This post is for those who receive friends at home for, to cause a different impression, expressing how you value your guests.
To be a good host is an art only mastered by those who treasure and respect the guests as much as themselves. If we don't care about those we'll receive, we cannot be good hosts. If we don't offer the best for ourselves, the magic is also incomplete. This case the guests sometimes can feel good, but what's the value to do the best for them paying the price to dissatisfy ourselves?
This is a process. No one is born with this knowledge. And, as a process, we create the conditions to become good hosts. And we're free to receive at home only those who we appreciate and those, among these, who are able to respect us and the rules we create for our guests. In special when the guests will stay for one night or more.
Maybe you only host friends and family. Maybe you're open to host strangers through sites like "Couchsurfing". Anyway, these are tips useful for you:
1. Have clear standards and rules. If you have your meals at the same hours everyday, for example, the guest must know. If you have no routine, the same applies. Maybe you don't accept people smoking at home or accept guests with their pets. And so many other possibilities. If you stand for your limits, the acceptance of the place is the acceptance of your rules too. Not to tell these limits is disrespectful to your guest. These rules and standards can embrace anything: food, schedule, phone, computer, animals, meetings with other people, organisation, etc.
2. Preferably, have a guest room at home. Some people who don't have it offer their own room to the guests. I disagree with this option. I think some comfortable place - a second bed in your bedroom or a comfortable and large coach in the reception room - is a good option if the guest accept it too. I believe the guest value your company and friendship. Comfort is worthy and is a sign you value the guest too, but if comfort is a must, a good hotel can be a better choice. This is how I think even as a guest.
3. A good shower is necessary. It's respect to yourself and to the guest. Everyone deserve a good time taking a bath and a good shower or a hot tube are necessary. My grandma used to have the same shower since the house was built, circa 20 years before, when I was an adolescent, and it was impossible to take a good shower there, with the water spreading all over the bathroom except under the shower. Once, I had to change the shower in my apartment and the man who did the service told me each shower must be used during 5 years, then changed. I think it's a good base to consider yours.
4. If you offer the meals to your guests, offer quality and variety. True healthy food, but never linked to some diet. If you use some special diet, being a vegan, for example, there must have a deal about it before the guest to accept your place, or you can offer alternatives, if you live close to good restaurants, for example.
5. Offer help to your guest. The numbers to call a cab, to call dinner from some good local restaurant; the laundries and hot spots nearby; etc are very helpful. To teach how to arrive at some place through public transportation (and how to come back) is important too. The places to rent cars around can be very helpful if the guest have a driver's licence accepted in the country.
6. Have some time with the guest. If someone choose to stay at your home instead of going to a hotel, chances are the guest wants to be close to you. Be available. Of course you have your compromises, but have some free time to spend with your guest.
Nycka, the nomad
To be a good host is an art only mastered by those who treasure and respect the guests as much as themselves. If we don't care about those we'll receive, we cannot be good hosts. If we don't offer the best for ourselves, the magic is also incomplete. This case the guests sometimes can feel good, but what's the value to do the best for them paying the price to dissatisfy ourselves?
This is a process. No one is born with this knowledge. And, as a process, we create the conditions to become good hosts. And we're free to receive at home only those who we appreciate and those, among these, who are able to respect us and the rules we create for our guests. In special when the guests will stay for one night or more.
Maybe you only host friends and family. Maybe you're open to host strangers through sites like "Couchsurfing". Anyway, these are tips useful for you:
1. Have clear standards and rules. If you have your meals at the same hours everyday, for example, the guest must know. If you have no routine, the same applies. Maybe you don't accept people smoking at home or accept guests with their pets. And so many other possibilities. If you stand for your limits, the acceptance of the place is the acceptance of your rules too. Not to tell these limits is disrespectful to your guest. These rules and standards can embrace anything: food, schedule, phone, computer, animals, meetings with other people, organisation, etc.
2. Preferably, have a guest room at home. Some people who don't have it offer their own room to the guests. I disagree with this option. I think some comfortable place - a second bed in your bedroom or a comfortable and large coach in the reception room - is a good option if the guest accept it too. I believe the guest value your company and friendship. Comfort is worthy and is a sign you value the guest too, but if comfort is a must, a good hotel can be a better choice. This is how I think even as a guest.
3. A good shower is necessary. It's respect to yourself and to the guest. Everyone deserve a good time taking a bath and a good shower or a hot tube are necessary. My grandma used to have the same shower since the house was built, circa 20 years before, when I was an adolescent, and it was impossible to take a good shower there, with the water spreading all over the bathroom except under the shower. Once, I had to change the shower in my apartment and the man who did the service told me each shower must be used during 5 years, then changed. I think it's a good base to consider yours.
4. If you offer the meals to your guests, offer quality and variety. True healthy food, but never linked to some diet. If you use some special diet, being a vegan, for example, there must have a deal about it before the guest to accept your place, or you can offer alternatives, if you live close to good restaurants, for example.
5. Offer help to your guest. The numbers to call a cab, to call dinner from some good local restaurant; the laundries and hot spots nearby; etc are very helpful. To teach how to arrive at some place through public transportation (and how to come back) is important too. The places to rent cars around can be very helpful if the guest have a driver's licence accepted in the country.
6. Have some time with the guest. If someone choose to stay at your home instead of going to a hotel, chances are the guest wants to be close to you. Be available. Of course you have your compromises, but have some free time to spend with your guest.
Nycka, the nomad
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