We only Air our spare room in our small home so providing things like flowers and wine isnât worth it! One of the first think I ask my guests when they arrive is they would like a hot drink and maybe a biscuit etc. If they have been driving a while or had a long day at work then a nice hot drink and a chat to your host is great isnât it⌠puts the guests more at ease.
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I found this article pretty helpful for guest communication which really is the foundation for making them happy: https://www.tripping.com/owners/guest-communication. Always be upfront.
stop trying to push hosty club. In all your past messages youâve mentioned it; you obviously have a stake in it. OK we get it - hosty club!
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Iâm the founder â just trying to collect honest feedback. Thanks!
Great little article and advice, thank you! I never thought to leave a small gift for guests, great idea! 
My advice on How to Maintain a Perfectly Clean Bathroom before hosting a guest:
CLEANING:
- Start: shake out the floor mats onto the bathroom floor (assuming floor isnât carpetâŚ)
- put mats on carpeted floor of bedroom and vacuum themâmake sure a portion of your vacuum is half on the floor mat/half on carpet to prevent sucking the mat up and jamming it.
- THEN wash them completely separate from any other items/linens
-Now back to the bathroom with the vac: vac the entire floor, use your vacâs tool add ons to get all the hard to reach areas/corners. - Before I clean the shower itself i vac (using the small suction tool) every hair I can find on shower floor/shower walls/toilet** (make sure to check any shampoo bottles etc. Then do your typical bathroom clean/scrub
- Put bathmats and everything else backâdo one final look for anything you might have missed (especially hair!). CLEANING DONE!
APPEARANCE - GO THE EXTRA MILE:
-
Always use a brand new roll of toilet paper (Buy good TP guys, i.e. Charmin, not some cheap value brand) and leave an extra one wherever your shelving is. â (If I saw a 1/4 roll sitting there I wouldnât be so sure the BR was cleaned well)
-
Buy a hair dryer, I once had a guest mention in her review she expected there be a Hair DryerâI bought a simple conaire and ever since Iâve had multiple thankful guests
-
Box of Kleenex - another guest (who also hosts) suggested this one
-
Provide as many Travel size extra amenities you can think of, neatly organized on a shelf (i.e. * I go to walgreens and buy every single mini travel amenity they have â
Anytime you stay at a Hotel, take home as many mini amenities (boxed soaps too) you can snag! âjust seeing you made the extra effort helps!) -
Light a candle(s) right before arrival (I have a simple 3 piece set that rests on back ledge of toilet, light 3 of the tiny candles you can buy in bags of ~50 at the store)
-
I always leave 2 sets of neatly folded towels per 1 guest (body towel (large), hand/face (medium) and washcloths (small) ).
- Plug the sink and shower stoppersâjust like some hotels instruct maids to do--leaves impression (at least subconsciously) the bathroom was âprofessionally cleanedâ by Cleaning Service.**
Thatâs my routine for every stay, so far Iâve earned 34/35 5-stars for Cleanliness (not having a hair dryer got me a 4 ha). I hope everyone gets at least one useful idea from my recommendations on How to Maintain a Perfectly Clean Bathroom!
-RT
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One other thing I do I forgot to mention, Take the time to fill out the âGuidebookâ Section on your host account. List everything you can think of: restaurants, grocery stores, sight seeing, closest fedex, hiking trails (i live in seattle, hiking is pretty popular here), bars, night clubs, parks, museums, tourist attractions, but most importantly, local attractions i.e. your favorite brunch spot. Things and places out of towners would never think of or find in some guide book or on google
I then printed out my guidebook, had it laminated, also included a section dedicated to the different âneighboorhoodsâ/sections of seattle and what sets them apart from each other, particually focusing on that areaâs vibe and age range you typically see at all the popular bars.
- go to https://www.walkscore.com/ --put your address in and it gives you a 1-100 rating of walkability, Transit score, Bike and Crime score (A-F) â if you have good scoresâmention and print that out too!
I leave it on their nightstand and quickly point it out and give a quick overview/flip through it after i show them to their room.
Iâve hosted for 6 months now and The Provided Guidebook and having a very comfortable bed are complimented and mentioned the most in all my reviews. That and guests happen to love my golden retriever 
Which is surprising b/c if anything I initially worried some guests might not be animal/dog lovers! - never had a single complaint yet (knocking on wood).
-RT
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Guest slippers (cheap at IKEA) are appreciated (I have terracotta tiled floors)
Pretty Glass bottle of water and a drinking glass in the room.
Spending a bit more on supplies (Marvis toothpaste/ Crabtree&Evelyn Shower gel, etc)
adds a touch of class and in the end maybe you spent $20 that will last for
a few months of guests
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I get the slippers, too! Especially as my guest area is in the basement with cold floor. Elizabeth, to you change them out with each guest? So far, I donât - I buy the black and red so they donât show the dirt - is this gross?
Also the bathrobes at Ikea are 100% cotton and super cheap - and so far, they are holding up well. Though that didnât stop a recent guest from coming upstairs to shower and walking around in a hip-length t-shirt and a THONG - even as my kids were sitting at the breakfast tableâŚshe had to go back downstairs to get her towel and I assumed she would then grab a rob since she realized sheâd be walking in front of kids, including a 10 year old boy ⌠nope!!
Its my sons who usually walk into the kitchen in their underpants!
Guests laugh it offâŚ
Yes, dark coloured slippers and a lightweight bathrobe are in the room.
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Good tip about bathrobes. We have lots of hangers & hooks, but it didnât occur to me that guests might not have their own bathrobes. And our bathroom is only semi-private, so bathrobes would be essential - not sure how our other guests have been managing it.
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Spam is not allowed here. If you are really a host, contribute within the guidelines of the site. If not please take your spam elsewhere. I have no problem flagging spam.
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NO POSSIBLE WAY!!! Candles??? I used to allow candles in my studio room, until one night I noticed a guest had left a candle unattended on the patio table outside. This same guest later lit one inside and the drip burned a hole in the tablecloth. After that, and hearing from a firefighter friend that unattended candles are the MAIN cause of house fires, (after kitchen fires), and I was sold. No more candles, no how, no way. Especially the tiny votives, which are a fire waiting to happen. Buy some of those battery operated tea lights. Same ambience without the the 911. 
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Maybe they meant to light them before arrival; in the sense of clearing out the energy of the room and creating a nice smell; I do the same thing for a few hours when flipping the roomâŚ
The candles are all out by the time the guests arrive, but the nice smell/feeling of warmth is there.
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all I do is have those mini candles (whatever you called them) secured in a tray, on backseat of toilet. And yes like someone mentioned earlier, I light them when they are 15 mins from my house, show them the bathroom in their room, and blow them out. so they are lit for 10-15 minutes.
I toss the three blown out lit ones and put new ones in there but for show not to be lit. If someone this 3-piece decor candle tray fell over, it would fall into a toilet bowl of water or tile floor and probably instantly go out.
but thanks for the advice, I had been letting guests use a big candle on their nightstand. didnât consider that. I wonât be doing that anymore. My house is actually officially âFire Safety Approvedâ Protecting me from being liable in the event of an accidental fire. Included w my guidebook, gives directions to where each fire extinguisher is on each floor is located, there is even a ladder in the guest room (in a box) you use to climb down a window in event of being trapped in a fire. All that printed on my âSaftey Cardâ which is also in my laminated guidebook I go over and show the guests.
They think itâs whatever, but it coverâs my A**, never know what could happen!
This is exactly what I was trying to say about what I do with the candles.
Rory, fire safety approved or not, you do not want a fire. And all it takes is for one clod to fall asleep with that big candle next their bed. You can get so many awesome flameless candles so inexpensively now. Including the tea lights. Itâs just not worth taking the risk of burning your house down. Itâs a fact, keep in mind, no matter how much you show them or talk to them, guests are never as careful at your place as you are. Some arenât really listening. They are just waiting for you to finish your talk so they can get on with their stay.
I guess I also donât understand what you mean that you are not âliableâ in case of a fire because you have an extinguisher and a safety card⌠Who certified you as such and did they do so seeing all the candles you have around?
As I said, I speak from experience and I did it myselfâŚallowed candles in my studio. Until I realized after a couple of incidents, that allowing guests to have candles would make me the worldâs biggest idiot if something happened. Why take the chance??? Not one single benefit to allow candles and all liability.
Also I did a ride along with a firefighter who told me thatâs the number one NUMBER ONE, cause of house firesâŚunattended candles!!!
I would remove them from the top of your toilet bowl too. Just because you blew them out doesnât mean the guest will not relight them. And you simply cannot count on the idea that they would fall into the tank and get extinguished. Whatâs the point of going through the trouble of blowing them out and replacing with un-lit? Thatâs also giving the message you donât trust guests to blow out the candles themselves, so why have them at all. Flameless tea lights solved all my problems. You still get the ambiance without the five alarm fire possibility.
Iâm like Stephanie, while Iâm cleaning, I lit a sugar cookie candle and then remove it before they check in.
Donât mean to sound like your mom and stepping off my soapbox now. 
Iâve thought about bathrobes⌠but then itâs just one more thing to wash! One more thing to handle, and everything that takes time costs money. Because time is money. I can see having them available though in places where you share a bath with the host.
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Good point. All grist for the mill. Almost went out yesterday to buy a couple, but was feeling a bit under the weather. My wife handles the laundry - I handle the food. She says bathrobes wouldnât be a big deal.
Yes, itâs a bit chilly in the basement, and they do (for a limited time, God willing) come upstairs to shower. However, honestly, Iâm a total nut for bathrobes, and just love them. They do take a bit of washing, and drying, as you say - I didnât think of that before buying them. Surprisingly few guests even touch them, though.