dear airbnb hosts

[comeondover]

Enough of the plug-in air fresheners. They're foul a matter of personal taste. Also they make me very suspicious about what you might be trying to hide.

And if all the temperature and function settings have been rubbed off, what am I supposed to do, play oven roulette? Give me a fighting chance and leave me the manual so I can look at a picture of it.

Anything else?

Can't abide air fresheners of plastic plants.

Here's my list:

A decent mattress, pillows and bed linen
A cafetière
Salt and pepper grinders with sufficient amounts left in.
Hooks - plenty of them
A decent reading light
I've given up on sharp knives. I think it's a law of the universe that knives in holiday rentals are always blunt. I take my own these days. And a knife sharpener.

Oh yes, another vote for an oven glove.

A big mug and a pint glass. Again I usually take these with me.

Why wouldn't you just take a pillowcase?
That's what I do.

The one slight complaint I had with our most recent Airbnb was that if you're going to let your dogs poo in your back garden/terrace area which the Airbnb backs directly on to what with it being a converted garage, then you really need to be on top of it and pick the poo up instantly.

It's a shame as the dogs were cute and one was very elderly, but it's still repulsive to see dog poo on the slabs for a number of hours,

We do this - a paring knife (with protective sleeve) and veg peeler, wrapped in a clean tea towel - even when we are self-catering abroad. This year we are SC in Europe but hand luggage only. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the kitchen is properly equipped.

I hate air fresheners and reed diffusers. They make me and DS wheezy.

Tiny mugs annoy me too. I have bought better ones at Asda or Tesco on more than 1 trip.

A couple of my European gripes:
Please ensure the gas canister has more than enough gas to last.
One cup of coffee before it expired and a day wait until you could get round to replace?

Working air conditioning would have been great 🥵

Also, functioning batteries in the TV remote.

Most important of all: When one room looks out onto the balconies of adjoining apartments, less than 3 feet away, please supply a window covering. Something. Anything?

4pm check in and 10am check out is standard!

If you want late check out ask but this really is standard for a holiday let.

If you leave the code for the key safe please ensure it’s correct and you are at least contactable (and not on a flight for several hours) around the usual time of check in if it’s not (true story)

I was with you on most things but an apron is oddly specific. Just take your own?

A tray is also quite a particular request.

I remember a thread on here a few years ago from someone who was opining their first holiday let and she asked for ideas of what to include.

The replies got increasingly hilarious and included the suggestion of full baking sets- tins, cutters, mixers, equipment for icing etc etc. just in case holiday makers fancied whipping up a fully decorated 3 tier cake.

We stayed in a lovely air bnb recently… big cleaning fee and a load of instructions on cleaning and ‘leaving it as you found it’. Well the cleaners had done a shite job, (parts of the house were dirty) so we took some pictures and didn’t do much other than wipe down the kitchen surface.
I put all the towels on a long wash on my way out so hopefully that meant the cleaners actually had to stick around for the next guests.

Why on earth would you need more than three frying pans? Most households only have one or two at the most.

An actual inventory of kitchen contents is really useful, otherwise I'll bring half the contents of my own kitchen only to discover you already provide scissors, a corkscrew etc. Likewise washing up liquid, laundry powder etc.

Please also check that knives are still sharp enough; we've stayed in a couple of places where we had to go and buy new ones (which we then left for the next person).

If there are wardrobes, please provide hangers, including children's hangers.

If there's a washing line, please give me enough clothes pegs!

In saying that, overall we've enjoyed our Air BnB stays and haven't ever had any major problems.

@RampantIvy

I don't need more than 3. I don't need anymore frying pans. What I do need is more stuff than only 3 frying pans 3 saucepans and one oven pan. That was literally ALL that was there! The cupboards were completely empty even though it was supposed to be a "well equipped kitchen".

If I’m paying for a rental with bedding I most certainly do not want to start lugging bedding about, and if the whole bedding was reeking of fabric conditioner I’d need more than just a pillow case 🤢

I bring my own pillowcases. They are oversized and black so I don't forget to bring them home with me again!

My bugbear is recycling. Please provide space to store recycling and instructions on what to do with rubbish/recycling including food waste.

Agreed, I once got moaned at for leaving ‘rubbish’ on the side because we’d left x3 empty bottles for recycling because there was no instructions about recycling/what to do with rubbish in general.

Ooh I’ve got one!

dear Airbnb hosts, you don’t need to message me multiple times stressing that the place should be left as clean as I found it and telling me where the cleaning stuff is, and telling me there are no “cleaners” coming in it’s just you and your family. How you run your holiday let is none of my business and up to you if you do the changeovers yourself or pay someone else too. You’ve asked me to check out at 10am so I will do my best and leave it in a reasonably clean and tidy state whilst also packing and getting 3 kids out the door in time as a single parent. But if you want me to do the actual changeover clean for you you need to let me check out later and charge me less!

Oh yes I've thought of another- very minor - grumble .

I went to check what the leaving instructions were for most recent Airbnb and it said "please leave it clean and tidy", that caused me some concern as a) we had paid a cleaning fee b) there was nothing to clean with and c) I had no idea what clean and tidy means.

I didn't want to ask because I had no intention of hoovering, dusting etc on holiday but I do the obvious things like make sure toilet is clean, tidy away dishes used, strip bedding and put that and towels together and wipe up any obvious spills. As it turned out it was fine - we needed to leave luggage and she said that was absolutely fine as long as she could get in to clean, but I feel owners should be really unambiguous about what they expect , rather than wording it so they are cheekily hoping the guest cleans it themselves.

Well mine were explicit (only after I booked) but there was no option to pay an extra cleaning fee otherwise I would have.
I did run the hoover round and wiped down surfaces and I think that was more than reasonable but it irked me that it felt like they were saying poor old them not having any cleaners coming in 🙄 it’s your choice!

I think if the guest is expected to do a full clean, this should be specified on the initial listing.

I've stopped any holiday rentals in France from French owners due to their frankly bizarre level of cleaning requirements- even when I have paid a cleaning fee - and I'd never rent anywhere I was expected to do the cleaning. I also don't like it when it's the owners that do the cleaning if they make a big thing out of it , like I really don't care, you've got my money and I've not left it filthy so just do what you need to do.

I wouldn't expect either an apron or a tray.

Did you tell them that in response to their messages? And put it in the review?