This is not a complaint, but a really nice thing for guests - slippers.

As someone for whom glasses are a requirement to merely navigate around the living room furniture, I really like having a little ledge or table or something close to the bed. Losing your glasses is the worst because you can't see to look for them!!

Give your guest a decent pillow. Board-flat, 10-year-old pillows or throw pillows are not nice.

hotels are nice too. i mean are people that concerned with guest accommodation's when they are saving hundreds of dollars? many times in the city our spaces do not allow for large spaces dedicated for guests. our rooms have to multi-task. so, my opinion is this. if you require a suite, then go to a hotel. if you require a place to sleep, then stay with friends.

I saw a show a few years ago that said to make your guest room like your favorite hotel room.

So whenever I travel, I keep my hotel soaps/lotions/shampoos, then put them them on the guest room nightstand in a basket when I get home. There are several different kinds in there so I think it's kind of fun to dig through. I also keep a small TV & some magazines in there, at least 1 bottled water, extra pillows and blankets, and a stash of IKEA slippers (only a couple bucks each) so I can set out a fresh pair for visitors.

I always hope they feel as comfy there as at home.

Yes, def., need a light, some sort of bedside ledge or table, towels clearly designated. I am also amazed at the number of guest rooms that don't have a waste paper basket in them. A glass so the guest can get a drink of water in the middle of the night.

Beyond that, a small but varied selection of books and magazines, a packet of cookies. It's always nice to have a map of the city and info on public transportation, particularly if you're not going to be with your guest every minute.

Word, William in the 22--if somebody lets me stay at their house, I am just grateful for the free place to stay. Nice pillows and accessible lights are gravy, but their absence is certainly no cause for whining. (I hope this is the attitude that my guests take too!)

We like having houseguests, and we have them a lot, so this is something we've put some thought into.

I need to read before bed, so I've always made sure our guestroom has a night table and reading lamp.

Our towel situation is straightforward: clean towels for the entire family, including guests, are stacked on a bench in the bathroom. The guestroom door also has hooks on the back of it, as well as hooks inside the closet door, for hanging and keeping track of one's own wet towels, and for putting clothes away. Most guests don't seem to use closet hangers, but everyone seems to like hooks. And a chair in the corner where they can dump dirty clothes.

We leave extra pillows and blankets in the room, too, and we let people know how to open/close the vent and the window to control the room temperature.

Also, our guestroom has a clear space for keeping suitcases/backpacks/random luggage, so that people don't have to trip over their bags.

And their own housekey for the duration of their visit!

Deborah,

"Beyond that, a small but varied selection of books and magazines, a packet of cookies. It's always nice to have a map of the city and info on public transportation, particularly if you're not going to be with your guest every minute."

Are you for real? That IS a hotel! If my friends put me up in a room like that, I'm gonna steal all their amenities! (Oh, and I prefer a chocolate on the pillow as opposed to cookies.)

It could be worse, you guys could have to pay for a hotel.

As a matter of fact, it sounds like most of you are describing hotels.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me. Get to booking instead of hitting your friends up for a free place to crash. Isn't it enough that you are using extra electricity and water while at their home?

I am one of the most hospitable people ever but if my guests had some of your attitudes about what was lacking, I'd tell em to get to steppin'!!

Here are the basics - whether you're crashing on your friend's sofa because you're too tipsy to drive or have planned on staying in granmama's guest quarters for months.

1) A clean towel - nothing grosses me out more than having to use someone else's dank, smelly towel.

2) A clean wash cloth - If I'm not going to use your wet towel to dry off, what makes you think I'm going to use your loofah to slough my dead skin away. And washing with no loofa/sponge/cloth doesn't feel as clean.

3) Clean blankets - I have a relative with a closet full of those huge fuzzy San Marcos' blankets you can buy at the border... in the decade she has lived in her house, she has NEVER WASHED THEM. They are simply rolled up and put back in the closet............ I go cold rather than use them.

4) a non-apolstered pillow - i can't stand the marks sofa pillows leave on my face. And preferably something that doesn't have your drool marks.

4) the remote - Most people are staying on the couch rather than a guest suite and who the hell sleeps soundly on a couch? The remote should be handy to keep insomnia more entertaining.

A night light is nice, but it seems to be a bit too much to ask for if you're only staying a night or two. You're cranky because you had to walk to the light switch after getting comfortable? Well, these people are putting you up for the night and they're probably going to make you breakfast. I'll trade a bookless night for a place to sleep. If you seriously cannot live without being a nerd-o for the night, ask your hosts to give you one BEFORE everyone is in their pajamas and ready to pass out. Don't assume that there's a lamp in everyone's room, including where you'll be staying. In my house, there are ZERO lamps. strange, but true.

Also, I might be in the minority, but seriously - Who uses hand towels? I haven't used one in years. They're unsanitary and really, are your hands sopping after you wash them? I shake my hands over the sink and occasionaly employ my jeans as a towel.

chusmabilly,
Yes, my hands are dripping sopping wet after I wash them (maybe because I always lather up and then rinse well)... so I definitely need a hand towel. You may find them unsanitary, but they are FAR better than using someone's wet bath towel (ick!). Especially since they should be clean and just recently put out for the guests. I've mentioned this before in another post: why, oh why, don't people have hand towels in their bathroom. It's needed even if visitors are just stopping by for an hour.

Oh, and I can put my glasses on the floor and walk in the dark to my bed, but there's ONE thing I really like a host to provide: Uninterrupted sleep in the morning.

I can't tell you the number of hosts who have worn high heels around the house starting at 6:30am. What's up with that?!?

Clean bedding, PLEASE. Stored in a closet for two years is not clean. Your brother only slept on them once about two weeks ago is not clean. The same for towels. I only need one, but a clean one, please.

Also, please keep some extra toilet paper in the bathroom. I have no way of knowing that the extras are down the hall, or in the laundry room. I don't want to snoop around your house at 3am for it.

I'm very happy for you and your SO that you have a healthy physical relationship. However, I really don't want to hear the action. Go ahead and do it, but please be quiet. You KNOW if your bed squeaks. You KNOW if you're a screamer. Adjust accordingly, please.

And please don't walk around naked. You think I'm asleep, and I should be, but in a strange place I am VERY easily awakened. I'm actually a night owl so I'm probably lying there awake, anyway.

chusmabilly & sea... how about a compromise and have paper towels instead of hand towels? Each one is clean and you don't have to prep them before guest come. Just make sure they are in the bathroom.

Also have PLENTY of TP. Nothing worse than having a guest have to ask for it, when they have already "started".

Coffee in the morning. Even if all you have is (*shudder*) instant. Isn't coffee common enough that you should have it on hand for guests?

I keep a dozen or so beige washclothes in a small basket in the bathroom to use for hand towels. When I'm alone, I reuse my own several times, but for guests -- everyone has a fresh "hand towel" and available wash clothes to use if needed. And they take up little room in the coin washer!

sorry -- wash cloths!! I need coffee!!

We do paper towels in the downstairs bathroom - used by guests. It's a big waste, but it's better than nothing, I suppose. I just shake my hands like a dog. I'm a crazy hand washing fiend, so i'd consume a few trees a day if I were to dry my hands all the time.

In addition to the t.p - You need at least 1 or 2 maxi pads or tampons around. We should all be prepared, but one of the worst things in the world is to be stuck on the toilet with none of those in sight. It's worse than looking around for t.p at 4 in the morning.

Would it be tacky to provide comdoms in the med cabinet??

i'm a pretty good host, but i hope my guests don't need all that most of you comment on. for myself, i would never expect all of this for free i would stay in a hotel! it's very nice if hosts give you a lamp, crispy clean towels and a side table, but why would you expect this? not everyone has the money or time.

Chusmabilly: I agree about having feminine goods available. I no longer have a use for them, myself, but I still keep them on hand just in case someone needs them. Plus, since I'm a 30-ish woman, other women kind of expect me to have them..........this way I won't have to explain why I don't use them, anymore.

I'm totally in agreement - clean towels - face, hand and bath are a must for guests. Also agree, they should be handed or laid out for the guest. Whether the accommodations are a couch or a full fledged guest room, the courtesy of clean and available personal items (towels, soap, tp) are a must. Anything less is discourteous. And, on the flip side, the guest should always completely strip and fold the bedding, along with all the towels. Don't make the hosts try to figure out which towels were used. Clean up after using the bathroom (no standing water around the sink - that drives me crazy!) or toothpaste or shave cream splatters in the sink. Actually, it occurs to me that those who say they don't use hand towels and shake off the water from their hands are probably the cause of the water that always seems to be splashed around the sink area. Now THAT's gross!

My mother in law gave me the suggestion of a small chair for putting shoes on (I asked her repeatedly how the room could be improved). I'm a pretty good suitcase packer, so it didn't occur to me that someone might forget sanitary products. I will add that to my guest bath.

I went to Monaco in September and snagged a week's worth of Hermes soaps and shampoos for my guest bath by just dumping them in my suitcase each night. I'm a class act, I know. It's better than Flex!

Oh also handy: contact solution and a CLOCK!

It's always nice to make people welcome, and I agree that bedside lamps and nice clean sheets and a good pot of coffee are all pleasant gestures that kindly hosts will make.

But please, people: you are a GUEST. So you smile nice and you say please and thank you, and drink the decaffinated tea because that's what your hosts drink, and put in the earplugs when they get it on at 3 AM, and pack an extra sheaf of TP if you have to. Because it is their house, not yours, and they are nice enough to give you a place to sleep. And if you don't like it, you can spend 200.00 a night in a nice hotel.

Maybe this is a generation gap or having traveled to the 3rd world or a poor mid-20's thing but I strongly agree with William in the 22 and jrochest. If someone offers to put you up FOR FREE smile and roll with whatever they have to offer. Cultivate some gratitude! They have opened their home to you, however humble or grand.

Yes, it is important to be a welcoming, generous and thoughtful host, however you are able to do that. But no one should expect hotel treatment, or feel it is expected of them by their guests.

Wow, Jessica, you are sooooooo not invited to my house. Ever.

If these peeves are such an issue, bring your own frickin' towels and lamp. Or a miner's hat with a light on it.

I get the gist of the post, I do... having been a guest in less-then-perfect environs, one can become a better host by learning from what works, and what doesn't.

But you come across a little Veruca Salt with the set up on this one.

I can't believe some of the demands here. When we stay at my hubbies brothers (granted they're in their mid 20s and not exactly 'professional') there are NO spare towels, NO pillows, NO hair conditioner, and seldom a blanket (they have a spare blanket but it is usually so dirty they're embarassed to offer it). Dan sleeps on the leather couch in the living room, and I sleep on the leather loveseat perpendicular. At first it was a little weird to me, but you know what I realized? Bringing your own towels and haircare don't really matter if you have a roof over your head and time with friends.

My mom used to crack me up, bringing her own towels,soap & such when she would come to my house 20 miles away,for a day or two. I would always say they sell those things in this city too, but now I get it. People do have their little rituals, and having ones own washcloth & towel is probably very comforting. And I've wiped my hands on my jeans plenty of times, rather than use an "unknown" towel. Yuck!
About the reading light, bring your own. When you are away, you cant necessarily expect to have all the incidentals of home. Get over it!

The customer is always right. Guests aren't.

I think that this post would have been better received if it were posed as, "What do you like to provide for your guests." I don't really have very high demands -- I've stayed in some dingy hostels -- but I do like to make my guests as comfortable as possible.

Also with the flying regulations and baggage fees there are a lot more things that people probably aren't packing these days that they would like to have.

My request is a trashcan in the bathroom. I've been to more than one bachelor pad with no trashcan in the water closet which can make for some awkward situations.