If you read the title to this post and immediately broke out singing “Be our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast, then we are destined to be best friends! Fun fact: I'm a huge Disney movie fan!
Growing up in the south, I have always had an appreciation for genuine southern hospitality. In fact, I even earned a master's degree in hospitality management from the University of Arkansas.
As you setup your home, it's important to pay close attention to your guest rooms so that your friends and family feel comfortable and welcome when they stay with you.
One of the lessons I learned from my mom was to actually spend a night in your guest room and get ready in your guest bathroom. In other words, put yourself in your guest's shoes and see what you could add to those spaces to make your guest's stay an enjoyable one. This wasn't hard for me to do because our guest bed is by far the most comfortable bed in our home!
Here are my top recommendations for your guest rooms.
Display your wi-fi password. In a connected world, this is often what is asked first. There are several cute ways to display this in the room. I printed out a free design and framed it. Then you can write on the glass with a dry erase marker for ease of updating it when necessary.
Make sure to have a bedside lamp. If your company likes to read before they go to bed, it's nice to have a lamp instead of the bright overhead light. On one of my mom's visits, I asked her how the room was and if she had any suggestions. She let me know that the bedside lamp I had in the room was actually too short to work as a reading lamp. Instead of going out and buying a new lamp, I just shifted lamps around in my house and put a taller one in the room. Easy peasy!
Add a clock to the bedside table. Sure, we all have our phones, but sometimes it’s nice to just glance over and see what time it is, especially if it’s in the middle of the night.
Stock your bathroom with essentials. Think about when you go stay in a hotel. There are always travel size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion. Offer those same items in your bathroom but take it a step further and have extra toothbrushes and disposable razors in stock as well. Also, put a hair dryer in there so your guests don't have to bring their own.
Provide bottles of water in the room.
Put a night light in the hallway leading to the bathroom or for my father-in-law's sake, lighting the way to the kitchen for a midnight snack. Your guests may not be familiar with your home and the last thing you want them to do is stub their toe running into the wall or knocking something over.
Temperature control. Everyone has different preferences on the temperature they keep their house. Because of that, we have an overhead fan in the room for if they get hot and set out extra quilts for if they get cold.
(Optional) Provide a TV in the room. Not everyone watches TV when they go to bed, but my husband and I do. Since we had an extra TV, we set it up in the guest room. Also, some guests may wake up earlier than you, that TV will help entertain them while you catch a little more beauty rest.
If you're like me, you want your guests leaving feeling like you were glad they were there. Making your guest room comfortable and inviting is a great first step to achieving that!
