We’ve accepted our first house sitter and feel very fortunate to have been chosen by a lovely sitter who has really helped to make us feel at ease. For those of you who are sitters, what amenities make you feel at home or welcome at a sit? Our sitter will arrive early so we can hand over the keys and we can show them around, but I want to make sure they feel comfortable.
Here are a few things we have:
• Toiletries (soap, shampoo, spare toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues)
• Lots of clean towels
• A robe & new slippers (old house, slippers really make a difference!)
• A hairdryer
Hi @Laika
Congratulations on selecting your first sitter. It sounds like you’ve found a good one.
You also sound very kind. Your question has been asked before so if you search the forum with some key words you’ll find lots of answers.
You sound like a lovely welcoming host.
A robe and slippers? (Sigh) always nice.
For me, any courtesy, respect, appreciation, shows that you are thoughtful, however that feels comfortable to you, is always welcome.
I truly believe in treat people as you would like to be treated.
That is enough
Best wishes
Examples: Some hosts welcome sitters over a meal, offer to pick them up at say the airport or train station, offer welcome treats or wine. Some prepare or gather info about things to do or see in the area.
For me, the most important is a a clean home, especially bathrooms and kitchens.
Friendly and welcoming hosts, who have prepared a thorough welcome guide.
Plenty of pet and cleaning supplies, and a good vacuum cleaner.
I travel lightly and am happy to live out of my packing cubes. For me personally, I don’t need space cleared, but I really appreciate a comfortable bed and comfortable pillows. If you have good sheets, all the better.
Agree with @anon10466095 . I appreciate a home that is clean and tidy, and instructive welcome guide and a straightforward communication. I think a lot of conflicts could easily be avoided by communicating better. It seems like man that are disappointed has expected others to be the same as them and expecting the same, without actually saying what they think or expect. I am also surprised how many do not say they are happy that you would sit or say “thank you”. As a pet sitter I always thank for the opportunity. Just because it is common courtesy. Of course realising that I just did it - expecting others to be like me and be mind-readers.
I tend to bring a lot of the items you’ve listed with me to save me on too much washing at end of sit. What I really appreciate is a nice clean & tidy house, some space in the fridge for our food, a space to put our clothes & a lovely detailed welcome pack that includes any local recommendations for shopping, walks etc.
The robes and slippers are a beautiful touch. One of the first things we do after an HO has left is just sit with the pets for a while, so they can get used to us while we have a cup of coffee, so chocs or biscuits to go with a hot drink are always really appreciated, especially after we’ve been travelling. It saves us unpacking the car straight away to get our food out when all we really want to do is to make the pets feel relaxed in our company by doing what the HO would do, sit and have a cuppa while stroking them.
A bottle on wine in the fridge is a nice touch too, but just do whatever feels natural to you, don’t do what others do, just do you, with some that’s the bare minimum and with others it’s more, there’s no right nor wrongs.
Each sitter will differ in what makes them feel welcome. Each sitter may have must have amenities.
For me, I do not need any particular amenities to make me feel welcome.
When I have received thank you cards upon arrival from HOs for taking care of their pets, I always found that to be lovely, thoughtful, and made me feel welcome.
When a HO says, “make yourself at home” that makes me feel welcome.
But mostly, a friendly smile and genuine kindness from HOs go a long way in making me feel welcome.
I love it when the homeowner makes space in a drawer or two and in a closet, especially when it’s a fairly long sit. Having to live out of a suitcase for a week or two is a bit annoying.
Allow us to use your spices so we don’t have to buy a whole jar just to use one spoon. We prefer to sit internationally and don’t bring spices with us. Similarly a hair dryer is handy so we don’t have to bring one as well as adaptors.
Some coffee or tea would be nice so we can sit and enjoy a cup before unpacking or taking the dogs for a walk. This one is quite specific but my husband likes potato chips (crisps) and we love trying all the unusual flavours available in other countries. We are Canadian and we always hear from Americans that our ketchup flavour and “all dressed” flavour chips (crisps) are unusual and they love them. In the UK we love the prawn flavour, chicken, etc. So a small bag of a local favourite would be a great touch. (Yes, we can go buy them too.)
One of the amenities here is the weekend newspaper (real print).
I have been eating more cherry tomatoes than ever in my life
I am also welcome to receive guests.
And then there is the terrific floor cleaning machine.
This is a return sit, wonderful dog, lovely people. What really stood out was that they invited me last Christmas to stay here when they were travelling with the dog. Because they thought that I might want to stay in this area where I have relatives. Incredibly thoughtful.
How lovely you sound!
From my own experience, I would say: Just plenty of supplies for the animals. I’ve done sits where there weren’t enough dog poop bags or cat litter, to mention just two… The HOs have always ordered more when I’ve let them know (although one was quite irritated and accused me of cleaning her cats’ boxes too much!) but it’s nice not to have to do this.
I’m sure your first sitter experience will be great ; you certainly deserve it!
Ask the sitter before their arrival if there’s any food items they’d like to have on hand when they arrive. Often I get a list of 5 or 10 staples that are easy to pick up at the grocery.
If they’re arriving by bus/train/airplane, if I can, I offer to pick them up upon arrival (and drop them back off when they leave.)
I invite them to come & stay with me a day early/leave a day late if they’d like (and if it works with my schedule)
I treat to all meals if/when we’re together at my house, whether I make it at home, order a pizza or we go out to eat. (Today’s sitters are getting in by bus around lunchtime, I’m assuming we’ll have lunch together before I take off)
Anything else that I think sitter would enjoy - I noticed that the sitter arriving today does yoga, so after I asked her, I gifted her a pass to a yoga class at the nearby studio I go to.
