A house, chalet or guest room that you rent out: the list that prevents phone calls
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
Guests rarely call about the decor and almost always about small things: soap, an opener, something to do when it rains. You supplement this in the off-season.
The call almost always comes on Sunday evening. Either they've run out of soap. Or they can't find a bottle opener. Or they're asking if it's true there are only four glasses in the cupboard when there are six people. None of these are major problems individually, but together they determine whether someone will return and what ends up in the review.
Anyone who rents out a cottage, chalet, caravan, guesthouse, or apartment will notice after a season that it always comes down to the same category: small consumables and items that no one brings but everyone expects. The off-season is the calmest time to replenish these properly, before the autumn holidays and winter bookings.
Start with complaints, not decor
The temptation is great to start with cushions and a new lamp. But almost all calls are about consumables and tool-like items: soap, paper, an opener, something to play with when it rains. Go through your last ten guest messages and count what comes up repeatedly. Almost always, that list is shorter than you think and costs less than a hundred euros to resolve.
Only then work on ambiance. Otherwise, you'll buy a beautiful bowl while the guest is searching for a bottle opener in the dark.
Bathroom: refill instead of always new bottles
Individual small bottles are expensive per milliliter, get lost, and look messy after three guests. One fixed dispenser that you refill is cheaper and looks neater.
Two things that seem small but save a lot of hassle: a silicone drain cover for €5.95, so you don't have to fish hair out of the drain after every guest, and a tissue box cover for €7.95 so the tissue box doesn't sit on the edge of the sink as a cardboard box.
Kitchen: what should always be there
The kitchen is where most irritation arises because guests want to do things you haven't anticipated. A few regular items:
This is the item most often missing and that yields the most in reviews. An afternoon of rain with children or four adults who can't go outside is precisely when a guest decides whether they will return here again.
A popcorn bowl for €7.95 costs almost nothing and turns a movie night into a real movie night.
Light and atmosphere when it gets dark early
From mid-October, guests are indoors in the evenings, and that's when they notice how cold a room can feel with only ceiling lighting. You don't need to renovate to change that.
A practical addition: 10 self-adhesive hooks for €5.95. This gives wet coats, towels, and bags a place without drilling into the wall—handy in a property you don't own.
The changeover round: storing and replenishing
Work with two boxes. One contains the supplies you replenish (soap, tissues, cups, tealights), the other holds what needs to be removed or repaired. A moving box of 480 × 430 × 330 mm, 50 liters costs €3.50 and is sturdy enough to last a season in a shed or storage room.
During each changeover, follow the same routine: refill soap, return opener, count games, count glasses, empty drain. Five minutes, always in the same order. That's why you won't find out in November that two glasses have been missing since August.
Approximate cost to do this all at once
Item
What you buy
Estimated price
Bathroom
Dispenser, foam pump bottle, spray bottle, hand gel
approx. €26
Kitchen
Multi-tool, ice tray, storage jar, cups
approx. €35
Rainy day
Game set, card game, playing cards
approx. €24
Ambiance
Tealight holder, tealights, reed diffusers
approx. €40
So, around €125 for a complete catch-up, and most of it will last for several seasons. You then replenish the consumables per changeover.
One thing you should not skip
Leave a short note indicating where things are: opener in the second drawer, games in the cabinet under the TV, extra soap in storage. It sounds unnecessary, but it saves most messages. Guests don't search for long; they call.
Your list in one order
The items from this article can be found in Bathroom & Accessories and Soap & Dispensers for wet rooms, Kitchen and Glasses for the kitchen cupboard, Games for rainy days, Candles for evenings, and Storage for changeover stock. Do you rent out multiple properties and want to know if certain items are available in larger quantities? Send your list to info@verpakkingdeals.nl, and we'll check what's available per box or bundle.
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