Lay My Hat

The problem is that the very small jars are nothing more than a single portion really. So whilst it may be a lovely thoughtful gesture to leave a couple, anyone who uses more than that will still have to buy a whole jar - and then leave it for you to throw away - or take it home with them.

French supermarkets, and I suspect many others, sell tubes of mayonnaise, which contain a bit more than the little tubs and less than a full bottle.

Just found this one too.. Packs of 80.. Includes mayonnaise. http://www.kraftheinzfoodservice.co.uk/ ... /Mini-Jars

Thank you everyone for your additional replies and tchn for finding the mayonnaise. I take your point amandajane about the size of the jars. Maybe it just means providing more pots? After all, I leave 10 small Bonne Maman jam jars and that seems to be enough.

I'll have a look at the tubes Pendragon and see whether they look "posh" enough. Might try them on our next guests. The small jars I won't now do until next year. That gives me plenty of time to sort something out for the beginning of the season.

We have squirty ketchup and mayonnaise and just leave them in the fridge until they need replacing.

Also have squirty honey, Bovril and Marmite and mini jars of jams and marmalades in the cupboard.

Bottle of blackcurrant squash in the fridge and olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the side.

Because most of our guests are 2-5 night stays they won't want to purchase their own for shorter stays but appreciate having them there. Often get thanked for the provisions so don't mind providing them if they are useful and appreciated.

Kate24 wrote: Often get thanked for the provisions so don't mind providing them if they are useful and appreciated.

+1

I leave all the above, and a welcome pack, and in many years I think I've only been thanked once! Even bottles of wine go unmentioned! I'm seriously thinking of abandoning it. Beginning to develop a bit of an attitude!

I leave all the above, and a welcome pack, and in many years I think I've only been thanked once! Even bottles of wine go unmentioned! I'm seriously thinking of abandoning it. Beginning to develop a bit of an attitude!

We leave wine and nice 'nibbles' and fruit juice and biscuits as well if there are children. Some notice, some use it, some don't. Rarely a comment or thank you.

We have salt and pepper in the cupboard and filters for the coffee machine. There is cling film, foil in the cupboard. All left by previous guests and I don't replace them.

I provide everything they need to clean the loos, bathroom, oven and barbeque and use the dishwasher and keep those topped up.

We used to have a spice rack with a good range of herbs and spices but I looked at it this year and noticed half the jars (the popular herbs) were empty and nobody had replenished them and the others (less popular) were either dried up and useless or set solid so I ditched the whole lot.

We find, more and more, guests have a casual attitude to things and are harder to please!

One way I make sure our guests appreciate our welcome pack is to ask them what they want in advance. To my mind a "welcome pack" is far from that if it includes stuff they don't want. Not everyone drinks wine - one family was teetotal, so they wouldn't have thanked me for alcohol! For them the fridge included the fruit juices of their choice. Not everyone drinks dairy milk these days. A couple of weeks beforehand I email them a list of alternatves - for example salted or unsalted butter.

I'm also on the spot to welcome them and make a point of showing them what's in the fridge for them, where the condiments are (pull out drawer) and then there's "treats" on the table with their welcome card - a pretty box of mixed biscuits, special fruit in season, the selection of Bonne Maman jams in a pretty basket (if that's what they've asked for).

This ALWAYS elicits appreciation and I have had guests say I'm giving too much and can they pay me. This also, of course, helps me, because I'm being thanked and I feel good about what I'm doing.

For those of you who feel none of this is being appreciated, is there a way for you to make it more so? If you can find ways to make it a delight rather than something taken for granted, it means the holiday starts on a brilliant footing for you and your guests. They know they've come somewhere special.

I leave wine, orange juice, butter, bread, milk, posh crisps and a plate of homemade biscuits, plus there's tea, coffee, sugar, salt and pepper in cannisters/grinders. Guests are asked if they'd prefer something other than wholemeal and semi-skimmed in the email giving them directions and the lockbox location, so if it turns out someone's dairy-free and wants soy or almond milk, I can get dairy-free spread instead of butter. I used to leave eggs from the local farm, but they hardly ever got used, so have stopped that, but am going to add a small basket of miniature jams, honey and ketchup (and mayo if I can source it, I don't meet Brakes' minimum spend requirements!)