Wow, Marion, you sound like a terrific HO, and I’d jump at a chance to sit for you. Perhaps your attitude reflects the fact that you are also a sitter. (You also sound like a terrific sitter, and if I were a HO, I’d choose you like a shot.)
Luckily, we have sat for mostly terrific HOs, but perhaps that comes from our now-extensive THS experience and being able to suss out the good ones via our communication (emails, Zoom, etc.).
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Thank you. Based on my limited THS sitting experience so far, I will say that sitting helps you gain some awareness as a HO. Also if you are looking for a sit and someone is “combined” it’s probably a good bet. Right now I’m at a sit and it feels like a Vrbo, truly a unique home in a great setting, and the HOs have gone out of their way in ways I can’t simply because I have a one-bedroom apartment. I’m not making light of the responsibilities. But because I’m currently a pet owner and my pets have some special needs, I’m seriously not doing any more than I normally do in the course of a day at home, except for the gardening and that’s more pleasure than work.
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On our very first sit. The HO sent us a menu to choose from, from a company which prepares meals to be cooked at home. We were so impressed ( and even more so when we googled the company and noted the price!).
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That sounds like a win/win situation. We’ve been mostly very lucky, but as I mentioned earlier, that may be because we now have enough experience to ‘vet’ potential sits. Our most recents have both involved cats with special needs, and we’ve enjoyed both, especially the most recent. The owner is an owner/sitter, so she was extremely welcoming and had everything very well organized. As well, Monster, her sweet, little, one-eyed, half-bald kitty with the huge heart stole OUR hearts; we’re heading back barely 10 days later to care for her again. That’s what THS should be all about, eh?
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As an owner, I like to think of the sitter as a guest and I’m a BnB. Of course we do all the cleaning. We have a dedicated floor for them (bedroom, bathroom, living room with microwave and mini-fridge, deck, and mini-split for comfort. There’s a large TV and a recliner reading nook with books, brochures, and maps about our area. I clean the fridge of leftovers and invite them to use condiments and spice, and vegetables/fruit in the fridge.
We leave a card with a gift card to a local waterfront indie coffeehouse so they have a destination to go to and a nice treat. And we do have little hotel notions in the bathroom just in case. We use a dedicated set of sheets and nice towels & quilts, and bought brand new queen mattress/pillows, have blackout curtains and an echo dot for alarm clock/music. For the holidays, we left Chanukah chocolate coins since we knew they’d be celebrating.
We’ve returned to sweet gifts from our sitters-> sea salt from their home state, and potted mums flowers on the porch.
Basically, we want them to feel appreciated and pampered. We’re going on vacation and want them to feel like they are too:)
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We have been on 10 sits now. Some have left nothing, while others clearly went to a lot of effort to make us feel welcome. At our best sit, the hosts contacted us before arrival and asked for a shopping list with our preferred food and drink items. We arrived in the afternoon and after a thorough tour of the home and time with the pet, they made us dinner and then had neighbors over so we would have met them if we needed anything. The following night, they took us to dinner at a nice restaurant. Before they left, they gave us a gift card to another nice restaurant, two filet mignons, and invited us to have some of their wine while they were away. They also allowed us to use their master bedroom and bathroom, which were more spacious than the guest room. On top of all of this, their dog was very well trained and an absolute joy to sit for!
We didn’t expect these special touches, but we did really appreciate everything the hosts did to help us feel comfortable. We left the hosts fresh flowers, a nice thank you card, and a gift card to their favorite local ice cream shop. Plus we made sure their home was spotless with clean sheets and towels in the master bedroom.
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I always appreciate the xtra touches as it really shows that the HO cares about the sitter. I always go out of my way to clean and make thing’s better than when i arrived to a sit. I have a motto to always go above and beyond.
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We are on a lovely sit at the moment. Everything we needed and more. Great guide, good info on the pet. Nice amount of space, guest room with en-suite, drawer and wardrobe space. I brought my own hairdryer but there is one here. Nice gift of chocolate and wine. Easy communication wit HO using What’s App. And above all it’s spotlessly clean and comfortable. Emergency contacts, thankfully not needed.
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I currently live in a rather big city in a country with a tricky language and always found that information is a great “gift” for the sitters. I wrote lists for vegans, gave a castle enthusiast recommendations/directions, sent Facebook event links for special things happening during a sitter’s stay… In short, I treat them as friends that hopefully have a great time while I am having one, too (and honestly take it a bit personal when this is not appreciated, which happens very rarely, though). I have been on this site for about 10 years and am a big fan of spending the “first meal” together while talking about the sit or my pets or life in general. I always try to overlap for the first night. Space is a bit limited in my apartment, but especially for longer sits, I stack things that might be in the sitter’s way in my bedroom. I share my Netflix and books and spices if they wish. If we overlap for another night on return, I want to hear their stories and tell them mine.
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I actually wrote a whole post about this:
And you sound like amazing hosts! We love you already!
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I will read this whole thread later as I really want to be the best host possible. I have left fresh & refrigerated items for Housesitters to use like potatoes, onions, milk etc., but I fine for the most part they Don’t use them. So what I’ve taken to do especially if they’ve just landed is ask them ahead of time if there’s anything they want me to buy at the store. Most usually say no or just one or two items but at least I offer that to them. Of course, everything is sparkling, clean and tidy, refrigerators cleaned out, shelf is clear for their use. If they like wine or a beer, I think I will start to leave them some thing for later.
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I’m a fan of ensuite guest rooms as well, but like location, these are things not in the host’s control. I think sometimes hosts n small spaces have to get creative. So my quesion would be, what can hosts who don’t have an extra bathroom or a guest room do to up their game (short of moving)?
I’m at a one-bedroom sit now. The location is great. The cat is lovable and easy.
How each HO competes will vary, because there are so many elements to any sit and so many different sitters and what they’re looking for (and even that can vary).
The basics of a clean and welcoming environment are within each HO’s control, though.
There might be some sits that just don’t get sitters, because there isn’t enough demand for the location or the experiences it can provide.
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@NorthWoods yes… and your user name takes me straight to Devon!?!
That’s lovely. I wonder, do you tell your sitters that the fridge items/veg are for them? Many sitters won’t touch anything unless specifically invited to!
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Phew! So my sitter thanked me in the review for buying the analog stove-top Italian espresso maker! (an under $20 purchase). I think she felt bad because when she came over for the keys I couldn’t help but notice her expression of befuddlement and disappointment when she saw my electric percolator – which I’ll admit is an idiosyncratic lifestyle choice. It wasn’t just her, I’ve observed over sits that NOBODY has used the thing despite the manufactorur’s instructions being out. She was my third Italian sitter and I just had to do something.
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I appreciate all of these ideas. Thank you, @Marion, for the comments. I wholeheartedly agree with @Gretch that making new friends who love animals in near or far places is what it is about. For my first sit, I was sure to change the sheets, leaving behind a fresh set of towels and a hair and lotion beauty gift. I asked the PS beforehand for any food preferences and stocked the fridge accordingly. My one bedroom is tight, but I did my best to stack storage in a convenient fashion and left a section of the wardrobe empty for PS use. I will make a note of the gift cards to a favorite restaurant in the future.
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My favorite thing that hosts can do for me when it’s an area I don’t know, is to take me on a walk or a drive (time permitting, of course) to give me the lay of the land. Conversely when sitters come to my house, I do the same. I usually drive them by the various dog parks, up to the Botanic Garden and down to the harbor area. It really helps to know how a city is laid out.
When I went to Montreal to petsit 2 lovely cats, the husband hand drew a map of their favorite neighborhood restaurants and stores. I held on to that paper and used it every day on my urban walks.
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As HO, we usually invite our HS to eat dinner with us on the first night (we do overlaps at start and finish so there is a clear handover.)
We also take them shopping with the car at the start so they can get the items they need.
And of course we deep clean the house before we leave and make sure it’s stocked with all the basics. Also make it clear that they know if they need to borrow something, they are welcome to. We just ask that everything is replaced and reset to the way it was handed over.
I also really liked a list of suggestions that @PVGemini made on another post recently but can’t remember which one it was! 
)
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-We pick up the sitters from the airport if they arrive by plane (or train station)
-if the sitters arrive by car we take our own car somewhere else that they can use our garage
-we deep clean the house and roof patio before the sitters arrive
-we empty the bathroom drawers except of (lots of) toilet paper, cosmetic and cleaning necessities
-we make space in the walk-in closet for the sitters’ clothes and bags
-we prepare a welcome basket with bottles of wine, information about walking and bicycle trails, sightseeing points and restaurants, snacks and chocolate, a thank you card and whatever I come across in the weeks before the sit
-we get them a voucher for a very nice little café around the corner
-we invite the sitters for dinner the evening before we leave, either at home or in a close by restaurant as well as the day we arrive, if they stay for another night.
-we do a walk around town and show them where to shop for groceries etc
-we ask before they arrive if there is anything we can purchase for them that they don’t have to go shopping right away
-we tell them to feel free to use any dry goods, coffee, tea, milk and condiments without having to replace anything
-they may use our electric bikes and our electric car
-we offer to arrange contact with our cleaning lady in case they don’t want to clean the house themselves (but we don’t pay for it)
-we introduce them to all the neighbors, especially to two who speak very good English in case they need help with any translations
-we set up an account with our house vet so they don’t have to pay up front
-we provide a debit card with a certain amount of cash for any kind of emergency payments for the cats or the house, taxi to the vet, etc. We would top it up if needed online.
-we help with anything like installing SIM cards etc
There are probably some more things, which just now slipped my mind or things we would do if needed.
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