I don’t expect the homeowners to provide anything that is not listed in the amenities. I have had multiple sits where I have bought a cheap US$15 coffee maker and donated it to charity at the end of my stay. I also have a collapsible camping thing I bring to all sits - (Google Slickdrip)
I am on a sit now where I bought a cheap toaster because I wanted one. I wouldn’t dream of asking a HO to provide this.
If a sitter asked me to buy any new gadget/appliance for them, I would be tempted to cancel the sit because I don’t want to deal with someone demanding or entitled.
WOW, get you, so entitled. If the owners don’t drink Coffee, and I don’t, then that’s that. It is not all about you. How rude to even think of asking them to buy one, just for you. This comment will probably get deleted, but I think you are absolutely so out of order.
@Jcat33What basics should host provide? The answer is found in the Amenities section of each listing. I’m upset by your sense of entitlement. Your stance is certainly not indicative of someone who has the necessary flexibility to adapt to housesitting.
There are so many options for cheap and highly portable coffee makers, if it’s important to you than get one and travel with it, or only look for sits that list a coffee machine.
This is a home exchange, not a hotel or air bnb. If the HO doesn’t drink coffee they would have no need for a machine. Demanding they provide one is rude.
I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was in my 40s. Prior to that I never owned a coffee maker, even for the 15 years I was married we never owned a coffee maker because neither of us drank coffee. I would never expect a HO to buy an appliance just for the sitter. If a sitter has specific needs it’s their responsibility to manage it themselves. I drink coffee a few times a week now, but I travel either with my small Bialetti or with a collapsible pour over coffee maker. I’ve never used a HOs coffee machine since some are very expensive and complicated. I’m quite happy with my own system.
There are lots of things I wish all HOs would provide but I’m going into someone’s home and using what they have available. When I travel by car I bring a lot of my own stuff (sharp knives, skillet, pizza cutter, wooden spoons, oven mits, among other things). But I primarily travel overseas and use public transit, so I can’t bring much and I manage with what’s available.
We have a coffee machine but I don’t think I listed it under appliances. I don’t drink coffee and my husband hardly ever. But then we also have an ice cream maker, a sandwich toaster and a bread maker but I did not list those. Should I? Would it make my sit more attractive to potential sitters?
I think most sitters are pleasantly surprised when there is more on offer. We don’t demand those things, so I wouldn’t even bother. It most likely would not sway my decision
For me: I rarely even check the Amenities section before applying for a sit, unless I have a specific logistical question that wasn’t addressed in the listing text — so it wouldn’t change whether I applied or not. Those would just be more like nice bonuses if I noticed them later on.
Oh, i was just using ‘coffee machine’ because it seems the more common term in Europe. Here, i mean just a drip coffee maker, for $20 or so. Or a French Press! Not expensive. But from the feedback I’ve gotten, I’ll step away from this thread.
As a scientist has put it, coffee is the most commonly used drug in the world. It’s mind and body altering. Billions of people are addicted to it but don’t consider it an addiction. That induces mindsets like “how can you possibly not have coffee and a coffeemaker in your house???” as if the house had no running water.
I drink tea and when I housesit in the U.S., there’s rarely any tea in the house or at best some old poor quality teabags, and usually no means of boiling water other than a saucepan on the stove (no kettle), and certainly no teapot so I can brew a pot with loose leaf like I do at home, so bringing my own leaf tea is pointless.
So I make do with teabags I bring with me, even though for confirmed tea drinkers, teabags are like instant coffee. Delivers the same caffeine result but not with a good taste.
But despite all that… I never ever think the hosts should provide tea or a teapot or a kettle for me.
This is the only thing I was asking about, in this thread. Having the basics (like a crap coffee maker or french press, just like one typically has a kettle for tea!) available. I wasn’t asking for a fancy ‘machine’, just said ‘machine’ because that’s how most of the world calls a ‘coffee maker’ outside the US. Yes, my idea as a host would be to ask if there is anything guest might need and see if i could offer that. I wasn’t trying to be entitled and the other feedback has been…really disturbing! Thanks for this reply. I appreciate it! And yes, usually i just buy what i need, or have a freaking coffee maker/french press delivered from Amazon, etc. lol. xx
If i were a host, having a guest fly in for a three-week sit, I might offer to get them something they use every day (and that likely other sitters would use, too!), if it were cheap and available.
I have come to despise this ‘community’. I’m out! Take care, everyone.
for a drip coffee maker? That doesn’t seem unreasonable to have in the kitchen. I’m not asking for a $400 machine. Perhaps my initial post’s ‘machine’ made people think that. Also, enjoy being 'flabbergasted!" lol.
Beneath all the coffee angst in the replies I’m wondering about the deeper question of the often experienced gap between HO ‘lifestyle’ and values and sitter preferred lifestyle and values. These gap ‘wrinkles’ and then ripples of frustration spread out to embrace equipment, use of equipment, cleanliness, behaviour, interpersonal communications and tbh every single aspect of domestic lifestyle anyone could choose to focus on. If as a sitter I discover I’m witness to a very different domestic lifestyle, I find it pretty interesting and yes it might be irritating in a minor way but I find a solution and draw a line under it.
I think the OP is asking about feeling valued.
From reading responses here I don’t think most embrace the term mutual exchange. House and pet sitting done right is hard work. I have had hosts ask me, is there something we can stock for you? I think providing the basics of a coffee machine is showing respect and gratitude. I’m on your side and sad others don’t think they deserve it.
