6 Helpful Tips For Hosting Overnight Guests

This post may include affiliate links in which we earn a commission, as we are supported by our users. All opinions expressed are always our own and any commissions earned are of no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

While I loved hosting in South Carolina, since moving to Germany our hosting has looked a little different. We still have over friends, plan celebratory showers and have little dinner parties, but we now also host many more overnight guests, as most of our family and friends coming to visit from the States are not just coming for brunch. As Charlie’s parents started their trip back to the States this morning following a fun 11 day adventure with us, I wanted to share a few helpful tips for hosting overnight guests. So, whether you are hosting guests in the States or abroad, for one night or 12, here are 6 helpful tips I have found for hosting guests overnight. 

1. Plan With Your Guests In Mind

Growing up, I frequently heard the saying, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. While it might feel a little strong when it comes to planning for overnight guests, I think it is an important premise to start with, so our first helpful tip is planning with your guests in mind if they don’t already have an itinerary themselves. This planning will prevent your guests from getting bored, worrying about determining plans the day of or missing things that they really had wanted to see.

Now, planning an itinerary with your guests in mind does not mean you have to have every second planned out to cram in as much as possible. Instead, be sure to plan appropriate amounts of both activities and downtime, especially if your guests are staying for an extended period of time. If you are in a destination with lots to do, gather a list of activity options and discuss them with your guests before they arrive to assemble a loose itinerary of activities that they would be interested in participating in. I have found that generally 1 to 4 activities planned for a day is enough to provide interest without being overwhelming. From there, you can fill in with shopping, coffee breaks, walking through a park, or whatever else you might find relaxing.

Similarly, if they are traveling a distance to visit (especially if overseas), build a bit of flexibility into the first afternoon (or even the next morning) of the schedule to allow for traffic / travel delays and time to acclimate and relax in their new setting. 

This bit of strategic planning allows you (who as the host is familiar with your surroundings, how close things are, when places are open, what things cost, etc.) to help guide your guests’ experience to go as smoothly as possible. 

Wanderlog

On a slight side note, if you are looking for a great way to keep track of your itinerary (whether for a personal trip or the trip of your guests), I have loved using the free Wanderlog app and now use it for every vacation. Within Wanderlog, you can plan out a trip with various destinations, notes, restaurants, locations and much more, so it keeps all the information you might need in one place. You also can add in pricing information to budget your costs and/or any you might share with your guests throughout their stay!

2. Prep Your Guest Space

Before your guests arrive (and once you know your general itinerary), prep your guest space! Whether this space is a sofa, air mattress or full guest room, having clean sheets, towels and washcloths set out automatically helps your guests be able to step right into a space prepared for them. If you’re able, providing a fan (particularly if you are like us without AC), iron or steamer, drawer space, hangers, hooks or luggage rack are also nice touches that guests might appreciate. As neither our house in South Carolina nor our apartment in Germany has had much storage space, I typically have tried to provide hooks for hanging clothes, but certainly you can prepare whatever you feel would suit both your guests and space best. 

3. Create A Little Welcome Basket 

While prepping your guest space is perhaps more important, creating a little welcome basket of essentials can be wonderfully helpful for any overnight guest! This basket of essentials can make your guests feel instantly more at ease and welcomed within your home by allowing them to help themselves to anything they might have forgotten or need. In this basket you can include items you might find helpful such as: 

4. Think Through Meals

The fourth helpful tip when hosting overnight guests is to think through your meals. If you are hosting guests for an extended period of time, you may not be able to plan out all of your meals, but thinking through a few options can help you be prepared with what to cook, when to eat in or where to eat out. If you don’t know your guests well, it can also be important to find out if they have any allergies or intolerances and then keep food on hand that best suits their needs. 

5. Discuss Local Transportation 

Next, when hosting overnight guests, be sure to discuss local transportation. If your guests are driving to you, it can be helpful to discuss parking near your house or apartment before they arrive. On the other hand, if they are flying to you, do you need to pick them up or will they have a different method of transport to get to your home? Similarly, if you are in a city with abundant public transportation, it can be helpful to walk through the options and how each option works to give your guests confidence in navigating throughout the area themselves should they choose. If you are in Munich, the U-bahn and S-bahn are both fabulous options for getting around the city, but can be slightly overwhelming to understand at the beginning, so discussing or reading about how they work can be very helpful (I describe them in more detail HERE!). This transportation conversation is largely location and guest specific, but just remember that likely, you are the “expert” in the area so filling your guests in on any traffic habits, transportation options or weather advice can be a wonderful way to make their experience a more enjoyable one. 

6. Provide Easy Access

Lastly, but certainly not least, provide easy access through loaning a key or code if you feel comfortable doing so. While certainly not required, loaning a key or code to allow your guests to come and go as they please can provide them with a little additional comfort. That being said, this is not always necessary, particularly if you don’t have many keys available or aren’t particularly comfortable with that arrangement. 

On a slightly different note, if you are in Europe, it can be nice to set out a little change for your guests to take with them when out and about to provide easy access to public restrooms, since most restrooms require payment. Even if your guests exchanged for euros at an ATM, they likely were not given much, if any, change, so providing a few euros can prevent bathroom panic down the road. 

Final Thoughts 

While these 6 tips are not required for sharing your home with guests, they can be thoughtful ways to make them feel more comfortable during their visit and help both you and them enjoy their visit to the fullest. By being prepared with a general itinerary and having an idea of meals, you can help them to know what to expect and also what to look forward to throughout your trip! Likewise, prepping their space, providing a little essentials basket and giving them knowledge (and change!) to adventure around your home can help them feel settled in quickly. I recently have loved having people come stay with us, so have to ask, do you have any tips or helpful hints for overnight guests you’d like to share? Or did you find these helpful for your next hosting adventure? If so, let me know in the comment section below! 

Happy hosting!

Chloe

– pIN FOR LATER –