great list @carpediem16 although I will admit as a HO the one I probably fail at most is the space in fridge. I really hear what your saying - but as someone that used to work in the restaurant industry I really despise wasting food and so I do leave food in the hopes that any of our sitters will use it. I have never left a half bottle of wine though . Many many of our sitters have used and consumed the food we leave behind but also some have not. I would also not at all be upset if they decided to throw out the food that we have left. When we leave on longer trips I try a lot harder to consume the perishables before we depart or donate.
Hereās some of the things I wish more sitters knew about HOās and these too are not complaints just trying to bring awareness as well as someone who has also been a sitter.
It goes a really long way to show up at the sit having recently read over the welcome guide. Many HOās put a lot of thought and care into the welcome guide and it really shows when a sitter has fully reviewed and has questions. If your HO has not sent you the welcome guide through the site then I certainly hope they would have something written out to share with their sitters.
We really enjoy getting to know our sitters before or after our sits. We always offer a meal together or to stay in our home before departure if the sitter is comfortable with hat arrangement and we donāt have guests. If this isnāt something the sitter wants my preference is to know up front so that our time isnāt misplaced especially if weāre leaving for a longer period.
Communication is so important in this sort of exchange. We want to provide the best possible experience. So if ANYTHING at all is not copasetic no matter how weird the question please ask.
As someone that has broken something on a sit and as someone that has had a sitter break something. Please just be upfront about it. I rather know while weāre away (yes, even if itās a vacation). Our mindset is that accidents happen, I would never charge one of our sitters for something breaking but I want to know about it and not be surprised or have to ask a sitter afterward if they broke something. I know many HOās have different opinions on this matter - mine is once again all about communication.
This might sound obvious - but this has happened on more than one occasion where our sitter didnāt inform us when our dog got sick. Please always communicate with the HOās about such matters. While many sitters are true pet experts owners know their pets best. If HOās have a pet like mine with a sensitive stomach often times there are protocols we follow in these situations and have set aside food for our pets to best treat them. If we donāt know our pet is sick then the sitter might be dealing with a much larger ordeal than they anticipated.
If you plan on taking any photos/videos in our home to share on social media always ask for permission first. Feel free to share whatever you want outside the home.
The absolute best sitters always strip the guest bed for us and ask if I would prefer for them to start washing the sheets/towels or leave in the laundry hamper. Some even have put on the clean sets in our cabinet so we return home to a clean made guest bed and only need to do the laundry. This is an extra kindness and I certainly donāt expect this.
Also we donāt drink coffee so I always ask my sitters if they do so I can make sure we have something for them to make coffee and get some of whatever coffee they like. I know coffee is SUPER important to most people and if my sitters are anything like the rest of my family is would be an emergency situation if they didnāt wake up and have easy access to coffee.
Thank you, Kelly!
These are all great points. Thank you for sharing them.
Great point on social media. I have made a point of being careful with this including not posting photos of the pets. I have become instagram friends with some HOs and I have to wonder if they are disappointed that we donāt ābragā on social media more about the pets we care for - but I do it for their privacy.
It is hard sometimes to gauge how much communication a HO wants. I have sent photos and notes that go unacknowledged for a couple of days or more. Some folks donāt seem preoccupied with their pets and want a relaxing vacation, it seems, and I try hard to āreadā them. Some are very upfront saying they want daily photos, but others donāt say much.
As for the fridge, it is important to us to have room for our supplies as we either arrive with a couple of grocery bags full or we go shopping shortly after arriving.
I will use some items if I am told to please go ahead and do so, but if I donāt know how long something has been in the fridge, (for example, if there is no expiration date labeled on eggs, I will avoid them, and we buy only pasture-raised eggs), Iām usually not too keen on using it (depending what it is, of course).
But also we all have varying diets and preferences.
I think it would be ideal if there could be one full shelf cleared out and instructions on what should be āeither consumed or discardedā.
For a long sit I have asked what important things theyād like us to make sure is in the house when they arrive (in one case it was a specific type of almond milk and coffee).
We also always simply ask āwhat would you like us to do with the sheets and towelsā.
@Kelly this was a great HO post and I would like to add to the info on coffee. If it is possible for you to do, having a french press or a pour over small pot is great and can certainly suffice when there is no larger pot. It is small and easy to store away in the pantry or cabinet and would be much welcomed by those who do drink coffee. We are crazy as we have a total of five different types of coffee pots (we love coffeeā¦LOL)
All very good points! To add onto the point about breaking something, I agree that I would want to know even if Iām on vacation, mostly because it could be something āessentialā that Iād want to order a replacement for prior to returning home ā like a coffee maker, Vitamix, vacuum, dog-related thing, etc. Then the sitter could use the replacement, too, instead of going the rest of the sit without the item.
It seems that clear, honest communication is the most important thing. Too many people make assumptions about how someone else will feel or how theyāll respond, and they are often wrong! Better to just put it out there as nicely as possible and figure out a solution together!
@carpediem16 Yes, fridge space!! So important to us as we too arrive with bags of groceries, if we are driving, or have them delivered, if we have no car. We like to cook most if our meals so please make some space for our perishables in your fridge. We can live without pantry space but fridge space is a necessity.
A pour over is exactly what we have for guests for the reasons you pointed out. Unfortunately our last sitters broke it. They were supper upfront about it and offered to replace it (I wouldnāt let them as I just consider it part of the exchange and not on them), so the replacement is back ordered and just hoping it arrives before the next sitters get here
HI @Kelly@Debbie-L ā¦ What is a āPour Over?ā ā¦ Iāve heard of a āComb Overā but itās obviously not that
I could Google it but that wouldnāt be as interesting as getting a description of what it is and how it works from two of our lovely team members ā¦ probably only one needs to answer, with a pic?
āElementary my dear Watsonā Thank you @Debbie-L ā¦
A must have for me is an electric kettle and tea pot, or mug if thereās no tea pot available.
Being a tea drinker I wish more homes, especially in the US, had electric kettles, although I guess they donāt have a need but you really canāt make a good cup of tea without boiling the water. I wonāt bring up boiling water in a microwave, that subject has been done already.
@Angela_L@Debbie-L
This is the pour over we went with that every single one of our guests raved about. No need for paper filters and everything can easily get washed in the dishwasher. My parents when they stay with us drink loads of coffee so they liked that it would brew as much as a normal coffee pot.
@Angela_L We always have the same problem, no electric kettleā¦ aarrghhh!!
The US and Scandinavia especially and I cannot stand microwaved anything especially water for tea!
Personally I would be delighted to see our dog and all his glory shared on instagram or whatever social channel our sitters useā¦I am just not comfortable with the inside of our home being photographed or recorded most especially because we now have a childā¦one can never be too careful these days. We love being sent daily pup-dates of our dog out on adventures or snuggling up with the sitters - it always warms my heart and we always respond. For longer sits I donāt expect them every day but I would certainly welcome it. I know too, that all HOās are different on this subject and the HOās weāve sat for LOVED that we would send pics to them through whatsapp and would respond when they couldā¦sometimes it was days later.
I see what youāre saying about food in the fridge, so I think our policy moving forward will be to ask our sitters a week before they arrive what their preference would beā¦that way I have a week to work on consuming what we have or donating what we canāt use/sitters donāt want.
That is a very kind gesture to ask if the HOās have any important things they would like on their return. Returning home after a long trip can sometimes feel like more work than preparing for the trip
Yes was on a house sit wanted a cup of tea couldnāt find kettle wasnt one. Oh well induction hob heated pan of water very quickly.might be converted to an induction cooker for when I move. But still want my kettle call me old fashioned.
Pls HOās, several of us donāt like to use Master Bedroom if there is a spare. Clean room, clean sheets is great. Has any HO tried the spare bedroom bed or shower. This has been talked once but I guess not enough. I had so many sits were was impossible to wash my hair. And my body, improvise.
Anybody advise how to ask the question???
Hmm, no one else has replied to your question. Can you provide more info? I would think most spare bathrooms would be functional ā¦ but Iām a guy so hair-washing isnāt a big deal.
Just be honest and curious. Maybe:
āIn previous sits, Iāve had trouble washing my hair in the spare bathroom. If needed, may I wash my hair in the master bathroom?ā
Can I just say that as a curly girl with thick hairā¦the struggle is real with weak water.
My sister in law had a weak shower head. It took a few visits and I decidedā¦she needs to know. She promptly replaced it.
I would leave a HO a note about that type of feedback as an fyi (not in a review per se.)
I know as a HO I want that kind of feedback. I may not agree to implement all suggestions but I want the info. (we plan to leave a comments book for any sitter in our home to write inā¦)
. Many many of our sitters have used and consumed the food we leave behind but also some have not. I would also not at all be upset if they decided to throw out the food that we have left. When we leave on longer trips I try a lot harder to consume the perishables before we depart or donate.
