What do you buy besides food to take to a rental home? I have never done this before but this summer we have a beach house in Hawaii for 9 days. Do you bring dish detergent, toilet paper etc... Any help would be appreciated.
We have stayed in a rental vacation home only twice, so I am hardly an expert! But we did have to provide all of our own "consumables" if I remember correctly. Maybe you could inquire of your travel agent, or from whatever source you are renting, and find out if they know for sure. Another question you might want to ask is whether or not linens are provided.
I'd wait until you get there to determine what consummables like TP and dish cleaner you'll need. See what's at the house and buy what you need there. Places like Foodland have a shoppers card, so apply for that to get the best prices. I'd also only pack a few non-perishable food items. You could have a food suitcase for there and use it as your souvenir suitcase coming home. Ask about linens, towels, beach towels. Most of the time you have to provide those. I'd also ask if there are bikes, beach chairs, etc. available so you can research renting if those things are important to you. ETA ~ take your Costco card if you are a member. Not sure what island you are doing, but there are a few Costcos there now.
I would contact the owner or agency. When my children were younger we would stay in a vacation home by the shore. They provided some dish soap, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc. but it wasn't enough for the week. Usually we would bring our own stuff or make a trip to the grocery store.
It very much depends on the owner/manager of the property. We're staying in a time share at Disney (less than a week!!!) and they provide all towels, linens and basic kitchen supplies (ex food). I think they provide one dishwasher packet. We are taking ~ food ~ some special cooking items (muffin tins, a casserole dish) ~ dish soap ~ laundry supplies ~ night lights ~ paper towels ~ toilet paper ~ dishwasher detergent. When we rent a house at the beach, we also have to supply our own towels (incl dish towels), pillows and sheets (sometimes they provide pillows, usually they have blankets or comforters for beds), and some more cleaning supplies like ~ lysol ~ toilet paper ~ trash bags. It's not unusual to arrive to find no toilet paper, no tissues, no paper towels - NOTHING except furniture, basic cooking supplies, and tvs. I personally hate that. I always make sure to leave a roll in each bathroom and paper towels on the counter. But I always get a list of what's included in the rental before we go. Since we usually drive, I bring my most of my own dry goods, linens and paper products with me, and I buy meat, produce, dairy products, etc when we get there. If we are going with a large group, we only bring one day's dry goods plus paper goods, then we brainstorm our meals for the week and send out a shopping expedition. Be aware that in some beach communities, you may drive 30 minutes or more to find groceries (Outer Banks is notorious for this).
I've stayed 3 or 4 times in San Diego, and I don't think I've ever had to buy other than food. I've always taken beach towels, but many times they've been provided, as are sheets, bath towels and the rest. I did bring my own toiletries--shampoo, etc.
I have to admit.....I LOVE shopping for things we take to our vacation home when we rent them in Kissimmee/Orlando. Its part of the trip planning for me and I just have a ball with it. In my experience, the linens and household towels are provided.....along wth one roll of tissue paper in each bathroom. As a general rule of thumb, I pack the following: Paper towels toothpste soap beach towels zip loc baggie with things like q-tips, razors, etc. zip loc baggie with medication items We also shop for certain food items before leaving....like sandwich meats, lunchables, juice pouches, and other snacks. We pack the cold items in a cooler (or two) and the kids can snack on them during the drive down and when we get there we put them in the fridge for later use. This is great when you need a quick snack. We then pack the coolers full of our suvenirs when we come home. We then go grocery shopping once we get there and get what we need. I recommend packing and taking anything that is "light" in weight. Things like shampoo and conditioner which are heavier I wait and buy when I get there - OR - on our last trip.....I got all the trial size freebies from Wal-Mart on the freebie thread and saved them up. I took them down with me on our trip and didn't have to buy ANY shampoo, conditioner or soap!! Since you are going to HI, I would suggest light items so you wont have to worry about packing lots of heavy luggage on a plane. The downside is that things cost a LOT more in HI so you'll just have to determine what works best for you. In 2004 we drove to Orlando on the DAY Hurricane Charlie hit. I had paid for my vacation and I was gonna use it darnit...lol. We packed a HUGE pack of frozen rib eye steaks in the cooler and took them with us - not because of the hurricane....just because we thought they would cost more in FL. Well, we arrived and immediately went to the grocery store and bought charcoal..The hurricane hit 4 hours after we got there. We were without power for 4 days...the pool was green, the house was hot, and no one had any gas or food because everything was closed......but we fired up the grill and totally enjoyed a rib eye steak dinner.....lol! It was AWESOME!
