Is this unhygienic?!

[loislaneloves]

I have an Airbnb on my property. It’s basically a tiny home at the bottom of our large garden with an amazing view. Most people come for the weekend by train and I don’t want people to spend their holiday shopping for stuff like coffee, tea, milk or having to cram suitcases full of toiletries or beach towels so I provide all of those. I also provide a little evening snack (crisps usually) some wine to watch the sun set on the deck with and fruit from the garden and a croissant and jam for breakfast. People love it and I make it quite clear on my ads that these things are provided.
Just got a review from a couple who stayed with us a few days ago. They gave us a good review but took one star off and in her private message to me she said ‘We loved our stay with you but we weren’t very happy that the toiletries are in big shared bottles rather than individual use. This is obviously very unhygienic (we don’t know who has used them!!) so we had to make the trip to buy some for ourselves which was an expense and effort we weren’t expecting’.
To be clear I offer Aesop Shower Gel, Shampoo and Conditioner in the shower and Aesop Hand Wash by the sink in 500ml bottles. They get replaced when empty which is usually about every 10 months
AIBU to think this is not unhygienic?!

OP I have been in 5* hotels where the very same set up is for bath and showering products.
They can't be interfered with.
I think its great.
I wouldn't pay any attention to it.

It's also daft because she must know that small wasteful bottles contents have been decanted from huge drums at the factory and that the product itself is sanitising. Peculiar

Odd. Aesop is lovely too.

I went to a hotel this weekend. There was shower gel, shampoo etc attached to the wall I.e. provided. She should’ve purchased he own if she’s so picky!

It's the norm in good hotels, too. Hotels of all budgets are recognising the problem of plastic waste and acting accordingly.

I think quite a few people are very conscious of germs post covid. Going forward I'd perhaps have a set of (much cheaper) single use toiletries in the bathroom cupboard and then put a little note saying that if guests do not wish to use the toiletries provided then they can find single use ones in the cupboard but you do not use these as standard for environmental reasons. Completely unfair that she deducted a star and I personally would be delighted to find Aesop toiletries, its the sort off thing that makes a stay feel special.

I have soap and handwash in my bathroom. I use the soap but - from reading Mumsnet - I've taken on board that there are people who won't use someone else's soap. And should such a person visit me and use the bathroom, I really want them to wash their hands, so I make it easy for them.

Why didn't they bring their own toiletries if they're that weird and fussy?

Or cutlery and glasses at a restaurant

The most pristine airbnb I’ve ever stayed in (in Helsinki) had big shared bottles of products. No pumps. And it was greatly appreciated! There’s no “backwash” for germs and it’s not like she was drinking it. Some people are just entitled. I’ve stayed in really nice high end hotels and even they have pumps. Don’t be discouraged by the occasional negative Nelly OP — the phrase “you can’t please everyone” applies here. Some people have wired their brains for negativity and it has zero to do with others and everything to do with their incessant need to find SOMETHING to bitch about. It’s a sad way to live but some people choose it.

Haven't seem indicudual toiletries in a hotel in years. I can totally understand that people don't want to use the hotel products wither because they dont like the product, don't like sharing with strangers or are worried what soemone has done to the bottles. But then people can bring their own products, no biggie. Weird thing to complain about.

Some people don't understand how germs spread, or what is unhygienic.
What you provide is perfectly safe. The "single use" toiletries don't seem to exist anymore. If people don't understand that you can use soap from a dispenser and it's hygienic, they should have paid more attention in yr8 Science

I’ve seen this too - I think it’s motivated by the fact that people would take the small bottles daily to stock up, so it was cheaper to have the wall based dispensers. As far as I can see these are disinfected when the shower is clean and shared toiletry dispensers are no more unhygienic than using a toilet or shower that someone else used the day before and which has also been cleaned.

I am guessing this guest doesn’t use the soap dispensers in public loos either?

Most people don’t care what soap they use as the performance in the same regardless of what you use.

Shampoo is highly personal, I never use the hotel shampoo as assume it’ll be crap. Also assume there’s a high chance that they refill with cheap products into branded bottles. Maybe be wrong but that’s why I personally don’t use shampoo and conditioner in random bottles.

Surely this is what happens in most hotels and b&b? Well, it has been the case in the ones I've stayed in. Was she expecting her own free bottles of Aesops products to take home?
I generally take my own showering products as I don't know what the place I'll be staying at has, and have been caught out with a conditioner that doesn't work in my hair

This is a mad thread OP. You’re doing a lovely thing. Who are all these people so worried about germs off a shared bottle in the shower (they are about to wash for goodness sake) that they would rather add to the plastic landfill problem. I wonder how they survive in the wild!

I think what she meant to write was: “l wanted to takeaway Aesop mini bottles but l don’t have the stones to take a big bottle”. Nothing unhygienic about the set up you have described on here

Hotels have been doing this for years now due to cost. It's not unhygienic. If customers want that they need to pay more. Up to you what you offer

I literally just stayed in a Marriott that had large pump bottles by the sink and in the shower - didn't even cross my mind that it wasn't hygienic - because it wasn't!

You'll never please everyone OP.
Just look at some of the hysterical replies because you do the same thing a hotel does.
People like to say the opposite of perfectly reasonable things to be controversial. I'm sure some are serious and difficult individuals offline as well as on here.

Mumsnet has a way of weeding out some of the most bizarre individuals worldwide. Hands down.

I have had thoughts about what could have been done with opened toiletries in accommodation I've stayed in. I know it's an irrational me problem so I wouldn't downgrade a review for it but I definitely have a preference for mini individual toiletries.

Sure.
Washing your hands, with ANY soap for a minute or so is unlikely to matter too much if it dries out your skin, smells wrong, is different from that you are used to, or even that which you are being informed it contains.

Washing your hair in the shower takes longer, can irritate your scalp, dry out your hair etc (similar for body). So I take my own stuff... because no matter what a (refillable) bottle says on the outside, you do not know what is on the inside.

Not insinuating the op has bad morals in any way - I know some people do.
Aesop may be on the outside of the bottle. Tesco saver might be on the inside.

Not so much a snob, more a weirdo

But then people would use the toiletries provided in the pump but take the individual use ones with them when they go. OP would be paying for two lots.

do those who think it's unhygienic think people have a shower and then somehow scrape the shower gel off their bodies and put it back in the bottle. Nuts!

What does she do when she’s washing her hands in public toilets, other people’s houses, toilets at work?!

I feel that if you are that particular about sharing soap, you need to bring all of your own toiletries, or ask in advance, exactly what is provided.

sorry, I didn't see your earlier link.
Well I stand corrected then. Apologies.