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?!

It's completely normal - most hotels have large bottles. I can't see how it could be "unhygienic" (it's soap, FFS!), and it's very wasteful to have those little bottles.

So she didn't even put her reason for 4 stars?

Only privately to you?

Honestly most people would have just rolled their eyes.

Perhaps you should make it clear that anyone not wanting to use these sort of pumps should bring their own?

Eta I don't think you should need to do that but it seems a few people might still be expecting small stuff?

You sound like a really thoughtful host however I do see her point. I think it would be better to maybe have a dispenser on the wall like in hotels, where it needs to be opened with a key. My initial (and probably completely unfounded) concern would be that anyone would take the lid off a bottle and do something with the contents. Unlikely maybe but you don’t know who has been in there before.

I wouldn’t have knocked a star off after all the other effort you go to though, seems mean. Maybe it’s just something to consider going forward.

So presumably you never use soap when you wash your hands in a restaurant?

People are nuts. Your set up sounds lovely and thoughtful and generous.

I don't think it is unhygienic but I'm a skuzz, some people are prissy about this sort of stuff

They still gave you 4 stars, if there was something really bad it would have been much lower.

For what it's worth I hate the word obviously. It's such an aggressive word. Them being anal makes it not obvious,;the fact that none of your previous reviews commented shows it is only them that sees this as obvious.

What a lunatic surely she uses hand soap in a public toilet. Providing indiviual plastic minis for each guest is bad for the environment

Ive stayed in some of the most luxuries hotels abroad and they all provide 500ml shower gels / shampoo etc

Agree OP, almost all 'nice' hotels now have pump dispensers, and as u have them locked into a shelf, the tiny risk that a past guest has messed with the contents is reduced ti miniscule. Your guests were just a bit odd 😁

I wouldn’t bad an eyelid. There is something nice about individual bottles of toiletries in fancy places but I end up bringing them home and forgetting about them. Really it’s wasteful. Waste of money , waste of plastic . Anyone who thinks otherwise is being unreasonable. I mean if it’s unhygienic to use that then it’s unhygienic to use a communal bottle of fairy liquid or hand soap as well which is ridiculous. There are people out there who will always find something to complain about unfortunately

This!

This is exactly what I was going to say. She’s that person who always steals the toiletries and was gutted you foiled her plan.

I stayed at an Airbnb that had all toiletries in pump bottles, including washing up liquid in the kitchen. There weren’t any shower type ones (shampoo/shower gel) but it didn’t even occur to me to be annoyed about that cause I always use my own anyway, but not cause of hygiene, because I’m fussy.

We all know how kettles are used. Sometimes.

Unfounded because you haven’t read op saying they are locked in. Not possible to meddle with the contents.

I do, but hand soap is a bit different to something you wash your hair and body with.
I just take my own stuff to hotels.

@loislaneloves This is absolutely normal. She's being really nit-picky.
Think nothing more about this random person & comment. She's an outlier.

Aesop is a lovely touch and I am sure appreciated by the vast majority of your guests

Years ago I used to buy BBQs for a living. The packaging would have various colour pictures of the BBQ showing the features etc. One of the pictures was a 'lifestyle' shot - so had some vegetable skewers/ kebabs on the grill. I think it said in small writing 'suggested use'

We got a customer complaint saying how disappointed they were that food wasn't in the same box as the BBQ and that the photo was extremely misleading 🙄. Some people are just so thick. The next year legal advised us not to have a food shot because of this one complaint. It's very annoying.

BTW your AirBnB sounds lovely - any chance of sharing the link?

Weird.

Im in a Airbnb right now that is in someone’s garden! And yes large pump packs of toiletries which is great, they also left us a bottle of wine which was appreciated!

What do these people do in public bathrooms?

When you go to a restaurant do you not use the soap in dispensers after using the toilet, and bring your own in your bag?

Wow that’s amazingly generous of you providing all those lovely extras! If the bottles are locked into a shelf and cannot be opened by guests then I can’t see how it’s unhygienic? If they can be opened then I could see how some people may think they are. A previous guest could have tampered with it or emptied out the lovely Aesop product and taken it home and refilled it with their own crap stuff!

Used on cruise ships isn't much of a recommendation, given how quickly sickness spreads on board.

She's being ridiculous. If she feels this way she can use her own toiletries.

I went to a super fancy spa hotel last month and they had their toiletries exactly the same way as you've described, so if it's good enough there...
Individual use toiletries thankfully are no longer 'a thing' for environmental reasons 🙂

It's not unhygienic at all. Using lots of tiny individual plastic pots for each guest would be environmentally questionable and wasteful.

As you've described those pump dispensers attacked to the wall, I can't understand how she'd think it unhygienic. What does she think happens when we use large bottles at home?

No one's bunging their germs up the pump nozzle.

This is a her problem not a you problem. Although the star system on AirBnB doesn't help here. Can you knock off a star or give her a negative review as a guest for being a wasteful brat?

Anyone with some consciousness would understand the environmental impact of individualised toiletries nowadays.
I'm pleased that some hotels offer water stations and glass bottles to refill water rather than plastic too.
I think they're being ridiculous and I'd be very happy with lovely Aesop products.

If you advertise it on the listing it could be construed as using alcohol to encourage guests to stay -an incentive.
Leaving a gift is ok.

So many more hotels have this set up to reduce plastic waste! The stuff in the bottles literally cleans you so I don’t understand how it would be unhygienic? As long as the bottles are wiped down when the bathroom is cleaned, there’s no issue!

Sorry I didn’t read updates. In that case the guest was being ridiculous. I just remembered a gross story from my university days when two housemates fell out and one spat in the others shampoo. Obviously not possible in this case.

I always travel with my own toiletries and kettle (this is mainly for the US where they don’t do kettles) but I recognise that’s personal choice and I would never criticise what you are offering as it looks excellent. It’s annoying but some people just like to moan, it’s like that Four in a Bed programme where they check for dust on top of pictures.