Making Your Overnight Guests Feel Welcome

So you’ve invited a guest to stay at your home and you want to make them feel as comfortable as possible. You want to be the perfect hostess. What can you do to achieve this result? First, I want you to think about whether you’ve been in this situation yourself before. What did the hostess do to make you feel welcome and comfortable? What did you wish s/he had done to make things better for you? This is a great place to start. In addition to these ideas, I have some more that might help.

First, this is an opportune time to thoroughly clean the house and get it into tip-top shape. Now you have the perfect excuse to get those small repairs done around the house. You might even want to do those small redecorating projects that you’ve been putting off. Just be sure that you can finish them before your guest arrives!

Be sure to have meals planned ahead of time, with the needed groceries in the house. Maybe you even know your guest’s favorite dishes and you can go ahead and prepare them. Make sure there’s plenty of food in the house. That includes snacks for late afternoon and evening such as crackers, pretzels, cheese, cookies, etc. Before going to bed, be sure to let your guests know where the breakfast foods are so they can get their own breakfast if they wish. You may wish to have a special meal or two at a favorite restaurant, so be sure to make reservations ahead of time.

Have some activities planned. Not only can you have activities planned at your home, such as game night or movie night, but you could also plan some outings to places such as:

· Museums

· Concerts

· Hikes at a park

· Trip to the zoo

· Amusement park

· Trip to the beach

· Theatre

At the end of the day, your guest will wish to retire to his/her bedroom for some privacy and sleep. Having a welcoming room ready for your guest may be the most important thing you can do to show her/him that s/he is welcome.

A welcome basket is a wonderful way to show your guest that you are glad to have him/her at your home. Start with an oversized basket which you can purchase at your local dollar store. If it’s large enough, you can place an extra blanket with towels and washcloth inside. If not, you may place these items on a chair or on the dresser.

Some ideas for toiletries to put into the basket include:

· Soap

· Toothbrush and toothpaste

· Trial size mouthwash

· Trial size shampoo and conditioner

· Razor and shaving lotion

· Comb, in package, unopened

· Dental floss

· Body sprays

· Feminine products

· Trial size deodorants

· Facial tissues

· Ibuprofen and Tylenol

· Cough drops

You may also like to include:

· Crossword puzzle magazines

· Pencils and pencil sharpener

· Deck of cards

· Maps and brochures about the city

· Stationary

· Pen

· Notepad

· Flashlight

· Crackers, pretzels, mixed nuts, candies

· Chocolates

· Bottles of water

· Magazines

· Robe (one size fits all)

· Terry slippers (one size fits all)

Be sure there are extra blankets at the foot of the bed in case your guest needs them in the middle of the night. You might also like to place a couple extra pillows on the bed. Next, be sure that the night stand has everything your guest will need. Be certain that the lamp is in working order. An alarm clock is vital to a guest. Make sure it is working and that it is off. You may want to have a water carafe with glasses so that your guest will have water in the middle of the night. Finally, a lovely touch would be some fresh flowers.

Being the perfect host or hostess is not all that difficult. All it takes is a little common sense, a warm and caring personality, and a few extra special touches that say "Welcome!"