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?!

Honesty, some people!!! Well done for keeping your cool 😆

I think it’s a whole other level of paranoia to think someone would jizz in the reusable shower gel bottle in a hotel or put hair removal cream in the shampoo. For starters, if found out (and it wouldn’t be difficult to trace who it was) they’d go to prison. Just wouldn’t enter my mind to think someone would be so depraved.

Well, someone else could have breathed on it, couldn’t they?

That’d be quite enough for some of the more extreme clean-freak MNers.

IME when dealing with the public you get to hear their personal preference - doesn't mean it's right. The next person might complain about something else. If you get a few complaints about the same thing, it's worth considering.

Your place sounds absolutely gorgeous and providing Aesop is very generous. Would you PM me the link please?

Cliveden House Hotel at £1500 a night provides (or did a couple of years ago) large bottles from the Noble Isle range in it's hotel bathrooms, so it is very much acceptable at the higher end. (There's a sign saying the products are available to purchase and the price will be deducted if the bathroom bottles are taken!)
Individual small bottles are unnecessarily wasteful.

Most hotels have a bottle on the wall that is replenished. I personally always take my own products. She was mean to remove one star.

If it was all gunged up, she might have had a point, but it wasn't- you clean the bottles every time and they're locked in.

It's just part of running something for the public. Things won't be perfect for everyone. (I'd be annoyed at the assumption everyone will appreciate a bottle of alcohol. I wouldn't.)

Think a lot of counties have or are in the process of banning the little bottles in hotels anyway. That's why the wall dispensers are becoming popular.

Do you realise that most decent hotels these days have stopped providing miniatures and supply large bottles that they just refill when necessary?!

Miniatures are terrible for the environment and massively wasteful.

I actually can’t remember the last time I stayed in either a hotel or a self-catering property that put those miniatures out.

OP, your guest is a prissy twat.

It’s not unhygienic, it’s just not particularly nice.

If you only replace when empty, that means half of your guests have to use nearing empty bottles of toiletries, which again, who wants the dregs? That doesn’t feel like luxury, so why bother?

People can bring their own stuff no problem.

It sounds like you’re trying to make your Airbnb into something “special” but missing the actual special factor. Either top them up for each guest so they look new, or don’t bother.

How is it, can you explain why?

No it isn't. I posted a link above but here it is again. There is no such thing as a gift if the gift comes with a service you've paid for.
https://www.cornishcottageholidays.co.uk/blog/owner-advice-supply-of-alcohol-in-your-holiday-home/

How is it different?

I can’t imagine why anyone would think that sharing shower gel in unhygienic

Think that is the idea of the wall dispenser in hotels. They are tamper proof.

She sounds completely clueless. And seems to have confused Airbnb with a hotel.

Most Airbnbs simply provide the basics: soap & towels.

OP could get some ceramic dispensers, but frankly the same issues apply to those and why bother, when it’s easier to provide nothing.

Again. Aesop bottles are opaque.

Oh, they’re just cunts and not worth the headspace.
I can’t afford Aesop at home 😄 and I’d be thrilled if an Airbnb had Aesop toiletries (not to mention all the other thoughtful touches you provide).
I know on Airbnb anything less than a 5-star review puts you at risk of sliding down the algorithm and getting fewer views, so from that point of view it’s upsetting, but any reasonable person reading that review will dismiss them as nutters and just go by all the positive ones (I speak as a seasoned Airbnb user; you learn to identify the moaning Minnies!).
Where is your property? It sounds lovely 😊

She’s bonkers.

I knew as soon as I read it someone would come along to say they carry their own soap everywhere.

But seriously no it’s a perfectly normal set up like many hotels.

This is more the norm now than individual. Can you reply to the comment that this is “industry standard practice, a more sustainable approach and reduces waste. Also allows us to provide high quality products. Guests are welcome to request individual toiletries and these will be charged at £10 per stay”

to provide I’m sure chat gpt would do a great response.

What?? This is nuts.

This is the norm in budget hotels now and is better for the environment too.

For a second I thought I saw their point but really, picking up a bottle someone else has touched versus the waste of those tiny bottles and environmental impact… seems a bit mad!!

I certainly hope some of the people on this thread are prepared to use the soap in public toilets!

She is being an idiot. How its unhygienic? What is she doing with them, sucking the nozzle or something? I hate little bottles, they are a nightmare to get stuff out - also, single use plastic - something that should be avoided. Pretty much every hotel I stayed at recently had large bottles of stuff rather than tiny plastic ones, I'd imagine precisely because of being environmentally conscious.

Also, why she did not say anything to you - considering you live across the garden? Weird.

But maybe put on your ad something about it, in case you encounter another bonkers visitor. And say you can provide individual bottles on request.

Really interested to learn why you wouldn't use these? @Yogafiend