Things needed in vacation rental

[bargirl95]

Talked my husband into renting a Townhouse at Windsor Hills in November instead of Shades of Green. Need help making a list of non food items needed for our stay. Never stayed at a vacation rental before. Plan to always cook breakfast and at least three healthy dinners. We will be there for eight nights.

What I have so far,

trash bags
paper towels
toilet paper
foil
cooking spray
ziplocs

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[shalom]

We usually stay in condos, but I don't expect they're too different.

Laundry detergent if you're going to wash more than a load or so. Possibly dish detergent or dishwasher detergent as well -- condos usually have a small thing of dish detergent, along with one packet for the washer and a few for the dishwasher; some rental homes are the same, some don't have all three.

Dryer sheets or softener, if you use them. Never been anywhere that had those.

Depending on how much cooking you're going to do (and how much storage you have going out!), you might want to take some old kitchen towels -- often there are only two kitchen towels and a wash cloth, and with my crew we often end up wanting more. If you don't cook as much (or for as many!), may not be an issue.

When I'm particularly organized, I do mixes at home for bars and quick breads and that sort of thing and bring those along. We are not likely to go through even a small bag of flour or sugar on a short trip, and, except for brownies, we're not big on purchased mixes.

I also bring spices in tiny containers, if I'm going to use any, because I don't want to buy a full jar of spice if I'm just going to need a teaspoon of its contents!

We also bring a 9x13" pan, because they don't always have one and I use them constantly for snacky stuff (four teenagers!). I do quick breads that fit in that or in a square pan, since bread pans and muffin tins are rare.

Maybe not pertinent, those last few, since I suspect we do more baking than most people on vacation. But hopefully some suggestion will get you thinking on things that you'll want for your family.

 

[party-of-five]

When I'm particularly organized, I do mixes at home for bars and quick breads and that sort of thing and bring those along. We are not likely to go through even a small bag of flour or sugar on a short trip, and, except for brownies, we're not big on purchased mixes.

What a great idea! My kids LOVE quick breads for breakfast and homemade cookies are the only cookies we do (DS has food allergies). I can see putting all of the dry ingredients for a recipe in a ziploc container, and using disposable foil pans as an easy way to get a taste of home without a lot of fuss! Thanks for the tip.

 

[mieuxmew]

I pack a sharp knife. Most of these places have cheap old dull knives, which are very dangerous, as a lot of force is needed to cut. I use a knife guard and wrap in a towel. Put in checked bag, not carry on!

I bring a pair of tongs and scissors. Also, lots of different sized zip locks. I bring a paper salt/pepper shaker. We have allergy issues, so we bring our own soap/shampoo/conditioner etc. I also have a small silicone spoon/spatula that I bring. Far more useful than a lot of mediocre kitchen utensils in some of these places. If you are driving, I would consider bringing a frying pan, crock pot, cookie sheet and baking dish/pan.

My husband loves his coffee, so we bring coffee filters, coffee, a scoop and splenda packets. I love paper plates on vacation!

For laundry I either pack tide pods or premeasured laundry detergent in ziplock bags. For fabric softener, I bring Dropps, which are fabric softener pods (sold on Amazon).

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Some places supply more than others. The best thing to do is read the instructions the owner sends before your trip. Also, rather than buying a lot of stuff at home and packing it, go to the house first and look around. You may find things you didn't expect, and vice versa. Make yourself a basic list at home, and add or cross things off after you see what's there.

Our owner noted in her letter that her place is supplied with a "starter kit" of supplies. She said they used to keep it well stocked, but guests were taking excess items home and she could no longer do that.

Our place had 1 roll of toilet paper per bathroom, 1 roll of paper towels, 1 dishwasher tablet, soap for 1 load of laundry (already in the washer's soap dispenser), 1 small bar of soap per sink, 1 kitchen garbage bag, and 1 small bottle of shampoo per bathroom. That was basically it. We did see that someone had left a pack of coffee filters in the pantry, so I crossed those off our list. There was salt and pepper, but no other spices.

We went to the store and bought: hand soap and bar soap for each bathroom, dishwashing liquid, dishwasher tablets, laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, cooking spray. I had brought an assortment of ziplocks and garbage bags since they're easy to pack.

We brought home all of our extra supplies, except for a few rolls of toilet paper and the cooking spray that we left behind. it was easy enough to pack it up and use it at home.

 

[set1208]

For spices, pack them in the 7-day pill dispenser. Saw that one on Pinterest.

Is there a dollar store nearby your condo? They're a great place to get soap, dish towels, salt/pepper, cleaners etc.

 

[Rpsemont]

They actually just opened a dollar store on 192 not far from Windsor Hills.
It's right near a super target that you can use for groceries and other sundries.

 

[bargirl95]

Thank you to everyone it is all so helpful

 

[ParkHopperFan]

They actually just opened a dollar store on 192 not far from Windsor Hills.
It's right near a super target that you can use for groceries and other sundries.

That's great info. Thanks! I will have to look for that when we visit in November.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Our place had a whole drawer full of dishtowels - at least 6 or 7. Even if there are only 2, I wouldn't recommend buying any. It's easy enough to toss them in whenever you do a load of laundry (or use paper towels).