People shouldn't open a high quality holiday let when they have no generosity for hosting.

[RatTastic]

Just got back from 24 hours at the soon to be improved holiday home. The hosts had provided for ten of us plus themselves, one loo roll, no bedding, no guest hand towels just their own personal towels.

When they left us home alone for four hours they switched the heating off.

AIBU to think they do not have the generosity of spirit to run a high quality, luxury holiday let.

OP's friends have bought a holiday home they intend to do up and rent out as an expensive AirBnB. They invited friends/family to stay over Christmas and were such stingy hosts, OP thinks their AirBnB business is going to go badly.

Thats what I got from the post. Possibly true! Maybe they'll learn from their failings during this test run, though.

Brilliant @Willmafrockfit

Not enough info - did you pay for your stay? Were you specifically invited? Did they specify beforehand that you'd need to bring bedding? 10 is a lot of people to host!

Sorry everyone, was multi tasking, and clearly under thinking.

So a relative has bought a four bedroom house, not far from their home, with the intention of running a 'deluxe' 'high quality' holiday rental.
You need to hear the words in quotes as if it was several grades above where you usually stay, the implication being you couldn't possibly recognise a top notch experience.

They've had it six months, it's painted, carpeted but the single bathroom is tired, the cloakroom you can hear everything in the sparsely furnished living room.

We were invited for free for 24 hours. Another relative present, had previously hosted the holiday house hosts over Xmas .

We wouldn't rent the house due to the location because it's not our thing so not looking for freebies.

I'm thinking that to truely run a high grade hospitality business you need a generous nature, even if that's with the businesses money. So why buy one chandelier when you could have two or go minimalist but with a John Pawson level of detail.
Anyway back to the visit - iabu that under catered, under prepared doesn't hint at personalities suited to this business type.

Have they just not got round to ordering bedding and towels etc yet? Were you aware you had to bring your own?

Still not really enough information. If I was invited somewhere for free I'd expect to take towels and bedding, really.
And chandeliers? I don't understand...

Did they tell you to bring towels/bedding? If there was none, what did you sleep in/wash with?

They put ten of you up, free, for a night-I wouldn’t be cross. When they open as a business, I’m sure they’ll get into the swing of things.

well you need to tell them

I kind of get what you're saying op. We're in a holiday let at the moment, and the owners have been very generous and it feels like they are happy to have us, want to make sure we are ok, happy etc, not just taking our money and doing a runner. It's not a "high quality" let like your friends are going for but they've provided generous amounts of the basics like loo rolls & towels. Officially couldn't check in til 5 but called us a few hours earlier on the day to say it was ready and we could arrive when we wanted, the heating was on full when we got here so the house was warm, there's loads of little touches to make it feel homely (like salt, pepper, basic herbs and spices in the cupboards), they left a welcome basket with fresh bread, milk, even mince pies and chocolate coins for the kids! Called us on the first night to make sure we had everything we needed, popped round on a quad bike the next morning with a spare dvd player as we couldn't get the one here to work. They don't need to do half of that to meet the basic requirements of the business model, but it's made the whole experience so much nicer for us.

You're not making much sense really. You're staying at a friend's house for free, which they also use as a holiday let (or are going to in the future) but they've not equipped it for you fully for the 1 day you're there and you assumed they would?

For free? Were you invited to do a review of the let and give your feedback? Or was it a social visit?

Inviting friends to stay is completely different from running a business

But.... I remember fondly the holiday houses that are well equipped, with foil, sandwich bags, plenty of dishwasher tablets etc

When I've spent £££ to rent a house for a week, I do feel a bit resentful if I have to go and buy toilet roll and bin bags. It's mean spirited of the host and does not generate goodwill on my part

We're they expecting you to experience the full hospitality and provide feedback?

Or have they just skimped because it was a freebie?

Something doesn't add up... did they tell you there wouldn't be bedding and loo roll?

I'm struggling to get your point... did you know this in advance and the point is that this is how it will be let out, but it's more basic than luxury?

As long as they are clear about the lack of bedding and towels then that's ok - however it might put me off paying a lot of money. Happy to being my own for a caravan holiday but paying for a higher end property of not want the hassle - that's up to them though. I'd expect to provide toilet roll after an initial one when on a self catering trip

Holiday let's wouldn't normally be catered and leaving 1 toilet roll is fairly standard. I find in some they do leave a few bits (maybe some local biscuits or cream tea, dishwasher tablet), but i woudljt expect it for a 1 night practice run for family! I'd say 1 bathroom in a 4 bedroom house isn't high end to me no matter how fancy the furnishings are. They should provide towels and bedding but perhaps they aren't quite fully ready yet?

Even if the OP was a guest are people saying it's normal to have the heating turned off & turn up with their own towels?

If I was invited somewhere for free I'd expect to take towels and bedding, really.

why?

YOUR STAY: If I was invited for a free nights stay at someone’s soon-to-be holiday let, I would have asked what I needed to bring. Especially if I knew they were in the process of doing it up ie: it wasn’t fully operational as a let property. So I think YABU and should accept some responsibility for being unprepared and without bedding and towels. Holiday hosts however, should have also mentioned this. Maybe it being a busy time of year this info got overlooked by everybody. One night, no big deal, move on.

LUXURY LET: None of what you describe sounds particularly luxe but tbh it’s none of your business and you sound judgemental. This sounds personal and that your expectations of this stay weren’t met and you’re using it as a stick to beat them with. I think “generosity of spirit” is not essential to succeed in business. Might it help in their holiday let venture? Possibly. Does it matter? No. YABU.

I think you need to feed that back.

If they want to run a high end hospitality business, that requires them to be hospitable.

So, clean good quality bedding, spare blankets, decent towels. Plenty of loo roll and soap. If self-catering, a basic welcome pack of tea bags, coffee, milk & sugar. An explanation of how to use the heating & hot water. Directions to the nearest supermarket & pub, local take-away menus etc

Their pricing needs to cover the extras. Without those, they won't get many returning customers. But I'm sure they'll get the hang of it. Just tell them.

Maybe they will provide for paying guests.
A days freebie doesn't mean you know how they will run their business.

Eg Your mam giving you a sandwich doesn't mean her posh restaurant won't provide excellent food for paying customers. 🤷

The few high quality holiday lets I've stayed in have been just that- generous with the little extras like sufficient loo roll for at least half the holiday, local goods left for a first breakfast, sumptuous sofas/armchairs and nice decorative touches- pretty throws on the beds or cushions or whatever.

And a full complement of kitchen items- even decent knives!

I wouldn't pay top dollar for one loo roll and bring-your-own-bedding.

This.

It sounds like you have a vast experience of working in the hospitality industry @RatTastic . Why don’t you share your wisdom with the friends who generously hosted you and your 9 family members ? I’m sure you can teach them how to improve.

@RatTastic did they tell you to bring towels and bedding?

If yes, then I would have been a bit surprised but assumed they just didn’t have enough stuff for 10 yet.

If no, then how did you sleep? What did you wash with?

I agree that there are two different issues here, but I'd certainly be dismayed if I were invited to stay (even for free!) anywhere and found I was expected to bring my own bedding /towels and, apparently, heating. That's poor hosting (unless explicitly and apologetically outlined before the stay). They may treat paying customers differently. But I wouldn't want to be friends with people who treat paying customers better than family /friends.

a 4 bedroomed house with a tired and worn bathroom, not really suggesting mediocre let alone luxury