This is a really interesting and helpful discussion. We have found that the nicer the home is kept, the better renters will treat it. This has been emphasized by our housekeeper, who cleans many rental homes. We have left some family photos on inaccessible walls and other personal items to convey that this is our home, not a hotel. We do not leave clutter items, just functional items such as coasters for the tables and some travel guides of the area in the living area. We do leave instructions on how to operate the digital cable tv, which requires either Einstein or an 8-yr. old to decipher. Here are some ideas that we think are nice and which we might expect to see when WE RENT YOUR HOME ELSEWHERE!
(1) Clean, clean, clean...with as little clutter as possible.
(2) Something in each room that will make a person smile when they come into the room. These are simple things: a beachy picture or pillows, stuffed animals in children's rooms, framed photo collages of your beach, or amusing and inexpensive but tasteful art.
(3) Good cooking pots (Reverewear is perfect.); good knives in a wooden block, with a sharpener tool; a good wooden chopping block heavy enough that it stays in place (discourages cuts on formica counters); two coffeemakers with gold filters (not paper); a drawer filled with instructions for all the appliances (especially your stove and microwave); nice sturdy set of stonewear with enough pieces that people can have a nice dinner party (We go to Bed Bath & Behond and buy their white bistroware and leave additional sets in our owners' closet for the housekeeper to replace as we inevitably lose a piece here and there.); and a large set of nice wineglasses. (Yes, yes...they get broken. But a dozen costs $10 at the above store and how much are your renters paying? Be sure you buy the size that will fit into the dishwasher so the globes aren't broken off from the stems.) Other nice or unique things to provide: one of those heavy gravity hand juicers, two blenders, two toasters, a small version of a food processor, an oyster shucker or guillotine, a panini maker and/or Forman grill, a good tea kettle, lots of wooden spoons, BBQ utensils.
(4) We replace our bathroom throw rugs every year so they look fresh and fluffy. Commercial washing over one summer makes them look tired and frayed. Again, shop the sale times at bath shops or dept. stores. Same with Tupperware (or other equivalent). Count on an entire set to disappear over a rental season. An entire new set is $20 or less, so just replace it.
(5) We keep a big collection of stuffed cuddly sea creatures in our bunk room, as little kids can get scared being in a room on a separate floor from their parents. Do we lose one occasionally? Of course, but this is seldom. Get larger animals so that parents take note if Billy is attempting to take Nemo home. But so what if he does...$12 to replace him and you've made a kid happy. You can find these on several Web sites at very good prices.
(6) Make sure your outdoor furniture is sturdy and comfortable, then have it power washed occasionally so it is clean. Cushions are nice, but they usually end up in the pool or on the beach, so we no longer bother.
(7) We ask guests to tell us in the guest book or through the management company about things that would make their stay more enjoyable or convenient. They have offered some great ideas, many of them very functional. Ask them to tell you how they slept, sometimes the only way you know that a bed is overdue for replacement. Bad beds are the kiss of death if you expect people to return.
(8) Accept that you are going to have a certain amount of wear and tear and even missing items over a rental season. Don't let it make you crazy. Is it really worth two hours of grouch time to bemoan a missing piece of silverware, stuffed animal or Tupperware? The expense of replacement is minimal and we are getting some pretty healthy rents for these properties. It gives me a good excuse to to take a tax-deductible shopping trip one afternoon when I'm down there and a reason to support the local businesses.
(9) Develop a rapport with your renters so they want to return year afer year. We want our visitors to think of our house as their own house at Grayton Beach, with rare exception. (And yes, you can count on about one exception each year.) Send them a holiday card with your favorite snapshot of the house or the beaches. We are delighted when our visitors respond with a nice note or even photos of their family reunions at the house. The end result is having your house fully booked from one summer to the next with these folks, a reliable fan club.
(10) Remember that it is a beach house. It's a good idea for both owners and visitors to have nothing in the house that could not be replaced or that you would mind losing. When Ivan was coming ashore, I asked a family member to remove four items from our house and only one of those items went back afterwards. Made the storm watch for Dennis much more bearable. At the end of the day, it's all just "stuff."
We learn something new every year about being owners and absentee landlords. The one thing that never changes is the devotion that people have to this area. It is really astonishing. Our visitors have a true sense of stewardship towards our beaches. We hope that never changes, because the beaches and the spirit of the place is the enduring quality, not the houses.
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, press n seal, storage bags, paper towels, kleenex, tp, cayenne pepper, old bay, etc., etc. I bring towels, my own pillow, cd's, videos, books, magazines (we create a 'library' on one of the tables in the main room), Scrabble, cards, beach bag and mini cooler; next time I may add a crock pot after reading your list 
I mean, I never steal a robe at the Ritz-Carlton, so why should someone take laundry detergent from a property that costs 10 times as much as one night at the Ritz?