9 Tips to Make Guest Rooms Comfier
We’re entering that time of year when it’s common for people to start traveling to visit family and friends for extended Memorial Day weekend trips or quick weekend getaways. As such, you should start anticipating overnight visitors and preparing your space to help guests feel welcome. Whether you’re renting your home for the summer or welcoming loved ones for a long stay, we’ve got guest room decorating tips, welcome gift ideas, and more!
Don’t Overlook the Basic Tenets of Hospitality
While your home isn’t a hotel, it’s still important to keep hospitality tenets in mind when trying to make your guest room feel cozier.
The nine tenets of hospitality say that remarkable service:
Is efficient – Making small yet impactful changes is how you achieve maximum comfortability for your guests.
Is welcoming – Obviously, hospitable service is welcoming, enticing guests to return for a future visit.
Is flexible – Comfort isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. It can mean different things to different people, and you have to be able to adapt.
Is consistent – Consistency is an important aspect in making your guest room cozy and sufficiently welcoming guests.
Is trustworthy – Visitors should trust that their comfort and well-being are your priorities.
Is timely – Timeliness doesn’t always mean being on time. In this case, being timely with hospitality means providing a level of comfort at a time when it’s vitally needed.
Is knowledgeable – You may not know everything required to welcome guests, but you continue to learn and gain the necessary knowledge.
Requires effective communication – Communicating with your guests, even if you’re already well-acquainted (or not), will give you valuable insight into their needs.
Exceeds expectations – You always want to strive to impress your visitors.
When you keep these tenets in mind, you can put your best foot forward and make your home a desirable place for friends and family to stay.
How to Make a Guest Room Cozy
1. Create the Ultimate Entertainment Hub
When you leave home, you expect a similar comfort level, which means all the streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc. at your fingertips. Many of these companies include bundles, so you get multiple streaming services at a lower price than purchasing them individually. Include information about the streaming services available to notify guests that you’re mindful of their entertainment needs.
2. Leave Personalized Notes
When’s the last time you sat down and took the time to write a letter or note to someone? Now is the time to brush up on your handwriting and pen a personalized note to your guests. This custom piece can be framed and sit in your guest room as a work of art for visitors. If you want to continuously personalize the note, it’ll be a lovely keepsake for short-term guests, reminding them that you genuinely care about their comfort and well-being.
3. Include a List of Nearby Attractions
Whether you’re renting out a room in your home to people you don’t know or have relatives staying with you, they’ll likely want to venture out by themselves. One thing you can do to help guests feel welcome (and get their bearings) is to leave a list of attractions. While this is a small welcome gift for your house guests, it lets them know you’re considering their personal time. This goes a long way in making a guest room cozy.
4. Consider Guests’ Sleep Experience
There are so many mattress products on the market today, but each one isn’t made for long-term use. If you’re well acquainted with your future guests, it’s worth asking them their mattress preferences to deliver the best sleeping experience possible. Let’s say your guests:
Get hot/cold in the middle of the night – You don’t have to spend thousands on a new high-tech mattress with temperature control. An adjustable mattress topper like ChiliSleep provides smart settings that allow guests to program a sleep schedule to keep guests from waking up too hot or cold.
Feel like they’re constantly freezing – Keeping a programmable heated blanket accessible for guests gives them temperature options in case your guest room is particularly chilly or you have guests visiting for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Have back problems and need a firmer mattress – Older relatives and visitors may love traveling but have difficulty sleeping because of chronic back pain. Saatva’s Solaire Adjustable Mattress has 50 firmness settings for both sides when you purchase a queen or larger. The best part is you can give it a trial run for 365 days (with a $99 processing fee) and get feedback from guests.
Considering how your guests sleep best is a simple gesture that will make someone feel more welcome in your home.
5. Scrutinize Thread Count, But Focus on Quality
Along with thinking about your guests’ mattress preferences, their coziest sleep experience in your guest room wouldn’t be complete without sufficient sheets. And according to the experts, a high sheet thread count doesn’t always mean better quality sheets. In fact, a high thread count just means the sheets are denser, which could reduce moisture absorption and air circulation and cause guests to sleep hot. Instead of thread count, focus on the material’s quality for durability and comfort.
6. Incorporate Calming Paint Colors
Have you ever noticed when you enter a room with specific colors, you have a visceral reaction? That’s because paint color can affect your mood. Dr. Mary Gregerson, president of the Society for Environment, Population, and Conservation Psychology, told Architecture Digest in 2016 that color affects you completely with your body and mind responding to outside stimuli everywhere.
Make your guest room feel more welcoming by incorporating calming and neutral colors to prevent psychological and physiological overstimulation.
7. Don’t Forget the Personal Hygiene Basics
How many times have you stayed in a hotel and hygiene products weren’t readily available and restocked after housekeeping cleaned? Very few, if any, right? When guests visit from out of town, chances are they already have their own shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and deodorant. Still, there’s always the possibility these essential products were left at home. Add a small basket in the room with various travel-size versions of personal hygiene items they can keep for trips in the future.
8. Clear Out the Clutter
Like paint color, clutter has a cumulative effect on our brains, creating visual distractions and overloading cognition. Organization and cleanliness throughout your home have been proven to lower stress by decreasing cortisol levels. Decluttering your guest room helps keep things minimal, not sparse, so guests can actually enjoy their time in your home.
9. Cleanliness is Key
It goes without saying, your guest room should be cleaned before your visitors arrive. However, have you maintained a standard cleaning schedule after they depart? Getting in the habit of keeping your guest room visitor-ready will free up your time, giving you less to do. After all, you should get excited about welcoming guests into your home, not dreading all the cleaning tasks that come with them.
Want to Welcome Guests Properly? Hire Merry Maids!
With the arrival of guests comes a laundry list of to-dos you have to complete. Our cleaning specialists understand that you can’t do it all, and you shouldn’t be expected to. Leave the cleaning and organizing to us! We’re here to support you and get your home and guest room ready to welcome guests for any duration.
Find your local Merry Maids and request a free estimate today!
