Eliminate Costly Negative Guest Reviews with This $5 Investment

One negative review can cost you an entire booking. At an average nightly rate of $217, losing a three-night reservation represents $651 in lost revenue. The irony is that most negative reviews stem from missing items that cost less than $5 to provide.

Here is a breakdown of the essential amenities every vacation rental should stock, what they actually cost per stay, and why skipping them is a false economy.

Toilet Paper: $1.50 Per Stay

This one seems obvious, but it remains one of the most common complaints in negative reviews. One host shared a story about guests arriving at a ski house to find only one roll of toilet paper for ten people. The review was predictably unfavorable.

The rule of thumb is simple: stock one roll per person per week. For a typical stay, this costs about $1.50. That is a negligible expense compared to the cost of a bad review.

Bathroom Toiletries: $1.25 Per Stay

Guests expect shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. This is not a luxury hotel amenity anymore. It is a baseline expectation.

Bulk purchasing individual-sized bottles significantly reduces costs. When buying cases of 500, the cost drops to approximately $0.86 per stay. Even at retail prices, you are looking at around $1.25 per stay.

Providing quality toiletries signals to guests that you care about their comfort. Not providing them signals that you are cutting corners.

Kitchen Supplies: $1.54 Per Stay

Guests who book vacation rentals often plan to cook at least some of their meals. They expect the kitchen to be functional, which means having basic supplies available.

Here is the cost breakdown:

Dish soap: $0.39 per stay
Sponge: $0.41 per sponge
Paper towels: $0.26 per stay
Dishwasher detergent: $0.48 per stay

Total: approximately $1.54 per stay.

A guest who arrives ready to cook dinner and finds no dish soap will not only be annoyed, they will start looking for other things to complain about. That first negative impression colors their entire stay.

Laundry Detergent: $0.30 Per Stay

For properties with washing machines, liquid detergent costs roughly 10 cents a load. Assuming three loads per guest stay, that comes to about $0.30.

Many guests, especially families, rely on the ability to do laundry during their stay. Providing detergent removes a friction point and prevents guests from having to make a store run for a basic supply.

The Business Case

Add it all up and the total cost of stocking these essential amenities is approximately $4.59 per stay. Round up to $5 to be generous.

Now compare that to the cost of a negative review. A single lost booking at $217 per night for three nights is $651 in revenue you will never see. That is the equivalent of stocking amenities for 130 future stays.

The math could not be clearer. A $5 investment per stay protects hundreds of dollars in future revenue. It is not an expense. It is the cheapest insurance policy your vacation rental business will ever have.

Looking for tools to put these ideas into practice? Explore Properly’s solutions:

flexible plans — start free and scale as your portfolio grows
automated scheduling — coordinates your service providers without the back-and-forth
Real-Time Inspection — lets you verify property condition remotely after every turnover