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Hosting for the holidays is hard work, and even with the best of intentions of making your guests as comfortable as possible, the experience can be stressful. A helpful mindset for minimizing that stress—and maximizing your guests’ experience—is include amenities you appreciate (or wish vacation rentals provided) that will also allow your guests to be both comfortable and self-sufficient during their stay.
Provide options for temperature control
You probably don’t want guests with varying indoor temperature preferences adjusting your thermostat or suffering in silence because they are too hot or too cold in your home—especially at night. Get ahead of this by stocking bedrooms with fans and/or space heaters, as well as extra blankets so guests can be comfortable while sleeping. While you’re at it, make sure you have enough pillows to go around without spreading everyone’s supply too thin.
Stock bathrooms like a fancy hotel
While some guests may travel with every toiletry they could possibly use, others will appreciate having a few items on hand like they might find in a nice hotel: shampoo, conditioner, soap/body wash, lotion, and tissues are obvious choices. But you can go even further to include toothpaste, floss, toothbrushes, and basic first aid (bandages, pain relievers, lip balm, etc.). Other extras like a hairdryer, cotton balls, Q-tips, makeup towels, and menstrual hygiene products are also nice touches.
Finally, stack enough and toilet paper and clean towels in bathrooms ahead of time to keep guests from having to ask or borrow these items later on—and make sure guest bedrooms have extra hooks on the backs of their doors so everyone has a place to hang their damp towel to dry.
Again, some guests will come fully equipped with the cords and chargers for all of their devices, but it’s a nice touch to have extras plugged in where they are needed most, like below bedside tables and in high-traffic common areas. Obviously, you may not have every type of cable available, but USB-C is a good bet—Lightning and Micro USB are good to have around, too. You should also consider clearing outlets of unneeded cords to open space for guest chargers.
Add night lights
You can likely make your way through your own house in the dark like a ninja; so unless you’ve got small children, you might not realize how valuable a couple of nightlights can be for guests who aren’t used to navigating your hallways at night. Add night lights particularly to hallways and bathrooms so no one has to feel around in the dark. You might even include one in each guest bedroom so guests can choose a spot for one that is most helpful for them. You can get packs of plug-in motion sensor lights on Amazon for as little as $5 per light.
Collect snack and breakfast requests ahead of time
A thoughtful way to prepare for your guests is to have a few food items they like on hand when they arrive so they can snack freely and without feeling guilty about raiding the fridge or pantry. Plan to get a couple of cereal, oatmeal, or other breakfast staples they like to eat, as well, so they can help themselves to a quick and easy breakfast whenever they are up and ready to start the day.
