Having overnight guests can feel stressful if you’re not prepared, but when you are prepared, it can be a joyful experience rather than dreaded. When I have a guest who spends the night I want them to feel relaxed, comfortable, and excited to be there and I want them too feel like they went to a retreat. This is what I like to do to make that happen.
What to make your guestroom feel like a vacation?
- Deep clean the guest room and bathroom they will be using. A dusty, dirty room is a big no for me. Be extra, hire a housecleaner (or hire your teens for a discounted rate).
- Change or refresh bedding. Not only should you put clean sheets, but also pull back the covers, fluff them, and maybe give it a few spritz of a bedding spray. Of course, bedding spray is easy to find for a great price.
- Extra blanket. Always keep an extra blanket somewhere visible in the room. That way if your guest gets chilly in the middle of the night, they can grab the blanket. Be extra, buy them a throw blanket they can take home with them.
- Welcome basket. This doesn’t have to be extravagant, but a small basket with a few of their favorite snacks and a couple bottles of water will work. Because of this, when everyone goes to bed and they get hungry or need a drink they don’t have to feel uncomfortable walking around the kitchen in the middle of the night. Be extra, if they are coffee drinkers set up a coffee station inside the room like you see in a hotel.
- Toiletries. If your guest bathroom isn’t stocked, stock it. Toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc. Guests don’t want to have to ask for toilet paper.
- Your nicest towels. Put the towels out you don’t let the kids use because you don’t want them ruined. Be extra, buy a robe and have it hanging in the bathroom.
- Wi-Fi password! Put the Wi-Fi password on the nightstand. Be extra, have the Wi-Fi password printed and put in a cute 4×6 frame for the nightstand.
- If the room has a television in it, make sure the remote is visible and turn it on and flip through to make sure everything works properly. If there’s no television, leave a few magazines they might enjoy.
- Lighting is important to remember. If you don’t already have one, buy a plug-in nightlight for the guest bathroom and have a lamp or sconce within reach of the bed. This will ensure your guests aren’t stumbling around in the dark trying to navigate a house they aren’t familiar with.
- Give them a card. Let them know what a blessing it was to have them. Were they not such a blessing? In other words, I can guarantee you were a blessing to them, even if they don’t see it.
Make it Fun
Remember, these are the things I like to do, but I’m not saying you have to do every one of them. Sometimes I forget to do a couple of them myself. When I was young we always had overnight guests therefore, it wasn’t uncommon like it seems to be now. I hope we can all open our doors just a little more and get out of our comfort zone and enjoy having overnight guests. Hospitality is important to me and a part of who I want to be. Invite a friend over and see how it goes.
Let me know what you do to make your guest feel welcomed.
Additionally, if you need more than the basics go to my shop my look page!