Is this unhygienic?!

Resort to a few of the little instant sachets rather than a full jar.
Your venue sounds lovely!

I’d put a piece in your “folder” in small letters at the back

if there is something not quite to your liking, please do let us know during your stay and don’t wait until you’ve left

that way your come back is L, to a message like this - you didn’t let us know so we never even got the chance to amend it if we could have - as written in our literature

stick it up your jumper, you silly customer

She is being ridiculous, in restaurant bathrooms does she use her own soap or from the dispenser?

I would consider leaving a small bar of soap, wrapped but don’t start with little bottles, honestly I think your approach is great and your property sounds lovely.

I wouldn't use the toiletries either. If I'm staying in a hotel that has that set up I ask for brand new bottles. I think it's nice you provide these things but not everyone will think it's nice to use bottles that other people have done for knows what with.

How bloody precious. In the absolute grottiest of public toilets people use the hand-wash!

The drop in rating is really frustrating. How irritating for you. Can you leave her a similar review so that her rating as a customer drops a bit? I have a 4.8 rating on Vinted due to some stupid woman being furious I wouldn't send exact measurements of some skirts she bought and she had to risk her £4 for three skirts! Lost my 5star rating for that.

But even if attached to the wall, the arsey-hand would still have to touch the bottle to get more out.

This is why I don’t have the patience to deal with an air b and b - dealing with people like this. So precious and ridiculous. I would not be able to stay polite! YANBU in any way.

Personally I wouldn’t think so, but there is the risk that people have messed with them. People do weird things to hotel toiletries like piss in them or add hair removal cream to shampoo. Or perverts who mix their semen into them…

However I also think if she’s worried about it that’s her problem and she can just buy her own as she did.

You could put them in a lockable cage so people can’t open the tops.

It’s what many hotels do now, including premium ones. Much better environmentally than all the tiny individual plastic bottles. You sound like a lovely host!

I just want to add that you are in business so you really can't be taking things personally so you would feel "devastated" and "foolish". People drop stars for, odd, reasonable as well as the most ridiculous reasons for any business. It's not personal. It's just dealing with general public

Maybe they haven’t been to a hotel/gym for a long time? It used to be the norm to have little bottles, but obviously it’s terribly wasteful. It’s now the norm to have big bottles and sometimes offer for people to buy full ones from them (lol no one does, but it’s to placate those who insist that taking bottles of shower gel is their right).

some places do still do minis but it’s not expected!

I have an Airbnb and this type of slightly odd review is just part of the territory. There will always be one. I would just move on and not make a thing of it. Just enjoy all the people who have a great time in your place. And don't get too hung up on the review issue. It is deeply flawed and everyone knows it.

Indeed.

Sounds like a proper idiot. Some people love to moan.

I have an idea that this is an EU regulation, in order to reduce waste and for sustainability. I may be wrong.

I’ve been a cleaner in a hotel and had to clean a room where someone had pissed in the shower gel. The bottle could be unscrewed from the pump for refilling. Ever since it’s put me off using communal toiletries. I wouldn’t knock a point off but would have brought my own as whilst most people are very normal every once in a while, you will have a weirdo who likes to add something “special”

But it's soap... And presumably the bottles are wiped down between each visit.... And the only reason you would touch it is to wash yourself with the SOAP.
So any germs that miraculously lingered and transferred to your already germy hands would be WASHED OFF.

People will bring their own shampoo after having touched it, put ina non-sterile bag, taking it out again probably not having washed their hands (after touching door handles, bags/suitcase handles, shaking hands, handling keys) then put it on a shelf. To then use later.... But that's somehow more hygienic than using a soap dispenser that has been cleaned and not touched in 3 hours 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

honestly... I have no idea how some people cope in real life if the thought of touching something shared makes them freak out because "germs"

I would put a little card in the room and on the listing explaining it, like they do with the towels in hotels. Something like ‘we are eco concious at Little Stay and provide x brand toiletries in refillable bottles, guests that require individual toiletries for personal or medical reasons are encouraged to bring their own or there is a shop at x where items can be purchased’
that should stop any complaints as it’s obvious before and during their stay why they are provided in that way.

They sound like the type of person who would have bleached all their shopping during Covid before letting it in their kitchen

I wouldn’t dwell on it OP. Some people are just more particular about things than others and then probably a small fraction of those would think on it enough to drop a star on a review.

To me it is not unhygienic and very common to save in waste. If you use the pump and then wash your hands/hair/body then dry yourself on a clean towel, any germs you might have gotten from initially touching the pump would have been eliminated during washing.

If they’ve said in their review why they’ve not given 5 stars, I don’t think it would stop most people from staying at your Air B&B. Most people will see them as very particular about things and not think much of it

You're in line with the Hilton so I'd literally ignore that review and keep doing what you're doing.

Your extras sound lovely. I can't understand why they didn't pack their own toiletries. They weren't staying at a hotel, so shouldn't have expected individual items, and as has been pointed out, even hotels tend to have big bottles they top up these days.

'expense and effort we weren't expecting'

She's really reaching here.

Sounds like someone desperately looking for any reason to complain or to get money back - some people try it as a matter of course.

It's not unhygienic. It's common practice in most places.

I’d be glad that you were considering the environment by not using the hideously wasteful mini bottles. So much plastic.

Some people are very irrational or have weird germ phobias - there’s not much you can do about it. Even top end hotels have generally moved away from using small individual bottles.