What an Airbnb must not be missing: inventory, supplies and welcome kit
The fixed inventory room by room, the supplies to check at every turnover and a welcome kit that makes sense. With the gaps that most often produce a negative review.
Linen and supplies · 10 September 2026
By Stefano R., Comfort Home’s contact for hosts and property managers
8 min read
What must an Airbnb not be missing? Five things, before all the others: a made bed with fresh linen, a bathroom with enough towels and toilet paper, a kitchen with the minimum for a coffee and a breakfast, Wi-Fi that works on the first try and clear instructions on how the home works. The rest improves the stay; these five, if missing, ruin it.
In this guide we separate the fixed inventory (what you buy once), the supplies (what runs out and must be restocked at every turnover) and the welcome kit (what the guest finds waiting). We do it from the point of view of people who enter apartments between one guest and the next and see what is really missing.
What do guests look for in the first five minutes?
A guest entering an apartment always does the same round: puts the bags down, looks for the Wi-Fi, opens the bathroom, looks at the bed, opens the fridge. Reviews are born there, in the first five minutes, before they have seen the neighbourhood or used the washing machine. That is why the inventory should be planned in the order the guest meets it, not by room of the inventory list.
The good news is that the things that matter are few and inexpensive. The bad news is that they must be there all of them, at every single check-in, and that one empty toilet-paper holder is enough to cancel the effect of a beautiful apartment. It is a process problem, not a shopping problem: the list below is for buying once and checking every time.
What is the fixed inventory, room by room?
The fixed inventory is what you buy once and check at every turnover so that it works and is in its place. It is not a luxury list: it is the minimum a guest takes for granted.
- Bedroom: complete bed linen plus stock (at least three sets per bed), pillows equal to the sleeping places plus one spare, an extra blanket, hangers, working reading lights
- Bathroom: a large and a small towel per guest, bath mat, hairdryer, well-lit mirror, toilet brush and a bin with a lid, non-slip mat in the shower
- Kitchen: coffee machine or moka pot, kettle, pots and pans, plates and glasses for at least twice the number of guests, bottle opener, chopping board, tea towels clean at every turnover
- Living room: Wi-Fi with name and password written in a visible place, remote controls with batteries, free sockets and at least one socket near the bed
- Entrance: house instructions in Italian and English (access, boiler, waste collection, quiet hours), an emergency number, a hook for the keys
- Cleaning for the guest: broom, dustpan, cloth, a few bin bags, for stays of several nights
Which supplies must be checked at every turnover?
Supplies are the part that gets forgotten, because it seems trivial. It is instead the item that produces the most negative reviews relative to its cost. The rule is one: they are checked at every turnover and restocked before they run out, with a stock in the apartment that avoids emergency shopping.
- Toilet paper: at least two spare rolls per bathroom, always visible
- Kitchen roll and bin bags, including those for separate waste collection if the municipality requires them
- Hand soap, shower gel or soap bar, shampoo: in dispensers or single doses, never half-used
- Washing-up liquid, a new sponge, dishwasher tablets or pods
- Coffee pods or capsules, tea, sugar, salt and oil in small quantities
- Bottled water, at least one per guest on arrival
- Spare light bulbs and batteries for the remote controls
The welcome kit: what to include and what to avoid?
The welcome kit does not have to impress: it has to make the guest feel expected. It works best if it is small, consistent and the same for everyone, so that whoever does the turnover can put it together every time without interpreting. A basket with water, coffee and something dry and packaged, plus a written note with the Wi-Fi and two tips about the neighbourhood, is worth more than a shelf of randomly chosen snacks.
To avoid: fresh food or food with obvious allergens, alcohol if you do not know the guests, products close to their expiry date, objects that look like gifts but are advertising. And above all avoid a kit that is there sometimes and sometimes not: the guest who expected it because they read about it in a review will feel it as a gap.
- Water, coffee or tea, biscuits or long-life packaged snacks
- A written note: Wi-Fi, how the boiler works, check-out times, emergency number
- Two or three real tips about the neighbourhood: where to have breakfast, where to buy bread, the nearest stop
- The same kit at every check-in, put together by whoever does the turnover and checked in the report
Who checks the supplies, and when?
The list is useless if nobody checks it. The right moment is the turnover: the cleaner already has the checklist in hand, goes through every room and sees what is missing. In our case, restocking supplies and the welcome kit is part of the standard visit: the cleaner checks, the runner restocks from the stock, and the end-of-turnover photo report documents the state of every room with date and time.
The advantage for those who manage remotely, or several apartments, is that they no longer have to do emergency shopping or ask "did you check the toilet paper?". It is the same principle we describe in how to manage an Airbnb remotely: every step has an owner and a proof.
Which gaps most often produce a negative review?
Negative reviews rarely talk about expensive things. They talk about details the guest took for granted and did not find. In our experience between one guest and the next, these are the gaps that come back most often.
- Toilet paper or towels insufficient for the number of guests and nights
- Linen not fresh or with stains left after washing
- Wi-Fi that does not connect or a wrong password in the instructions
- Burnt-out bulbs and remote controls without batteries
- A kitchen without the minimum for a coffee, or with greasy crockery
- Hair in the shower or the sink: the most visible sign of a rushed clean
How do we handle inventory and supplies at Comfort Home?
At the inspection we define together the apartment's inventory, the supplies to keep in stock and the composition of the welcome kit. Then, at every turnover, we check and restock: water, coffee pods, dishwasher tablets, toilet paper and kitchen roll, together with the linen change through our partner laundry. The service is described in linen and supplies; the linen, with the number of sets, in how many linen sets you need.
What we do not do: we do not decide what to buy on your behalf and we do not carry out maintenance (we replace a light bulb, we report a broken hairdryer with a photo). Everything else about the turnover is in turnover cleaning for short-term rentals; who we are and how we work is in about us. If you want someone to check the supplies for you at every check-in, request a free inspection.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the most common questions.
Complete bed and bath linen plus stock, a bathroom with toilet paper and soap, a kitchen with the minimum for a coffee, Wi-Fi with the password written down, house instructions, working lights and remote controls, spare supplies and a welcome kit that is the same for everyone.
At every turnover: they are checked room by room and restocked from the stock before they run out. You do not wait for them to be finished.
Little and consistent: water, coffee or tea, something dry and packaged, a written note with Wi-Fi and instructions and two or three tips about the neighbourhood. Avoid fresh food, obvious allergens and products that look like advertising.
It depends on the agreement. In our service, checking and restocking at every turnover are included and we work with a stock in the apartment; what to buy and in what quantities is defined together at the inspection.
Insufficient toilet paper and towels, linen that is not fresh, Wi-Fi that does not work, burnt-out bulbs, a kitchen without the minimum for a coffee and hair in the shower. They are inexpensive details the guest takes for granted.
The related service
Linen and supplies
Used linen collected, a clean, ironed set delivered from our partner laundry, welcome kit and consumables rechecked at every visit. No orders to place.
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Request a free inspection: we define inventory, supplies and welcome kit and check them at every turnover.