Holiday cottage etiquette

[unlikelychump]

We are staying in a holiday cottage, never done this before. Staying 3 nights and this is our last one. We brought things with us like tea towels and washing up liquid but it was nice to find them here when we arrived. Also laid out was posh coffee, biscuits, milk, OJ and bucks fizz. We've had the OJ and milk but not the rest. There were two loo rolls. We've finished one in the downstairs loo and so there is between 2 bathrooms. 5 of us. We asked the hosts for another, they said no "it was a starter pack". It feels like we have breached the etiquette by asking.

I'm now questioning whether we are not supposed to use the other stuff... Or replace it.

Feels strange as I'd much have preferred 3 loo rolls than a pack of biscuits... I feel like going back and trying to trade :)

It is quite an upmarket cottage, lovely decos and beautifully done.

(Obviously I should have bought more loo rolls, I didn't remember it, before you all pile on my for my cheap habits)

What do you think?

Yes, we have often been told where the spares are when we have stayed at places.

They won’t just steal the toilet roll, so you would either need to be happy not breaking even or charge way above the going rate for the area.

I do all of these things including leaving a huge tub of Nespresso pods, pots with 10 types of tea, a bag full of dishwasher tabs and washing powder and a cupboard full of toilet paper. If someone asked for more I’d take it to them. Also Aesop toiletries in every bathroom (not screwed down). Waffle bathrobes. Plus a bathroom drawer full of emergency supplies; face wipes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Nurofen.
It costs me very little per stay or I consider it a worthwhile investment compared to how much people pay to stay.
I keep a tight inventory and in nearly 100 stays nothing has been ‘stolen’ but I’ve got 100 5 star reviews and guests who’ve had a great holiday and not had to spend time or worry about where to buy loo paper, oil for their bacon sandwich or pods for the Nespresso machine.

We had one review that isn’t five stars, not sure how many, but over a hundred as well. This is petty, but since selling the reviews are poor under the new owner, so thats a bit satisfying to know we were doing okay. we once had an entire set of towels stolen, including the spares in each bathroom! We used to leave full boxes of dishwasher tabs, laundry tabs etc, but they were being stolen so often we had to majorly reduce, we’ve had people steal everything. We had one guest who took all toiletries, all cleaning products, all boxes of tissues and four bags of fire wood. They gave us a good review and the review focused on all of the wonderful things they had left for them…

We always take loo rolls self catering

Surely you know who stole them as the propert is checked after each stay. What is your recourse?

We stayed in one Air BnB that had wardrobes and cupboards full of toilet roll!! We had no room to hang our clothes! Two full height wardrobes packed with the owner’s stuff and loo roll and a dressing table where every drawer was full of loo roll. We were left with a coat stand to hang 5 days of clothes. The owner could t understand our issue.

Of course we know who stole them, there isn’t anything you can do as agents can’t chase money from clients, you can however leave a review about them which other people can see before taking the booking from them. We could claim on our insurance, so for big things we did once a year, but you can’t be adding bottles of soap to a claim!

In the time it’s taken you to make this post and generally stew over a tiny matter, you could’ve been and bought a £1.99 pack of rolls. Holiday Lets make bugger all cash, that’s why I pulled out.

Don't leave Nurofen! You shouldn't give guests drugs, you are putting yourself in a potentially difficult situation.

I'm surprised its legal. Workplaces aren't allowed to keep nurofen for example.

Totally normal to find loo rolls for immediate use but not beyond. I think it's equally good etiquette leave a bit behind (not whole rolls) so if the cleaner wants to go they have something to use without breaking into a fresh roll. (Taking it all with you is like the person who removes the light bulbs when they move house!).

As for the welcome pack, that's to get your holiday off to a flying start. Use / take what you like but if you don't like / want it, then don't be wasteful - just leave those bits behind? Anything that's been opened but not much used will likely be thrown away.

As for dishwasher / washing tabs etc - it's nice to find a few but this doesn't always happen and I wouldn't expect a whole box as people do steal. Washing up liquid should be there though; I stay a lot in cottages & Airbnbs and would be surprised if there wasn't. If it runs out during your stay then I'd say it's on you to replace.

But 5 star reviews mean nothing. You give your host a 5 star rating and then will give you a good review!! I thought everyone knew that.

AirBnB (and, I thought, most other holiday rental sites nowadays) hold reviews until both submitted or you hit the deadline before posting so you don't get tit-for-tat reviewing.

@RawBloomers no, I was told our host ha written a review and I could see it when my review had been sent

You cannot see a review until.you have submitted one. So you have no idea what the host has said before you write your review.

Right. They hold the review until both are submitted. So you don't know if it's a good or bad review until you've submitted yours and they don't know if your review is good or bad until they've submitted theirs. (Or the deadline has passed and no review will be accepted).

Neither party can adjust their review depending on what the other party says.

We were with airbnb, so the guest couldn’t see our review until they had submitted their review.

@RawBloomers @Simonjt
OK point taken but surely hosts like to choose people who leave good reviews.

Maybe, but I always choose insta-book places so that's not been a concern of mine.

You use it and seem to think it's important so maybe lots of people do. I suppose it doesn't really matter if the mechanisms protect against it if a large percentage of clients think that it matters and they won't get bookings if they're honest.

I wonder if a lot of people don't actually see it as stealing. So-called Main Character Syndrome is endemic these days - so it may not fully enter people's heads that they've had their lovely week (or however long), used a reasonable amount of the supplies, and now another group will arrive, then another, then another. It's not like they're moving out of their own home and need to pretty much clear it out.

Some will also be determined to get their money's worth and think that they're actually robbing themselves if they don't take everything that isn't furniture, reckoning that "We've paid for it" - even though it should be extremely obvious that it's a large stock of supplies to last for many groups of guests and not just them.

They're still huge CFs, though.

I feel bad now, as I had the same thought... except my thinking was why leave the expensive branded stuff rather than the identical generic drugs that cost a fifth of the price!

But you're right: leaving any kind of drugs - however commonly used and relatively benign they may be - is probably not a good idea.

May I ask those who have holiday properties in Air BnB , if you get private feedback do you act on it? The house we recently stayed in had no table/ mirror in the bedrooms so I suggested it. It was a really high end place so it surprised me.

Yes, I do if its something fixable.

The person who gave me private feedback that I should install underfloor heating I replied explaining that would have to rip out the kitchen and bathroom then all the flooring (slate tiles) in order to do that so it wouldn't be happening!

I do my best, especially if justified. So a gate has been added to contain wayward grandchildren and dogs, extra lights fitted to outside steps etc. The one thing I can’t do anything about is the steepness of the drive, and if I did (perhaps blasting out the rock face, rebuilding the house?) there wouldn’t be a wonderful sea view.

I do have a “housekeeping book” where guests can note down if anything is wrong - loo seats seem to always come loose - or any breakages, at least one glass per week is broken, but the house has so many it’s not usually noticeable, and I do carry spares.