as snacks. It has come across as a real positive for the reviews as well as returning guests. By going the extra mile we seem to keep our guest very happy.  This is a very positive experience and great return on our investments

 

Carmen R Schoenmaker
Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

@Jenny 

 

I think it depends on what you're charging per night. 

 

If you're a home share charging 20 bucks (€$£) per night, then spending 5 of that on arrival hospitality is pretty generous. 

 

But if you're a villa charging 500 per night, spending 50 or even 100 on arrival hospitality is pretty insignificant in terms of cost. And your guests will take notice in a very positive way. It's a very good investment. 

Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hey @Elaine701 ,

 

Thank you for sharing these insights, which might very well stand true when it comes to value for money.

Do you offer any beverages to your guests as a welcome gesture or so?


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@Bhumika 

 

In some cultures it is customary to offer tea as a welcome, this we are delighted to do.

Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

@Bhumika 

 

Well, you asked 😳 :

 

It depends on the season.

 

In high season, when the guest is paying a premium, we will generally leave a compliment of fresh bread, croissants, butter, 3 or 4 jams, sliced ham, eggs, bacon, fresh rolls, lots of fruit (bananas, oranges, melon, pineapple etc)  crisps, dips, hummus, some packages of quick fix pastas... 

 

Drinks: Orange and apple juice, milk, lots of bottled water, coca cola, 2 or 3 bottles of locally produced wines (white, rosé, red), prosecco, a 12 pack of beer, and we keep the bar stocked with vodka, gin, aperol, tonic, lemon fizz, and other mixes. Lots of various coffee capsule flavours, 4 or 5 packages of different teas... 

 

that in addition to a comprehensive rack of spices and cooking ingredients. 

 

The guests rarely consume it all, so the cost is usually only in topping it up for each guest. Our spend is usually between 50€ - 100€. But never more than that. Considering the average guest spend in high season is between 3000€-8000€, it's a small but worthy investment. 

 

Yet nearly all express their appreciation and surprise at the rather overwhelming hospitality.  Some actually go to the trouble of replacing whatever they consume when they're out shopping. We don't ask for that, but some guests are just super conscientious. 

 

Also, it testifies to my philosophy that focusing on overwhelming guest satisfaction rather than how much profit you can make ultimately results in attracting a better quality of guest who is more interested in the quality of the experience than how much it costs.

 

And sure enough, the money just magically starts to show up after word gets around.

 

But to be fair, being in a highly popular tourist destination plays a big role in attracting good paying guests, so hospitality won't necessarily be the only attraction, and may not work for everyone. But overwhelming them with hospitality always has a positive impact, no matter where it is. You have to decide for yourself what works for you. 

Jennifer3056
Level 3
Atlanta, GA

Hi there,

I just want to share what we provide at our homes, Arikays homes.

We give our guests fresh glass of cold fruit juice during Check-in, this has been a bonus to us because it is always hot in our area. Also in their apartments we have  complimentary 2 bottles of water, 10 teabags and 10 packs of instant coffee. 

I m planning to add 2  bottles of local beers.

 

 

Jennifer
Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hey @Jennifer3056 , 

 

That sounds like a wonderful gesture to welcome your guests! 

Do your guests mention it in their reviews?

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Monica2345
Level 2
Menlo Park, CA

Just listed my property ,  I’ll offer tea, coffee ,and I’ll leave a 5 Gallon Plastic Bottle in the kitchen. There is a Water Pump on top of this gallon, so it’s going to be easy even for kids to get water.

 

Paula
Community Manager
Community Manager
Port Moody, Canada

Hello @Monica2345 and Welcome to our Community Center,

 

It's great to know that you have been considering these details from the beginning. Please do let us know how everything goes, and we wish you all the best on your hosting journey.

 

Paula

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Doris439
Level 1
San Francisco, CA

I think based on the age and number of guest provide individual containers of water or tea for guest.

Ana30551
Level 1
London, United Kingdom

Hi I am new in the community. 
Our private room is mainly used for airport transfer as either arriving on a flight or overnight to go onto a flight.

We usually have coffee sachês, hot chocolate and tea with both brown sugar cubes and or sweetener. And we provide also a water jug than can be drinkable or to top up the kettle. 


Doris439
Level 1
San Francisco, CA

Nice ☺ 

Paula
Community Manager
Community Manager
Port Moody, Canada

Hello @Ana30551 and Welcome to our Community Center 🙂

 

These options sound great! When traveling, whether arriving or departing, all I want is coffee or tea. I'm sure your guests are very happy to find this option available at your place.

 

Paula

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Doris439
Level 1
San Francisco, CA

Hi Paula.

Great meeting you,

Enjoy ☺ 

Lionel286
Level 3
Mexico City, Mexico

Respondo no como anfitrión sino como viajero.

Hace poco fui a la Ciudad de Querétaro, México; llegue cansado de manejar por un poco más de 3 horas y con el estres de un evento al siguiente día.

Para mi hubiese sido genial poder tomar una cerveza o un café al llegar. 

 

Lo único que encontré fue una gran botella de agua, lo cual se agradece, pero un detalle más lo hubiese agradecido. 

Paula
Community Manager
Community Manager
Port Moody, Canada

Hola @Lionel286 Bienvenido a nuestra Comunidad 😊

 

De acuerdo contigo, al llegar luego de un largo viaje, una buena tasa de café ayuda a recuperar fuerzas. Creo que acá estás dejando un tip importante para nuestros anfitriones.

 

Te invito a que explores también nuestra Comunidad Hispanohablante donde puedes conectar con anfitriones de México y de muchos otros países. Acá te dejo el link:

👉Comunidad Hispanohablante

 

Saludos,

Paula

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Cathie19
Level 10
Darwin, Australia

Hi @Jenny @Patricia2526 & @Laurelle3 


I think beverages on offer depend on “what you are” as either an LTR or  STR, and how your guests arrive.  For us, most of our guests fly in to the city and rent a vehicle. This includes interstaters and internationals. So, as we are a family friendly homestay space, we try to make it more like a tidy sample cupboard from home…

Often guests are arriving late in the day or even during the night, so no shopping time is immediately available to them to grab what they need.

 

Like Laurelle we have great running tap water but we are also in a climate that is always hot. Just add wet season & humidity or dry season less humidity, depending on the time of year.

In the fridge: chilled

So we have two x one litre bottles of tap water in the fridge and we also supply a sealed 500ml bottle of water per guest. This way, if they want, they can reuse the bottle and refill as they tourist around the city, or visit landmarks or go further afield. This is as much about safety in the heat as offering a chilled complimentary drink.

 

They'll also find 2litres of basic orange juice (no pulp) for breakfast as well.

 

In the cupboard:

teas:    As a variety of travellers use our premises, we offer small plastic containers each labelled with a variety of teas. I usually leave about 10 -12 bags in each container.  They are English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Peppermint, Lemon & Ginger, Jasmine, Chai and also green tea. Sometimes branded, sometimes not.


coffee: There is always instant coffee, usually something decent like Mocchona. Plus some good ground coffee to use with the electric coffee drip machine or the portable French press plungers. We did have an expresso machine in the past, but I’ve gone for simple since. A coffee connoisseur will enjoy the plungers and I have an aversion to using pods. But that’s just me! Lol…

There is also either some chocolate Quik or Milo for adults or kids depending on the shopping. Sometimes drinking chocolate if I know they also don’t drink tea or coffee.


We also leave a few basic apples etc in a bowl in the fridge, but we don’t make fresh juices on arrival as they can purchase them at our many local markets, or they can buy their more exotic fruit themselves, and make use of the blender also left in the space!

 

It’s not something that many people comment on, but it’s there and I’m sure it helps with comfort and our reviews.

 

 

 

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