Inventory management for hosts
Without a list, "did we always have six wine glasses" is a question nobody can actually answer.
Start with one list, not a spreadsheet project
A single document — room by room, item and quantity — is enough to start. The goal isn't a perfect asset register, it's a reference your cleaner or co-host can check against after every stay.
What's worth tracking
- Kitchen: crockery, cutlery, glassware, pans, small appliances
- Bedroom/bathroom: towel and linen counts (including spares)
- Consumables with a restock threshold: bin bags, dishwasher tablets, loo roll
- Anything genuinely valuable or easy to damage: TV, specific furniture, artwork
Build the check into the turnover, not a separate task
Add a quick "anything missing or broken" line to your cleaning checklist rather than running inventory as its own chore — it gets done far more reliably that way.
Decide restock thresholds in advance
"Reorder loo roll when down to four rolls" is something a cleaner can act on without asking you every time; "reorder when it looks low" isn't.
Expect normal wear — budget for it
Glasses chip, towels thin out, cutlery goes missing a piece at a time. A small, boring monthly budget line for replacements is more useful than being surprised by it once a year.