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Comment by irishloop | Hacker News Reader

I once gave an Airbnb 4 stars because I was annoyed they had no way to make coffee, even though it was basically a hotel being run as an Airbnb. Like, not even a cheap Keurig in the lobby

They DMed me and told me that was bullshit and if I wanted coffee, I should've filtered by that amenity

Which is amazing because coffee is so expected you can't even search by it

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And yet coffee isn't so expected that there isn't a setting for it in a listing's amenities. It's quite the contrary. In fact, there are settings for both "coffee maker" and "coffee", there for anyone to see who takes the time to see. Your AirBnB was in the right and you were in the wrong.

These are the reviews that I like. It's negative with a complaint, but if this is the worst that it has, it is quite okay.

It is like a complaint of a laptop. If you sit on the keyboard, it bends a little bit. If that is the biggest complaint, it's fine.

I mean… they’re not 100% wrong.

Nah, they're 100% wrong. Maybe a coffee maker isn't as fundamental as, say, a stove or refrigerator, but I'd be unhappily surprised if the place I booked didn't have one. To my recollection, I've never been somewhere without coffee. It wouldn't occur to me to filter for such a thing. Should I also be looking for places that have pillows?

I do see what you're saying, but that's an expected basic amenity.

You may expect that as an amenity but nobody else is obliged to share your expectation. The fact is that AirBnB provides hosts the ability to try to SET expectations about amenities, even ones as mundane as a coffee maker. Given that, I'd judge this guest to be wrong, not their host.

I feel like it depends somewhat on where the unit is located. If it's in a downtown area with half a dozen coffee shops within a few blocks, maybe it's not necessary. But if it's in the suburbs, then yeah coffee is pretty much required.

I wonder what percent of people make use of provided coffee. Some people are pretty strict about what kind of coffee they like, and wouldn't want to use whatever is provided. And some people don't drink coffee, of course.

“Lovely room, but I have to get up and dressed before I can get caffeine, which makes me subconsciously associate it with a headache and stuffy sinuses.”

A study I just looked up said 74% of American adults drink coffee every day. Of those, approximately 9 of 10 would prefer not to have to leave the house for their morning eye-opener, and 1 in 10 prefer papercuts then lime juice in their eye.

Seriously, no innkeeper who isn’t personally opposed to coffee for some reason would risk pissing off 75% of their customers, especially when it’s so cheap and easy to supply. I would genuinely rather a place lack pillows than on-site coffee.

Thanks for sharing those facts. As someone who has never drank coffee regularly, I don't know the extent to which coffee-drinkers would prefer to roll out of bed and drink whatever is on offer in the unit, versus getting dressed and grabbing a Starbucks/Peets/etc. a few minutes later.

It’s all personal preference, of course. For me, unless the place next door was spectacular, I’d much rather have a cup of mediocre-or-better coffee to sip while I’m getting ready.

The best situation is having a decent cup while I’m washing up, then a mind-blowing cup a little later while out and about.

It's a review. Customer didn't like something, why not mention it for others? It's supposed to be a service for people like you in the future.

The problem is that the scale is now so compressed that 5* means "OK" and 4* means "not OK". 3* is assumed by the system to be a user abusing the review system.

Yes totally, I do mention things I don’t like in reviews, but “great stay, but no coffee maker (****)” seems excessive.

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