What amenities should I leave in my Indianapolis Airbnb?

Hey guys. Mike Taylor, Broker Owner, Red Door Property Management today I want to talk about short term rentals and specifically what sort of amenities should you leave in your short term rental home? People are always asking us, what should I leave? How much should I leave? So I want to do a quick little video and address that. 

Toilet paper towels

So there's some pretty obvious ones that you're going to have to leave. Of course you're going to have to leave toilet paper towels. But when you're doing that, how much should you do? Don't be cheap and leave one or two rolls of toilet paper. Leave enough for the guest to have so that they don't have to go out and buy some. It's irritating when somebody comes in for the weekend and there's one or two rolls of toilet paper, ultimately they have to go out and buy some. It's just kind of irritating. So you have to leave the toilet paper. You have to leave the paper towels. Just make sure they have enough. If somebody's staying for a month or two to three weeks, yeah, okay, they're going to have to go out and buy their own toilet paper. But if somebody's staying for a weekend or even three or four or five days, you should really leave enough toilet paper that they don't have to go out and buy some. Just really goes to the overall customer experience. 

Dishwasher tabs

Dishwasher tabs, same thing. It's irritating if somebody's there and they want to run the dishwasher and there's only one tab or two tabs. I'm not saying you have to leave the whole thing out. That's what I do. Personally, we don't have people steal them, but leave enough. Leave a handful out so that they can run the dishwasher three, four or five times, whatever it is. So dishwasher tabs. 

Coffee

Coffee. You got to have coffee. The type of coffee doesn't really matter too much. I've seen anywhere from the KCups to just a regular old drip to the French press. I would say our recommendation is just a standard drip. Everybody knows how to use it. It's very cost effective. The KCups are good, but they can actually add up. They're anywhere from forty cents to kind of like $0.80 apiece, which definitely can add up. So our recommendation is just stick with a standard drip coffee filter. But people definitely expect coffee to be supplied for sure.

Dish Soap

Dish soap and hand soap. Again, just make sure it's refilled every time so that when they get there, it's full, that it's not empty. They're not having to add water to it or whatever. Just make sure it's plentiful enough. 

Trash bags

Trash bags. You have to have trash bags .Make sure that there's plenty of them. People generate a lot of trash when they're there. And again, they don't want to have to go out and buy trash bags. So that's kind of the list of absolutely have to haves like no brainer, have to have. 

But as we get into this short term rental market and as it kind of matures, the line between a short term rental and a hotel is definitely blurring and the guest expectations are blurring and the guest expectations for a short term rental or an Airbnb are definitely going up. I think most of the time people expect these extra items. They're almost probably on the mandatory list. But I think in the past people didn't supply these things. And so it's kind of we're in a bit of a transition but I can tell you that most of the guests these days are basically expecting that these things are here. 

Extra laundry soap

And so there are things that might be extra like laundry soap for the washer and dryer. Some people include that, some people don't. Our recommendation is to include it. It's going to cost you maybe a couple of bucks per reservation. Again, people are just kind of expecting it. 

Dryer sheets, shampoo, & conditioner

Dryer sheets as well, shampoo and conditioner. So we recommend putting kind of one of those ones that you have on the wall that people can pump and that way it makes it really cost effective. You don't have to do those little minis. It's kind of wasteful anyway. So that's what we recommend. And again, people definitely are expecting these things.

Cotton swabs, Q tips, & floss

Other little things like cotton swabs, Q tips, again they're just nice little touches. Even those little floss things just kind of go the extra mile to provide that customer experience. It actually adds up quite a bit. We do it in all of our rental homes and you would be surprised at how many people make comments on how nice it was to have those little features in the house. It's very cost effective, it's very inexpensive to do. Most people won't use them, but the people who do very much appreciate having them on board. 

Baby kit

And some of ours we even go through that are more family oriented will actually even go the extra step and provide like a little baby kit, like a bottle and emergency diaper, things like that. So we're not going to leave out a whole thing of diapers because that can get expensive. But one diaper for every third or fourth or fifth guest, it's a lifesaver for them when they go to use it. So again, just thoughtful little things that can make a big difference in the customer experience, which will then lead to good ratings and then more bookings. 

Cleaning stuff

And then the last two are just cleaning supplies. You want people to be clean, give them the stuff to clean. Mops, brooms, dust, pan, toilet bowl cleaner, glass cleaner. Believe it or not, people do actually use those things if you leave them behind. But if they're not there, they can't use them. They can't clean up after themselves. 

Bowl of snacks

And then the last thing that we do is we always make a little bowl of snacks for people when they check in. So it's kind of whatever. Honestly, whatever is on sale or wherever you can find. We use Costco a lot. Chips are popular. Popcorn, little chewy bars, little gummy, whatever. Just anything. Just make a nice little bowl. If people are usually traveling, they're hungry, they get there, they can grab something. Again, it just creates a higher level of customer experience, which leads to higher ratings, which leads to more bookings, which leads to more money. 

So those are the six and the little extras that you should include as amenities for your Airbnb.