Top Ten Tips - Being A Considerate House Guest
By Tip Diva | May 17, 2008
Categories: Activities, Adult, Animals, Bathroom, Bedroom, Behavior, Budget, Cheap, Chores, Cleaning, Clothes, Clothing, Drinking, Drinks, Eating, Etiquette, Family, Food, Free, Friends, Fun, Home, Household, Personality, Relationships, Savings, Shopping, Sleeping, Stores, Tips, Travel
When you’re traveling, a friend or family member may offer you a room for a night, a week or even longer. Even though you may be close to the person, you’re still a guest, and there are some things that every gracious person should know:
- Ask What You Should Bring - Before going to to your friend or family member’s house, ask if you should bring anything. Some people don’t have guest rooms and can only offer a couch, and may ask that you bring your own pillow, for instance.
- Do Not Bring Pets Without Asking - Just because you’re invited doesn’t mean that Fluffy or Fido are invited to. Ask the host if it’s okay if you bring your pet; if not, get a pet-sitter or board them while you’re away.
- Arrive And Leave When Planned - Don’t arrive early and don’t leave late - your host probably has a schedule and life outside of your visit, so it’s best not to disrupt them. It can be very stressful and imposing, otherwise.
- Bring A Gift For The Host - Show your appreciation by bringing the host food, wine or a gift for the house.
- Stay Organized And Clean - Don’t throw your clothes about, leave water on the floor after your shower or forget to throw away empty food packaging. Make sure you keep everything neat and clean up your messes.
- Ask - Your host may tell you to make yourself at home, but it’s still polite to ask before using things, eating food or doing anything outside the host’s routine.
- Pitch In - Help wash dishes, clean up, cook and pitch in for activities involving you. Also offer to pay for dinners, gas and other expenses - it’s likely you’re staying for free, anyway!
- Be Considerate Of Host’s Schedule - Just because you stay up until 1 a.m. doesn’t mean that the host has to stay up past 10 p.m. Be considerate of everyone’s schedule and do not step on any toes. Let your host know your schedule everyday so he or she knows when to expect you home. And don’t expect the host to entertain you 24/7, either.
- Restock What You’ve Used - Before you leave, make a stop at the grocery store to replenish food, drinks and other items you’ve used during your stay. It will save the host money and a trip to the store.
- Write A Thank-You Note - When you get home, compose a nice thank-you note to the host, telling him or her that you enjoyed your stay and thank them for their hospitality and generosity.
Other Tips To Check Out:
A couple more…
- Make your bed every day.
- Before leaving, ask if you should strip or remake the bed.
- Besdies a gift, bring some food, wine, beer, etc. that your host will enjoy.
- Remember that your host may not need to watch American Idol or DAys of Our Lives, so set up your Tivo or VCR to record your favorite programs before you leave home.
Jon - The DC Traveler’s last blog post: An Evening with Burt Bacharach
Great points, Jon - thank you!
There’s a reason you are the Tip Diva. I think this should be required reading for all houseguests. I especially like the bits about not expecting them to entertain you 24/7 and being considerate of their schedule. I think something else that belongs on this list is to refrain from commenting on or criticizing how your host lives their life or runs their home. Family tends to be the worst offenders in this regard.
Do you plan a post for the other side of the fence–how to be a good host?
Hello Tip Diva!
You must have missed my post on this same subject:
The Art of Being a Gracious Houseguest
I think you and your readers will find it compliments your 10 tips quite well!
Poet - I did miss it… thank you for linking it! It has a lot of great tips, definitely more thorough than mine.
I should share some of these with a few people I know - one I would add to the list is “don’t invite yourself over and don’t drop by unexpectedly” as that’s a problem I deal with nearly every day!
Chelle’s Last Blog Post: Love Homework
I had the same house guest one year for 10 days, the next year 7.We picked her up and drove her home 160 miles in total..alot of gas money , not one penny was offered, we were even asked to bring her daughter to meet someone another 40 miles..that was year 1. the second year we picked her up 80 miles,and had her here for 7 days,she expected to drink every day, she called it her drink fest,so besides buying all the food we had to buy the beer to, not a penny offered…I sent her a email after she left,since she told me everything she was gonna buy with the money she saved….my main comment to her was…that it was nice that she shared with me all the things she was gonna buy at my expense…so I told her all the things I cant buy due to my extra expense of having her here
oh i forgot…now she is mad at me and is no longer speaking to me, because I let her know how wrong she was….can you believe it..she is mad at me!!!!!…ps after the email was sent she claimed she was gonna send a gift with the money…but she wasnt going to anymore due to my rude email….lol
Just to let you know that your plugin gets the thumbs up from me.
Indian Humour’s Last Blog Post: 1
Thank you for these great tips. Some of these things are really new to me.
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Excellent info
Moses’s Last Blog Post: 1
This is an organised list of stuffs. Kudos on all your efforts.
God Bless
well.. it’s like I said!
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This is perfectly right. You need to be good educated when you are going to stay on a family member`s house. It happened for me to stay on this kind of houses while I was traveling but I always been good and well educated when I was staying on them. That’s an example everyone should follow.
Cooking a meal for your host is a nice gesture, but ordering a pizza and offering to chip in for your part is way easier.
One another tip, Do not expect your hosts to pick you up from the airport or train station. It is enough that they are providing a place for you to stay while you will be in their city. Do not ask them to do anything additional unless it is their original idea. Make your own arrangements for getting to and from their house by going online or making some phone calls.