Lay My Hat

If you can get it Ringtons tea is fabulous http://www.ringtons.co.uk/ You could only have it delivered to your door by van (or horse and cart originally!) but now you can buy it online. Helen will probably agree as it is a North East classic! They also do a very interesting looking tea infuser for loose tea http://www.ringtons.co.uk/homeware-c11/ ... sories-c12 .

B&B/Lydia my cottage kitchen has new but vintage looking enamel accessories. I had the kettle which sat on the hob and whistled when it was boiled but it took ages so I went for a vintage looking electric one.

I have a corner adjacent to the guests' sitting room where all three rooms can make their tea, coffee, etc.

They get:
- Full-size, fast-boil kettle
- Fridge with fresh and longlife milk
- Bottled water, fizzy and flat, 1.5 litre bottles but only Lidl's own brand or Cristalline, nothing posh like Badoit
- Kettle
- 3 teapots of varying sizes
- glasses, mugs, cups and saucers
- small plates suitable for biccies or cake
- handful of teaspoons
- forks (for cake!)
- a few knives
- kitchen towel roll and a few teatowels (for spills - I clear and do the washing up)

- Teabags (Twinings breakfast and Earl Grey)
- Various fruit teas / tisaines
- Millican instant coffee
- Decaff coffee 'sticks'
- A selection of cappuccino-style packets of coffee / mocha coffee, etc
- Decaff version of the same
- Sugar, sugar substitute (Canderel)

Homemade biscuits, cakes, etc

I did give guests a Nespresso machine (free with a subscription to Le Figaro 'weekend') but this was abused by one set of guests who used three pods at a time (so 6 between them) and then left half each mug of coffee. So that was approx 2€ 3x per day, half of which they wasted.

That pair spoiled it for everyone - I took the Nespresso away.

Most popular: the coffee (non-decaff), the plain teabags and the cake!

We find that the non-Brits only use infusion style tea bags and proper coffee and almost without exception the Brits, in both rental and B&B, use the Builders' tea (Tetley, Tesco Finest, whatever but always bought in UK) and instant coffee. We have an area in the sitting room in B&B with fridge, kettle and most of the stuff listed by Normandie except the cakes and /or biscuits which we tend to supply on an ad hoc basis when we know if guests are spending day in or out.. The tea pot is almost never used!

Aasta, why not do your own little guest satisfaction research?

Leave a simple form in their rooms..with a few specific questions, and a promise that you'd be really grateful for their honest opinion and that you won't take offence.

You can ask them about the in-room refreshments and anything they would have liked that wasn't provided....that kind of thing. But no "rate on a scale of 1 to 10" stuff...you want real human feedback!!!

I got the idea off LMH, can't remember who. I leave a feedback form for everyone in my apartment (rather than email it later). 99% complete it. I'm really pleased with the system.

good idea, Tavi, will do...thanks

Sounds like we all offer more or less the same.

We are in the UK, Devon, and we just offer tea cups and saucers, kettle, tea bags (not a well known brand, can I mention it?) Also one or two fruit/herbal bags and earl grey/decaffeinated if requested, hot choc sachet, coffee sticks or ground coffee bags (like a teabag) and biscuits. Plus UHT milks (fresh if requested).

Not sure why the guests in the first post had any reason to score the establishment low marks.

French cricket, we all like our home comforts - not sure why they should 'go elsewhere'. You have to admit there's some pretty awful tea out there!

Not sure why the guests in the first post had any reason to score the establishment low marks.

and after a 3 year wait we are unlikely to find out.