We’re all familiar with online hotel reviews and the way they can affect whether we take the next step to make a reservation. Although your friends and family may not put their feedback online, you can bet they have opinions, and those opinions are being shared. There are a few things you can do to ensure great reviews and a wonderful experience for you and your houseguests.
Don’t Be a Gross Host
If you don’t want your overnight guests thinking (or talking) badly about your home and your hosting abilities, you may want to follow the lead of the world’s best hotels: make sure the bed and bath are spotless and give some thought to your guests’ individual needs before they arrive. Here are a few things you can do to make your home as welcoming to guests as a 5-star resort.
1. Make Sure the Guest Bedroom and Bath Are Super Clean
This is first on the list for a reason: nothing else you do during your guests’ visits can overcome dirty or messy accommodations. You may no longer notice the things that need to be cleaned or tidied in your own home, but you would notice those things if you saw them in a hotel room. Your guests are seeing your home with the same eyes, no matter how much they love you. Look at your guest bed and bath through the eyes of a hotel housekeeper or a short-term rental owner.
- Dust from the top down. That means from the top of the fan blades to the spot on the carpet between the bed and the nightstand. There’s nothing grosser than dropping your reading glasses or cellphone into that space and pulling them out covered in dust bunnies or other unmentionables.
- Launder linens and towels before and after each guest’s visit. Make sure there are no stray hairs or stains as you’re putting them on the bed or hanging them on the rack. You might not be appalled by your own hair but you would by someone else’s.
- Check out your sink and tub drain to be sure they’re clean and gunk-free. Your guests don’t want to watch the sink backing up.
- Remove any items you’re storing in the guestroom, so your guests don’t feel like they’re inconveniencing you with their stay.
- Place your down and feather pillows in the dryer for 3-5 minutes with wool dryer balls or clean tennis balls before you place them into zippered pillow protectors and pillowcases so they’re at their fluffiest.
2. Stock the Guest Bedroom and Bath with Necessities Your Guests Might Have Forgotten
You’ve certainly arrived somewhere only to realize you forgot to pack something you use every day. Think about the things you expect a hotel to offer guests in situations like that and make them available.
- Fill a basket with bathroom amenities they might have forgotten to pack like a toothbrush and eye makeup remover.
- Take things up a notch by providing a clean robe and hotel-quality, one-time-use slippers for use during their stay.
- Offer a variety of pillows (soft and firm, down and down alternative) so your guests can choose what works with the way they sleep.
- Make them feel welcome with a bottle of water and a snack set out on the dresser.
3. Remove the Obstacles to a Comfortable Stay
Make it easy for your guests to settle in upon arrival. Remove the challenges to coming and going during their stay.
- Consider the temperature. You may like the room to feel like a terrarium, but that’s not true of everyone. On the other end of the spectrum, if you notice your guests never remove their coats, you might need to turn up the thermostat. You can place a throw blanket on the bed or point out where they can find extra blankets if the temperature cannot be adjusted from their room.
- Is there sufficient light? If you don’t spend time in the guest bedroom or bath, you might not be aware the lightbulbs need to be replaced or that a lamp has stopped working.
- Provide a luggage rack for your guests’ suitcases so they don’t have to open their suitcases on the floor, and they don’t put their suitcases on the bed.
- Print out directions for anything that might require an explanation such as how to use the television remote or how to turn the shower on and off.
- Share the wi-fi password. Do it with a decorative touch by placing it on the dresser in a cute picture frame.
- Show them where they can find the bathroom amenities you’ve stocked for them.
- Provide an extra cellphone charger and a cell phone sleeping bag on the night table.
- Give them the code for the garage door so they’re not locked out and the code to turn off the alarm system so they’re not locked in.
4. Share Expectations
When you stay at a hotel, you know the days and times of check in and checkout. You know when the restaurant is open and whether they offer room service. To avoid misunderstandings and frustration, it helps to be straightforward and similarly clear with your guests.
- Share your schedules upon their arrival so you can coordinate your plans.
- Ask your guests if they have any allergies.
- Find out your guests’ feelings about your pets. Even if they love your dogs, they might not want to walk into their bedroom to find them lounging on their bed pillows.
- Let them know what you’d prefer with respect to towels and bedding when it’s time for them to depart so they don’t have to wonder. If you’d rather they leave the bedding for you to take care of later, let them know.
You’ve done all the work to welcome your guests. Now, enjoy the visit. Send your guests off with a small treat to remind them of their stay, whether it’s a food item they enjoyed during their visit or something for which your city is famous. You’ll never have to worry about a failing grade from overnight guests again.
-The Team at down etc
Read more:
5 Ways to Prepare Your Home to Delight Overnight Guests
5 Luxury Hotel Housekeeping Tips for Preparing Your Bedroom and Guestrooms for the Fall
10 Elements of a Luxury Hotel Turndown Service to Recreate at Home
