Your Airbnb kitchen in your vacation rental should include all of the essentials. As an Airbnb Superhost, I want to make sure my guests have everything they need to cook a gourmet meal in the kitchen. But what do you REALLY need in your vacation rental kitchen? If you’re advertising your listing with a full kitchen, guests will expect to be able to use the kitchen as if they were at home. Use this complete list of kitchen essentials for your Airbnb or vacation rental as a guide to stock your kitchen! This is one of the ways to make money as an Airbnb business and get more bookings.
Keep scrolling to go through the details of everything you should have in your Airbnb kitchen.
If you are ready to start ordering, here is my FREE Kitchen Essentials Shopping List.
AirBnb Kitchen Essentials List
- Place Settings
- Cookware
- Kitchen Utensils
- Kitchen Accessories For Cooking
- A Coffee Bar
- For The Fridge
- Essential Small Appliances
- Optional Small Appliances
- Seating For Guests
- Airbnb Kitchen Rules Sign
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Place Settings
As a rule of thumb, you should have complete place settings for the maximum number of allowed guests at your AirBnb. I have 2 extras on hand just in case they are in town visiting family or friends and have another guest over.
A complete place setting should include plates, bowls, cups, forks, knives, spoons, wine glasses, and coffee mugs.
Place settings can be inexpensive and still look nice for a vacation rental. You don’t need to get the top of the line because something will break eventually!
Amazon Basics has a complete service for 6 white plate set for under $50! That’s a steal. I like to use neutral colors for things like plates so that if you need to replace it, you can find something similar to match.
Cookware
Don’t forget about the pots and pans! Want a complete package of cookware? Just get a full set of pots and pans for your guests. Sine this was my first time stocking a kitchen that wasn’t mine, I decided to get a basic set of pots and pans. We are about a year and a half in now and they are still in decent condition.
I’m sure if you wanted to get a nicer set of pots and pans, they would last longer. I am just getting to the point where I am thinking about replacing them. I haven’t had any complaints about the quality either!
If you want to be selective and buy a la cart, you can buy things individually as well.
One thing that doesn’t come with a standard set of cookware is an extra large pot. I once had a guest ask about this!
Kitchen Utensils
There are a lot of random things that you typically have in your kitchen that you may not think of when stocking a new kitchen! I know that when I was first setting everything up in my AirBnb, I forgot a lot. Every few days I would think of something new and then have to go buy it.
If you don’t want to buy everything separately, I recommend a complete set like this one from Amazon.
Here is a list of kitchen utensils that you should stock in your Airbnb kitchen.
Grill Set – if you provide somewhere for guests to BBQ in the backyard or on a balcony, you’ll definitely need to provide grilling utensils for them to use.
Kitchen Accessories For Cooking
I have to admit – I forgot about some of these items that I’m listing below when I was first stocking my AirBnb kitchen. When I was first getting started, I wanted to equip the kitchen with just the basics and not have too many unnecessary items.
Fast forward a year or so, I had guest very kindly send me a list of items they thought would be helpful around the house – Pyrex dishes were one of them! I originally provided baking sheets but nothing like pyrex dishes. It was an inexpensive purchase and now they are in the kitchen for guests to use 🙂
A Coffee Bar
If your listing offers complimentary coffee, it is a good ideas to have a designated coffee area or coffee bar in your AirBnb.
In a recent post, I wrote about how to create a practical coffee bar for your vacation rental – check it out HERE.
If you don’t know how to setup a coffee bar, it’s pretty simple. You’ll just need a designated space (countertop or hutch), a durable coffee maker, coffee mugs, and coffee essentials.
K-Cup Machine – Alternative to a traditional coffee maker that makes single cups of coffee. If your AirBnb only sleeps 1-3 people, this might be a better option. K-Cups can be purchased in bulk to stock your AirBnb coffee bar.
For The Fridge
If your refrigerator doesn’t have an ice maker or a water filtration system, it’s a good idea to provide a way for guests to get water and ice.
Brita Pitcher – Make sure your guests get fresh filtered water.
Essential Small Appliances
No need to get super fancy with the small appliances in the kitchen – just start out with the basics. Here is what I consider to be the essential small appliances for your vacation rental kitchen…
Shop For Essential AirBnb Small Kitchen Appliances
Optional Small Appliances
Do you have a luxury AirBnb listing? Adding extra amenities in the kitchen is definitely a way to WOW your guests, get great reviews, and become a superhost.
Omelet Maker – an easy way for your guests to make their own gourmet breakfast.
Juicer Machine – for guests to be able to stay healthy on vacation.
Seating For Guests
If your AirBnb is in a vacation destination, chances are your guests are coming to spend time with friends and family. Make sure you have enough seating (if space allows of course) for the typical number of people that will be staying.
In some situations, there won’t be enough seating for the maximum number of guests – just make sure this is known to them ahead of time. For reference, my Airbnb sleep’s 6 people maximum. Our kitchen only has a dining table for 4.
People can clearly see this in the pictures on the listing! We also have an outdoor dining table that seats 6 so it is a good trade off.
Airbnb Kitchen Rules Sign
If you’re just getting your kitchen ready for guests, chances are you just bought new pots and pans, new dishes, new cups, new appliances, new kitchen towels, and so much more. Some guests will take great care of your supplies. Some guests will not.
The best way to prevent damages in your Airbnb kitchen is to let guests know what you expect! This kitchen rules sign is the perfect addition to create a guide for them.
Do I really need a kitchen rules sign?
I would definitely recommend posting something in the kitchen with your expectations. If you don’t people will probably leave dirty dishes and your cleaners will have to take more time after checkout. A kitchen rules sign will reinforce how much or little guests are expected to clean the kitchen and dishes before they depart.
Another tip would be to make sure people know when trash pick up is. This was one of the early mistakes that I made. I didn’t have a Trash Directions Sign for guests to be made aware when to take the trash cans out.
Good luck getting all the essentials for the kitchen in your Airbnb vacation rental! Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions or need guidance.
