No patience!!

[B&B netherlands]

since i started my B&B 3 yrs ago, many many guests left me shampoo and shower gel. it's available to new guests. they never use it. they leave their own. as i never check bathrooms or bedrooms before guests leave - i DO remind them to check: have you got everything you brought? once a whole suitcase was left (... guests returned after i called) and i have found dirty underwear and socks, a bathrobe (not my size or colour) and to be honest - so MUCH overripe fruit, dried out sandwiches, sweet wrappers... (and yes, the occasional used materials for the elderly, with urine or faeces problems)

they never forget their books! but DO leave me newspapers and magazines, leaflets from 'the day before' as in touristic info.

i'm waiting for false teeth to be left. some dutch hotels and the railways seem to get quite a lot of those.

i started with emailing the guests what they wanted me to do with their possessions. never ever got an answer. okay shampoo and showergel are not worth sending.

[booboo]

However by then, the memories they take back are about the fun things they did on that holiday, rather than their arrival day and that's probably the key.

How true, we stayed in a place (family get together) that was'nt that clean, oven was mank, they sure didnt want you cook as there was very little to cook with, there was no bin never mind a bin bag, said they didnt supply kitchen bins
But we did return the next year as we had such fun!

At the moment we are not doing welcome packs, the way I see it is they get a lovely clean house with quailty furniture etc,
I do leave salt and pepper, toliet rolls, bins and bin bags,towels, tea towels, fresh ice in the frezzer, candles, clothes hangers, fresh cut flowers on the veranda from my garden and a selection of my lovely natural handmade soaps

What will bring me back to a place is not the bottle of wine that I dont drink but the memories of a good time!

[Normandie]

...but no, things get used, and as I say people comment on it all the time. Especially the sun lotion & shampoo, as they tend to buy what they feel is enough to get them through their holiday and then if it runs out don't want to be buying expensive stuff here that won't get used fully.

I don't supply the little hotel-style shampoo and conditioner bottles (the one or two use jobbies) but do supply large bottles of Pantene or Timotei shampoo and conditioner. And also a few "exotic" shower creams and gels. And bar soaps too.

They are regularly used - I usually find them in the shower or on the bath shelf. I'm slightly surprised because I had assumed that everyone travelled with their own preferred brands but apparently if what's available is known and trusted, that will do nicely. Contrarily, the bar soaps are often unused.

[French Cricket]

Although we're a cdh almost all our bookings are for 5 or 6 nights or more and they (not the 2 or 3 nighters) all get a bottle of local Ariège wine. It's always drunk; we almost always get thanked for it; and I'd say around half our guests present us with - yes, a bottle of wine! as a 'thank you' gift on departure. (Maybe they think we're just a couple of winos ).

Like you Normandie we supply big bottles of shower gel, shampoo, liquid soap (Le Petit Marseillais, in various flavours) which is also used a lot - not just by people coming on planes but by French coming in cars, presumably because they prefer it to their own . We also provide various other lotions and potions, which are rarely used, and sun cream and insect repellent, which are!

Of course there are people who don't mention or seem to appreciate it but a lot do - especially French guests, who are amazed (and appreciative).

[la vache!]

Of course there are people who don't mention or seem to appreciate it but a lot do - especially French guests, who are amazed (and appreciative).

Yes, French guests are always amazed that I leave a cake and cider for them. Often they arrive with a gift, and returners nearly always bring a bottle of something or some cake/bread specific to their 'pays'.

[Luca]

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[pambon]

English guests who left a week ago told me they always rented and this was not their first visit to Italy, but it was the first time they had found loo paper and tissues provided on arrival

[joddle]

Can't imagine not having loo paper on arrival!! - We always provide at least that on the dispensrs plus one spare roll for each loo as well. The first thing people want when they arrives is often to use the loo.

[Giddy Goat]

it was the first time they had found loo paper and tissues provided on arrival

Agree Joddle, that's a basic expectation I'd have thought!

As for getting thanks, it also makes a big difference being on site I think. LV and FC, do you find that they mostly thank you for these little extras closer to the start of their holiday (eg when they first see you)?

[French Cricket]

As for getting thanks, it also makes a big difference being on site I think.

I'm sure that's right, GG. Although we don't live in their pockets or do any sort of big 'animation' thing we do tend to see a lot of our guests - all of ours, whether they're in the barn or in the cdh suite, have breakfast, for a start, some book dinner of course, and then we're just often around in the garden when they're coming and going ... sometimes they invite us for an apéro too. So it definitely is a different ball game when you're on site.

It's often very early on - like the next morning - that they mention it first, but then again at the end on leaving.

[la vache!]

LV and FC, do you find that they mostly thank you for these little extras closer to the start of their holiday (eg when they first see you)?

They often mention is at the start of the holiday, others add comments in the guest book when leaving. It is different being on site - as FC says it is quite normal to be invited around for an apéro by guests and you build up quite a relationship with some of them, particularly when they are here for a fortnight and your children get very friendly with theirs.

[joddle]

We always leave a bottle of local wine (or fruit juice if we know they are from an Islamic society) pus a bottle of water. Also there is a tray of individual portions of instant coffee bags, tea bags, sugar and milk. They always seem to get used! In addition we leave any good packs of fresh coffee or oil left be previous guests which also seem to get used. Guests have frequently responded by leaving us various litle things such as boxes of chiocolates, small gifts etc. Some have even bought a small item of kitchenware which they felt was missing (or had not found!) - and refused payment for the items. Generally I think people are nice and appreciative - but of course there are always a few that are not!

[barbersdrove]

However last winter there were a couple of occasions it hadn't even been drunk. M said the guests were snobs and it wouldn't have been good enough for them

Maybe they are just boring old tea total folks like me.

i think the basket for what others have left i a good idea i will do that I think as I usually take it all out.

[Hells Bells]

BD, I wondered that too, but these were some of her regular customers who had switched to mine from another apartment and one set of repeat guests who've never had a problem drinking the wine before.

[katz]

I've been thanked for the wine a couple of times, but only by the French who perhaps do not expect it. However last winter there were a couple of occasions it hadn't even been drunk. M said the guests were snobs and it wouldn't have been good enough for them, but it wasn't cheap nasty stuff by any means.

We have also only been thanked once for the wine we provide and that was by French guests.

In general I take the less is more attitude when dealing with potential guests though the complete thoughtlessness of some guests can be astounding, some of them obviously don't think we have private lives...others are lovely though - thank goodness!