How does one balance offering provisions until sitters can get to the store, and not returning home to empty refrigerator and pantry? I have a large home that is frequented by friends and family - it is not feasible for me to pack up and lock away all toiletries and personal care items when sitters are here. Is it fair to assume that sitters should know to bring their own toiletries and personal care items? And food for that matter? I hate to sound stingy and selfish, but I have twice now returned home to find that my sitters treated my home as an âall inclusiveâ resort. And most recently, I had to clean up after my sitters - two people found it necessary to use 4 baths/showers and 3 bedrooms leaving dirty towels and (My) empty toiletry containers, and relatively cleaned out refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. My offer to âhelp yourself until you get to the grocery storeâ apparently translated to âtake everything you wantâ = I struggle to keep myself well stocked on supplies and donât really appreciate stocking up othersâ . Suggestions, please.
As a sitter, I expect to bring all of my own toiletries and to provide my own food. That would line up with THS terms.
If you want to show hospitality by sharing some toiletries and/or food, you might want to specify what youâre offering vs. not. Most sitters probably would appreciate that. So you could for instance say that someone is welcome to breakfast the morning after they arrive. Or to the toiletries youâve set aside on X part of the bathroom. Or food youâve set aside in X part of the fridge, pantry or kitchen counter.
Of course, that said, there also are people who are simply bad guests and bad sitters, with poor manners. And those folks probably will take advantage.
About cleanliness and tidiness: You might want to screen more carefully by looking for references to such behaviors in their previous reviews. Like if you see their various previous hosts mentioning repeatedly that the sitter left the homes in great shape, thatâs promising. If thereâs no mention in the written reviews (versus the star ratings), then Iâd figure that the sitter probably isnât neat or tidy.
What Maggie said. As a sitter I appreciate milk and bread being left, and will always leave the same for the host, I always bring my own toiletries. Any perishables left in the fridge, I will use or throw away. Wouldnât dream of raiding the hosts larder unless specifically told it was ok.
Exactly what @Chrissie said.
I am packing now, and this reminded me to bring my shampoo. But it is an item that I tend to forget and then I have no compunction about using the HOâs.
I am not too anxious. For example, I have also used the HOs printer for tickets etc.
I feel that it is less about monetary value than about intrusion in private space. I prefer it when the HO takes their personal clutter out of the bathroom that I would be using, or at least that there is an area of clear space for my stuff.
I would never expect to use hosts toiletries nor food. If they invite me to use things I always replace them. If there are vegetables and other perishables left I use them and buy some replacements for the host on their return. I think that would be the case for most sitters - perhaps you have been unlucky.
In every one of our sits (13 so far) the HO has basically said âhelp yourself to anythingâ but we respond with thank you we will be sure to replace anything we use. This includes consumables like shampoo and perishables like veg etc. If you have anything off limits your listing and or welcome guide should clearly state such.
This is terrible sitter behaviour. Please make sure to mention it in your reviews.
When hosting, I clear out my personal toiletries and cosmetics from areas that sitters will be using (leaving behind guest shampoo, shower gel etc), I also clear out space in the refrigerator and the freezer, and make it very clear that these spaces are specifically for their stuff. I happily offer use of herbs, spices, oil, milk etc, but feeding people while Iâm not there is madness and simply not part of the THS arrangement⌠I say this as someone who is also a sitter.
Please donât worry about sounding stingy. Itâs not stingy to expect that sitters will not steal your food and personal items!
We are both homeowners and sitters (mostly homeowners). When we have sitters, we often stock the fridge for them, and tell them they are free to use whatâs in the refrigerator, and to PLEASE use it if it is perishable. We also tend to leave a couple of frozen home-made meals in the freezer for them. I think all of our sitters have appreciated this, and none have taken advantage of the situation. We are usually gone for a long periods of time, so we would have to go shopping before we came back anyway. As for âspecialâ items that we have brought back from different countries, we put them on the âspecial shelfâ that is out of their way, and let the sitters know those are the only things that are off limits.
We also buy new shampoo, soap, and conditioner for them and put it in the ONE bathroom that is most convenient to their ONE bedroom. We leave a couple sets of towels and a couple sets of sheets for them to use. I feel it helps sitters a lot to know if there are areas of your house you would prefer them not to use. We give them free rein to the house except for our bedroom and our ensuite bathroom. That is convenient, because that is where all our toiletries are - thereâs nothing to move. Nobody has ever complained about this, and I think they have appreciated knowing where they should and shouldnât go. Nobody wonders about limits if you talk about it before the sit.
As for the inconsiderate sitters you had recently who thought it was a good idea to use all your bathrooms/bedrooms/toiletries/etc. I think these two were totally out of line, and were taking advantage in a big way. And, I think they probably would have been jerks even if you had said certain places were off limits. As someone said, there are just some bad characters out there who will do what they do, no matter how accomodating you try to be. But for the most part, I think open communication about what they should and shouldnât use, and the spaces they should and shouldnât use would help with this.
As sitters, we have a personal policy to replace anything we use, and to buy our own âstuffâ when we go to someone elseâs place. We have always thought the the whole idea behind the THS guidelines is that sitters should find their own way to the sit, and buy or bring their own food, drink, and toiletries unless otherwise discussed with the owners. The owners are providing the lodging, the utilities, wifi, and sometimes a vehicle. Win-win!
It appears previous reviews of these particular thsitters did not mention these types of issues?
Hopefully you will in a constructive helpful way.
Leaving toiletries for guests can use is both polite and practical. If sitters are traveling they may forget to take them, or not have a chance to buy them. I would not expect a personal guest to bring their own toiletries, and sitters shouldnât have to in my home. That said, I have a combined account and I do bring toiletries in case there arenât any obviously left for me to use. Toiletries are listed on the newish amenities section by homeowners in their listing.
Food policies vary. Iâve discovered when I have told sitters to help themselves to the perishables, it usually doesnât happen, so I try to get rid of those items before having sitters. Most homeowner will and should allow certain cooking items â spices, oil, vinegar, condiments etc for sitters to use with an understanding that sitters should replenish if they use a lot. Some will go further and simply say, âHelp yourself to any canned soups, veggies, etc.â Iâve made that offer to sitters, but usually they donât take it. The official stance is that sitters should replenish items. I have had sitters replenish stuff like oatmeal.
I also sit, usually buy my own food the first day based on things and brands I usually eat, but certainly have used spices, and oils when I cook. I have replenished when Iâve used more than a tiny bit.
Iâm in a major city, and honestly sitters arenât coming to eat my lousy food.
Seriously, pet parents are hosting sitters. Sitters are guests â albeit guests carrying out more responsibilites but I donât think itâs any different than asking a relative to come and stay with your pets.
That said it works both ways. Guests should clean up after themselves, and THS guidelines state that sitters should replace food that they take. In any home I"ve stayed in with more than one bathroom or a bathroom in the master suite, it was always clear which bathroom/shower sitters were to use.
So just to be clear, hereâs my situation. I am happy to offer toiletries in case of emergency or someone forgot something; to not offer would be a terrible host. However, Iâm not sure that is in alignment with supplying all things to 2 people for more than 2 weeks, which is in my opinion, taking advantage of the environment and situation. With respect to food, I gladly prepared a meal and offered perishable items and would rather they be consumed than thrown away. I also offer my pantry - sugar, flour, spices, etc. What I think is excessive is - frozen goods, canned goods, packaged goods, etc being used without replacement. With respect to âspaceâ, I offered a virtual tour of the room (full suite) that I invite sitters to use and also specifically ask that my bedroom/bathroom not be used. What I came home to was all bedrooms and bathrooms/showers having been used - none of which were cleaned up. I routinely leave clean sheets in each bedroom; none were used and I had to change sheets on 3 beds, wash towels from 4 showers, and clean 4 bathrooms and showers. Other requests were also not respected. So, thatâs just a little insight into my initial post ⌠sorry for the rant, just trying to understand and to modify my own behavior in a way that will not offend future sitters, IF I use THS in the future.
There is no reason for sitters to use other showers than the ones assigned to them unless they needed to clean the dog or something. Nor should they be raiding your pantry without an invitation. I tend to be an overexplainer, but I try to make sure all the limits are clear in my guide.
So in terms of your review, you should definately talk about how they used all the bathrooms and didnât clean them, as well as food items taken and not replenished, and or instructions not being followed regarding washing linens etc if that applies.
You should not have had to come home to what you came home to.
However, this is a mutual non-monetary exchange. Weâre all paying for membership. Both roles are equal but the responsibilities are different. Just as sitters have a checklist of responsibilities, pet parents also have responsibilities both âhardâ ones like providing stuff: a bed, linens, etc, a Welcome Guide, etc and âsoftâ ones like providing hospitality, making sure sitter/guests feel welcome. I donât know if you had an entire family at your home, but people donât go through that much soap and shampoo in two weeks. In writing a review, choose your battles. The major thing they did was take food without replenishing it, use bathrooms they didnât need to, and not clean up after themselves. If you start talking about their using two weeks worth of soap and shampoo, peopleâs takeaway will be more about you than the sitters.
@SAA You need to be upfront and very clear to potential sitters â we suggest video chats â about a.) What areas of the house are off limits, and b.) what food and toiletries are off limits.
Reinforce this in your Welcome Guide, as well, so it is in writing.
In our experience (both as HOs and sitters), there is no expectation that food or toiletries in the home are to be provided by the HO.
So long as you provide a clean home with pets as described, have no inside cameras or third parties present, and stick to the dates of the confirmed sit, you have fulfilled the terms of the THS exchange, which is free accommodations in exchange for free pet sitting.
Anything beyond that is up to the discretion of each homeowner and is NOT expected.
Avoid sitters who expect an all-inclusive stay. And mention this in your reviews of them, PLEASE!
I agree :0-) I provided some details here to provide a better picture and did not include in my review, which I think was pretty generous. My review did include - grateful for taking care of my animals, and condition of house was less than expected. Adding other details would have been petty and non-value added, however to illustrate my position, I included here in this post. I do appreciate your response and I always do my best to provide a warm, welcoming, and hospitable home for sitters. I have enjoyed getting to know sitters since their sits and am thrilled to open my home to folks in exchange for pet sitting. It just seems like thereâs a limit. I didnât use THS for more than a year because I had one experience where a young couple sat for a week and asked if they could invite parents â I was fine with that but they were more interested in the golfing and beach than they were with my animals, which were in my opinion, neglected. Then I had awesome sitters who I would welcome back any time. And then this experience - which saddened me a great deal for me and for them. I do live in an exclusive resort community where my house was valued at more than 7k/per week if I were to rent. I am delighted to share but donât appreciate when the expectation is vacation and not on the principal priority of pet and house-sitting.
The easy reply, and least helpful, is youâre picking the wrong sitters.
Finding the solution wonât be easy.
When we sit, we buy our own food and use our own toiletries. All we ask from the HO is cupboard and fridge freezer space to put our food.
Its basically disrespect from the sitters.
I just landed in an all-inclusive sit!
The HO encouraged me to eat anything from the fridge and freezer. I started with an expired frozen pizza 
They also offered the drinks, the snacks and the sweets.
And on Tuesday there will be a delivery. So I need to eat stuff to create some space 
I agree with what others have said already but I think one thing is be explicit about what is and isnât off limits.
As HS, I bring my own personals and buy my own food, but I also explicitly ask if there is anything off limits. As @pietkuip said, if I have forgotten some soap or lotion, I do not have an issue using some of the HOs. Re: food, all this is discussed, but I will use up perishables, make myself at home with spices and oils (basics), and ask expressly about non-perishablesâŚmost HOs tell me to use whatever I want and if I use it up, just replace it. As HS, I will also ask which rooms are off limits to us and also boundaries for the pets and I will close the door on those rooms for the duration of the sit.
As HO, I write out in our docs what is off limits, what theyâre free to use, and also basically say that if they use something up, be ready to replace it. If itâs clear that you wouldnât be able to replace it, i.e. a specialty item, donât use itâŚbut if you need an egg or some spices, do you. During our orientation of the house, we will walk people through and show them whatâs of use and what isnât. We offer to take them on their first grocery run with our car so they can stock what they will need to get started/pick up big items in an initial run. We also shelf our stuff not only to make it clear itâs been put away, but also as a courtesy to the HS to create room for their stuff and have a cleared environment, i.e. we leave nothing in the shower, clear off dedicated shelf space in the kitchen & bathroom and pack away all our extras, etc. We also clearly state, âif youâre unsure, just ask.â If there are rooms that are off limits, I call that out explicitlyâŚthis is your room, this is our room.
The past two sits I have been on have been all-inclusive thoughâŚeven so, I didnât take the pi$$. On our very first sit, our HO took us on a grocery run with their car, but also left us a prepped meal (enchiladas and some), invited us to dinner on the first night before they left the next day, and even allowed use to have some of their frozen cookies to bake, wagyu beef burgers, et. alâŚwe took a bit in line with what we were given permission to eat and left a gift we thought they would appreciate.
In general, I find erring on the side of being kindly explicit creates zero to little confusion for the other party. Re: cleanliness, we also actually have defined what we expect from a reset (we use our house guide for exchanges as well as sits) and I ask questions about cleaning expectations on the video chat (as HO and HS)âŚIâm not expecting an HS to be a pro cleaner, but I am expecting that they are the carer of the house just as much as they are of my pet and they should be giving my home back to me in at least the condition I handed it over to them. As an HS, I try to leave the home better than I found it in line with HO guidance, but thatâs just me.
I bring my own toiletries. They are the ones I prefer and do not irritate my skin. I bring my own food but appreciate using salt, pepper, oil etc. I have numerous food allergies and it would be a waste of time and money for the pet parent to buy anything in specifically for me. I do use perishables. I donât expect food or toiletries and I donât think itâs up to the hosts to provide them.
@pietkuip Where are you? Is your all inclusive sit in sunny Sweden?