Cut costs, not corners: Using tech to maintain quality on a tighter budget
Don’t sacrifice standards to save money. Learn how vacation rental managers are using automation and preventative care to stay efficient and guest-ready.
64 Guest Essentials: A Complete Checklist for the Modern Guest
When today’s travelers begin searching where to stay for their trip, they compare your short-term rentals (STRs) with other similar property types as well as boutique hotels and major hotel chains. That’s because the hotel and STR industries have converged, and now compete with each other for business within the same platforms and online travel agencies (OTAs).
As a result, your target market expects you to do more than ever—guests want the luxury service traditionally provided by hotels, but they also want the personalization and independence that STRs specialize in. Plus they expect competitive prices wherever they go.
This means you’re under a lot of pressure to deliver all of the above, and that includes stocking your units with a huge variety of quality items and amenities for each stay. In this article, we’ll help you do just that—with a downloadable checklist produced with our amenities and fulfillment partner, sojo, and tips on how to make it all run smoothly on an operational level.
With a complete checklist of guest essentials (we also share our cleaning and furniture checklists!) and streamlined, scalable processes to deliver 5-star stays every time, you can grow your portfolio without diminishing your quality of service or adding to your workload.
Guest essentials: Expert views on personalization & longer stays
With so much competition and guests increasingly expecting hotel standards of service, you need to create that ‘wow’ factor to stay competitive across all your units, stays, and listings.
If you do this successfully, you can consistently receive 5-star reviews, earn word-of-mouth recommendations, and maintain your Airbnb Superhost status. But that means anticipating what your guests need, want, and love, and creating repeatable processes that ensure all the essentials are provided for, from toiletries and phone chargers to nightlights and full-length mirrors.
As part of your strategic planning, you also need to consider why and how your guests are staying with you. As Julia Herrington from our partner, Airbnb, says, “The longer people are staying, the more that well-equipped homes with specific amenities are really going to be important to guests.”
Julia Herrington, Airbnb Market Manager: Longer stays affect needs and expectations
Personalization is also extremely important to the guest experience, from your pre-arrival messaging to your welcome basket gifts. And, by paying attention to your target audience and different guest types, you can create a truly memorable experience that makes your services stand out.
As Max Farley of our guest supplies software partner, sojo says, “You bring an identity to the home that the renter can resonate with, and hopefully you get them as a follow-on renter the next year.”
Max Farley, sojo CEO: Personalization is crucial to customer loyalty
Guest essentials checklist: All the must-haves for a 5-star stay
In partnership with sojo, this checklist provides a helpful breakdown of common amenities and supplies to elevate property quality and guest service for STR property managers.
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Our 2022 Property Operations Survey shows that over two-thirds of managers think curating premium supplies and amenities creates consistent and reliable experiences, and over half think these guest essentials directly contribute to guest reviews. |
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Download the complete checklist—with extra sections on living spaces and recreation |
Guest bathroom essentials
Provide easily accessible extra toiletries and towels in your guest bathrooms.
- Bar soap
- Bath towels
- Body lotion
- Body wash
- Conditioner
- Hair dryer
- Hand soap
- Hand towels
- Shampoo
- Toilet paper
- Wash cloths
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Pro tip: |
Luxury additions
Your guests will love extra bathrobes, creams, and scented candles.
- Aloe vera
- Bath salts
- Bathrobes
- Dental kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash)
- Makeup wipes (or black makeup towel)
- Poo-pourri (really!)
- Slippers
- Sunscreen
- Vanity kit (cotton swabs, Q-Tips)
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Pro tip: |
Guest bedroom essentials
Make the most of your comfortable beds with soft lighting, extra pillows, and fresh flowers.
- Blankets
- Clock
- Charging station
- Iron
- Hangers
- Pillows
- Sheets
- Smart TV with streaming
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Pro tip: |
Luxury additions
Silk eye masks, extra blankets, and silk duvet covers are fantastic luxury additions.
- Linen spray
- Multiple pillow options—some soft, some firm
- Silk eye mask
- White noise machine
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Pro tip: |
Guest kitchen essentials
A well-stocked kitchen is essential for every guest staying more than two or three nights.
- Baking sheet
- Blender
- Bowls
- Coffee
- Coffee maker
- Corkscrew
- Cups
- Cutting board
- Dish soap
- Dish sponge
- Dishwasher tablets
- Garbage bags
- Ice
- Knife set
- Olive oil
- Paper towels
- Plates
- Pots & pans
- Oven mitts
- Salt and pepper
- Spatula
- Toaster
- Utensils
- Wine glasses
- Wine opener
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Pro tip: |
Luxury additions
Market your barbecue with all the accessories within your listings.
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Pro tip: |
- Barbecue utensils
- Bottled water
- Cream & sugar
- Custom guest gifts
- Kitchen cleaning wipes
- Local snacks & treats
- Tea
Enhance the guest experience with automation
Guests are demanding and you need to meet their high expectations with every single stay. But managing your cleaning schedules, coordinating the team as last-minute booking changes occur, and keeping up with all your guests’ questions make this very hard to achieve—especially as you grow your portfolio past 5-20 units.
So, to make the most of your guest essentials, luxury supplies, and fantastic properties, you need a consistent and predictable way to manage all your operations—which you can only do in a scalable way with automated processes.
Breezeway’s operations management solutions help you do precisely this. By integrating with your PMS and Airbnb, Breezeway:
- Automates task scheduling and assignment
- Shares key information with your housekeeping and maintenance team
- Lets you remotely inspect cleans
- Manages your guests with digital guides and auto-personalized message templates
With these tools working in the background, as well as digital cleaning checklists, linen packing reports, and Breezeway Assist, you’ll never miss a clean and never have to deal with repeat questions about property access or WiFi passwords.Barbecue utensils
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