The perfect host(ess): how to make your houseguests feel at home this summer - Part II
Yesterday, I provided three detailed tips on how to make your houseguests never want to leave. Granted, this might not be your intention at all but today we’ll continue with four more guest-pleasing tips.
Find out about food allergies or other potential hazards beforehand
This is fairly straightforward: make sure that your houseguest will not suffer needlessly. If you have a pet that your guest may not know about, take the time to inform your potential guest of this, as this may determine whether or not they (your guest, not your pet!) can stay with you. Food allergies are also important: if you cannot guarantee that the food offered and prepared will be free of foods that your guests are allergic to, it is important to let your potential guest know this. If you can easily avoid these foods and products during your guests’ stay, you may want to consider living without it (them) for a while. If your guest has some other condition that you should prepare for (limited mobility, for example) make sure that you can accomodate her needs. If you can’t, there is no shame in admitting this right away and offering to help your guest find alternate accomodations. The last thing you want is for your guest to go home in worse condition than when he arrives!
Research your city - put on your tourist’s shoes
You live there day in and day out, so your city may not seem very exciting, but there’s undoubtedly something that your guests will love to see or do. I suggest you consider who your guests are, what they enjoy doing, and see if your city offers activities that would serve these needs. If you’re not sure, ask–ask the coordinators of certain activities what kind of people enjoy them, ask your guests what they enjoy doing! Museums, plays, sports games, unique restaurants, flea markets, concerts, and festivals are only a short list of things that your guests may enjoy. You can do a lot of planning and select which activities you will do together, even before your guests arrive.
In cases where you will not be able to spend much time each day with your guests, you may want to provide this information to them so they can explore your city on their own.
Be the information centre
This ties in with the last point. You know those handy informtation centres that are usually located around bus terminals, train stations and airports, providing car rental options, maps and answering other questions? You can be that service for your housguests! If you can’t drive your friends or family to every sight they want to see, or take part in every activity they want to do, provide them some options for transportation: you can loan them a spare car (if you have one), or give them the contact information for car rental places, or provide them with bus tickets/tokens (or bus fare information) and a bus route map; if they are walkers or cyclists, an appropriate map, with an indication of areas where good bike/walking paths are, might be handy. If you know know the directions to the various places your guest will want to see, use a highlighter to mark the directions clearly for your guest. If you don’t know how to get there, provide them with contact information (perhaps to your city’s information centre) so they can find this information themselves (although if you know beforehand where they want to go and what they want to do, providing them this info would be very nice).
Don’t foget the (not so) little things
Depending on how comfortable you are, you may want to provide your guests with a key to your house so they can come and go as they wish. You might also want to offer them the use of your laundry facilities and encourage them to ask you for any items they may have forgotten or might need. Some houseguests will also want to know what sorts of “house rules” you’d like them to abide by, including how late they can be noisy till, whether or not they can use your phone without asking (and how you want to handle long-distance phone calls) and which bathroom you prefer they use, for example. These may be small things but to a guest staying in a home they are not accustomed to, spelling out some of these things might be helpful. Encourage your guests to ask you questions if they are not sure.
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This is by no means an exhaustive list; by thinking of what would make your stay at a friend or family member’s home pleasant, and applying these ideas from the point of view of your specific guest, you’re sure to be a popular stop this summer among houseguests, although whether or not this is a good thing might be in question!
What is your houseguest-pleasing tip?
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houseguests, entertaining, visitors, summer guests, host, hostess, home
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May 9th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Who wants to please their guests?! heh heh heh. I like to make sure I stock up on some of their favourite foods and beverages. For example, I don’t drink soda, but most of my friends do, so I get a 12 pack of soda to put in the fridge. *shrug*
May 9th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
My tip would be to show them what kind of hostess you are right off the bat. I tend to ask people if they’d like a drink or something, and then when I hand it to them, say “There’s more in the fridge if you want another later or something.” I eat and drink on an incredibly odd schedule, and my worst habit is forgetting to ask a guest if they are hundry or thirsty, etc. So I just make it known that they should help themselves.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:06 am
I like to stock the fridge with people’s favourite beverages and snacks, that I don’t typically stock. Such as a 12 pack of coke and maybe some kind of chips or something they like.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Helping themselves is the best.