I like being able to use the coffee but Iām terrified of breaking an expensive coffee maker and I am NOT a pod-person, so I usually bring both my own ālow-acidā coffee and something to make it with.
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I agree with you, our sitters are told they can eat anything we have in our cupboards, larder and freezer, also wine as long as they donāt touch my 60th birthday present champagne, thatās off limits and is now 6 years older 
We have two dogs that I will not put in kennels, we also have an annex that adjoins our house by an internal door (fully functioning with kitchen, bathroom, lounge and bedroom) I do not ban sitters to only that area either they are more than welcome to use the facilities in the main house and sleep in the main house if they prefer( I remember reading something about that in a previous post)
Any sitter we invite would be welcome to arrive a day early to get to know the routine and enjoy a meal with us (we are very sociable people and one lot of sitters have become dear friends who visit and stay just for the social) they would also be welcome to stay longer if the next sit doesnāt line up. we would happily collect from the local railway station or airport.
To put dogs in kennels nowadays is very expensive and with two itās double the price, Iām way out of date but I believe youāre talking Ā£15-20 per night per dog. It doesnāt take a maths genius to work out thatās Ā£140 a week at least. Friends of ours that use Rover are charged Ā£35 pounds per night and I think private sitters are Ā£45 plus.
With all due respect to the HOās I think they need to get real. Life is not cheap and how many people could eat their way through Ā£140 of food in a week, wine maybe?
(no doubt someone will come back with a smart reply) The sitters I have used have never taken advantage of my generosity.
My home is a material thing my dogs are not.
The downside they sleep on the bed with us and sadly I think thatās a definite no from you guys. Ah well you canāt win them all 
P.S. youāre all welcome to use my Miele built in bean to cup coffee maker too 
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@Sally1959 - You sound like a perfect host! Unfortunately, we donāt accept sits where the dogs sleep on the bed, but that is just our preference, there are many great Trustedhousesitters who that would not be an issue for.
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@Colin hence my comment. I was aware of that from a previous post of yours. I shall endeavour to get them off the bed 
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I can share mine. I went through and took out any personal details (I hope 
). This has been a Work in Progress for about 8 years, and there is always something new to update it seems.
GoogleDoc link (I think this should work?)
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Last sit there were so much food, in the cupboards ā the kitchen was huge, biggest kitchen in my sit experience. Fridge was full of food. Multiple jars of olives, jams, dips, mayo and so on. Cupboards full of snacks and other crap. They left me a few veggies, which I appreciate. I will eat left perishables like veggies or fruit. While there, got a cold package ā delivered insulin, which I had to refrigerate. There was another pack in the back of the fridge. And this was a commercial fridge. Fridge was the size of a large fridge/freezer. The freezer was on the other side, same commercial size. Two woman and young son. Why so much food? And triplicates if not more of jars of same stuff.
As a matter of interest, have you ever considered that you are effectively getting free care from sitters on this site? Have you looked into how much it would cost you otherwise?
You need to make these expectations explicit at the outset, otherwise it would be very unfair to a sitter who gave excellent care to your pets.
Although I would never commit the sins you list, Iām afraid I would not sit for anyone who comes across as so unfriendly, unwelcoming, controlling, churlish and petty.
Beware if you mark a sitter down as we do have the right to reply to your comments. Replies which other sitters read.
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Same! I once had a pet parent tell me - feel free to finish off the leftover pizza in the fridge. I opened the pizza box to find half eaten slices of pizza and bits of old stale pizza crust just gross. I closed the pizza box and put it right back in the fridge. What bad manners to offer someone food that looks like it was fished out of a trash can!
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@kimshady We were once shown an open bottle of wine in the fridge, half drunk, and invited to finish it. And the same with a half bottle of red on the counter. Yet the house was full of booze including a large wine rack of unopened bottlesā¦ And this family, despite having a beautiful home did not bother to change the bed sheets for us either (we only fiscovered that later).. Gross..
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@lokstar Dirty linen is next level grossness! The nerve.
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Absolutely! Your environmental footprint encompasses every choice you make. Iāve been lectured about having a gas car by an electric car owner whose house is twice as big as mine, and uses a lot more energy and who also consumes a lot more, buying a lot of things. And everything we buy has an environmental cost in its manufacturing and distribution to market. They also buy a huge amount of food With packaging that canāt be recycled. Etc etc
Meanwhile, my spouse and I are retired and buy very little besides necessities and when we do need to buy something, we tend to buy them used for environmental reasons. We are also really careful about food packaging, and recycling.
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West coast is pretty chilly hereā¦ try guessing where?
I usually tell sitters to help themselves to anything and would certainly leave basics to start them off such as milk,bread,tea,coffee etc.
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To all fab., wonderful, generous, often return Sit appointment, Homeowners/Pet Parentsā¦ this is NOT relevant for you!
To the others, (c1%,), please, we as Sitters are not getting a fabulous free, no ties holiday and accommodation time from you. We are supposedly part of a reciprocal and honest āpartnershipā, hospitality exchange!
Soā¦ please, treat us as guests as we treat you as our Hosts. We will be committed to love and care for your pets and home.
As examples, we dislike the following; ā¦amenities listed but then not available, such as a coffee machine,( āOh, my daughterās borrowed it whilst Iām awayā). Believe it or not, some Australians actually need that coffee machineās product for survival! Likewise with BBQ, pool, Spa tub, Air fryer, full oven, bike usage, car space, to mention a few. Any listed amenities should be there for Sitter use if they wish, it is not a Real Estate ad. with features of your home. If not available and ready for such use, please, donāt list! Simple logic.
ā¦ numerous assorted and often numerous++, left over dregs such as bath soaps, hair products, hand wash, dish detergent, laundry detergent. Please, either hide those, decant into a single pertinent container or just spend 10-20ā¬ on new unopened ones, such a small price to pay,
ā¦non recompense or no offer recompense to Sitters for fuel if they drive you in their car to airport/rail station especially if over 50 kms distant,
ā¦being a tad dishonest/? vague ( giving benefit-of-the-doubt here) with amenities; tell us before we arrive and have mutually agreed to use of your car, that the Air conditioner is currently ābrokenā. Reading a note stuck in the car advizing that when weāre going shopping on our first outing in 40āC heat, is a tad tough (yes, again, even for Australians!).
Now if we weed, mow grass, clean ovens and 'fridges, do assorted chores youāve left us, maybe give us a wee personal thank you for the extras? Thanks is enough, no boxes of Shortbread required.
We like fresh, good condition towels and generally happy to have the same quality loo paper you use (although now weāre buying our own as I cannot bring myself to use single ply, waxy, pink toot sheets for this Aussie toosh!!).
So do, please, offer genuine hospitality; another very important example,
ensure some 'fridge space is available and freezer too, for the delish European ice-cream weāll buy.
Sadly, the Homeowners that should get this info., probably are not using this Forum.
We find it interesting that weāre only, generally speaking, recently (last 12-18 months), encountering these issues. Am I missing red flags ( after 60+ mainly fantastic Sits, Iām not sure?)? Or has THS failed to give good recommendations and advice to Homeowners on how to host?
Or ???.
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Personally I think a lot of aspects have gone downhill in the last couple of years. Possibly this is due to how THS is being presented/advertised? 
Thankfully I havenāt encountered any serious issues but I can certainly see a shift in the way listings are worded.
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Yes, itās this (for the new members)
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Well put. Anything I donāt want the sitter to use I hide away. Otherwise I weigh up how much heating food or damages against the only paid live in dogsitter I can find in my remote rural area is Ā£50 a night! So itās unlikely they will be using Ā£500 of amenities for a 10day sitā¦
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Hence the butter dish with lid, keep it soft, protect it from all else.