What food items do you have for guests?
16 Replies
Julie Groth
Residential Real Estate Investor and Broker from New Orleans, Louisiana
posted about 1 year ago
I think it would be nice (and therefore quietly solicit 5 star reviews) if people have some kind of food in the house when they arrive?
What do you all do?
What about other items like honey, mayo/mustard/ketchup...do you buy those individually wrapped and have available?
Other suggestions?
Avery Carl
Real Estate Agent from USA
replied about 1 year ago
I don't want to sound jaded but I would not bother with this. It's just one more thing for you to have to keep up with, and the guests are not going to thank you for it. Just leave dry spices, coffee stuff, and cooking spray.
One thing I have learned is if you give guests too much, they don't thank you for it, they do the opposite. If you have ketchup, mustard, and mayo, they will complain that you don't have bbq sauce. The number one thing to remember in this business is to keep it simple. Make sure they have a nice, immaculately clean place to stay, and you're in good shape. Keep it simple. The more things you give yourself to deal with, the more you give yourself to trip up on.
Jeffery Wilen
Rental Property Investor from Vancouver, WA
replied about 1 year ago
I’m in the same page as Avery, we only supply coffee/tea(with sugar & dry creamer) and some dry spices.
What we do provide as well is a few water bottles, and a couple packages of snacks, goldfish or cheese crackers and cookies. We’ve found that nearly 80% of guests use some part of these items.
Ken Latchers
from Hatfield, Pennsylvania
replied about 1 year ago
coffee/tea setup. expected. Salt, pepper
Food is not expected and we'll just cut your profit over time and may even get you the occasional negative review
Julie Groth
Residential Real Estate Investor and Broker from New Orleans, Louisiana
replied about 1 year ago
I realize that food is not expected but sometimes I'm starving when I get some place and LOVE it when there is, at least, a snack of some kind. @Ken Latchers Why does it sometimes get you a negative review?
Paul Sandhu
Investor from The worst town to live in, Kansas
replied about 1 year ago
Leftover (beer, mustard, catsup, bread, potatoes, cheese, cold cuts, mayo, ramen, cooking oil, canned goods, spaghetti, frozen foods, etc.)
John Underwood
Investor from Greer, South Carolina
replied about 1 year ago
We have basic condiments, spices, coffee, sugar etc. We get the squeeze condiments so that people aren't sticking a dirty knife or spoon in a jar.
Michael Baum
from Olympia, Washington
replied about 1 year ago
Hey @Julie Groth ! I am on the other side of the coin on this one. I provide quite a list of various food items.
I leave a fresh box of spaghetti and can of sauce. Small peanut butter and jelly. Pancake mix. Worcester, BBQ and a steak sauce. There is ketchup, mustards, mayo as well as a couple of hot sauces and a jar of salsa either on the shelf or in the fridge. There is usually butter as well. Both canola and olive oil. I have a few bags of microwave popcorn up there.
I also have over 40 spices in cabinet along with various steak, chicken and seafood seasonings. Coffee pods both in the kitchen and in the master coffee bar. Sugar, flour, salt etc. Just about everything you could want to make any meal.
I like the idea of having something quick and easy to make like spaghetti available for guests when they arrive. Often they get there later than they thought and don't want to fire up the grill. They can make a quick meal for the family and settle in.
Now I will say that our house is out there. 35 miles down lake from Coeur d'Alene, ID. There is a small store and a couple of restaurants, but that is pretty much it.
We constantly get compliments on the kitchen. People eat the quick meal stuff and I just replace it. It is cheap for me and a bonus for them. All 5 star ratings baby!
Overall I find these kinds of things easy and inexpensive to provide and leave people with a positive feeling. They may not comment about it, but I strongly believe that it contributes to our great reviews.
Paul Sandhu
Investor from The worst town to live in, Kansas
replied about 1 year ago
This is in the pantry of my big house. The 3 story house with 4 baths and 8 beds.

Gala Klein
from Flagstaff, Arizona
replied about 1 year ago
I have noticed that guests will leave packets of condiments from their takeout. Put these in a nice lidded, clear glass jar and leave it for others to use and contribute to. All you’ve invested in is the jar.
Paul Sandhu
Investor from The worst town to live in, Kansas
replied about 1 year ago
Originally posted by @Gala Klein :I have noticed that guests will leave packets of condiments from their takeout. Put these in a nice lidded, clear glass jar and leave it for others to use and contribute to. All you’ve invested in is the jar.
Speaking of condiments, sometimes I find unopened packages of condoms in bedrooms. I just leave them on the headboard for the next group of guys to stay in the house. It's not anything for my clientele to raise an eyebrow over. If I feel in a good mood, I might leave a little bottle of lotion and one of my calendars next to the condoms.
Luke Carl
Rental Property Investor from Tennessee Florida
replied about 1 year ago
@Julie Groth I provide my guests with the name of a grocery delivery that will put whatever they want in the fridge before they even get there. This way I won’t get a review that says “it was awesome but they had Cholula and we prefer Crystal - 4 stars”
Cory Peters
Rental Property Investor from Charlotte, NC
replied about 1 year ago
@Julie Groth , we do not supply or serve food in our Airbnb. I provide recommendations for restaurants and grocery stores. I’m currently running a 4.9 star review with around 300 bookings. I think being clear in your description is key. Also if you provide food and they get sick, you could open yourself up to legal issues. I’m my experience where someone has left a bad review, ie that I didn’t provide food, I have had Airbnb remove the review as in my description it states what I do and do not provide or allow. If they wanted food they wouldn’t have booked my property or at least took the time to read the property description.
Kerry Baird
Rental Property Investor from Melbourne, FL
replied about 1 year ago
Coffee pods, tea. Spices. Microwave popcorn.
Richard Lee
Rental Property Investor from Knoxville, TN
replied about 1 year ago
@Julie Groth we have provided granola bar type and nut/chocolate bar type since starting our rentals and guests have really appreciated it. It's been noted in our reviews and impacted our speed of getting to super host status on AirBNB.
Richard Lee
Rental Property Investor from Knoxville, TN
replied about 1 year ago
@Julie Groth we also provide regular and decaf pods and drop coffee. :)
Anthony Wick
Rental Property Investor from Ankeny, IA
replied about 1 year ago
We stay at a lot of AirBnB when we travel. We never expect any food items to be left. As a matter of fact, if it’s an open item I sure am not going to consume it. However, at one place they had several bottles of wine with a note that said $20 each. We liked that.