Making Holiday Guests Feel at Home
Whether you’re hosting a whole houseful of people for days on end this holiday or just one or two, you can ensure that everything runs smoothly with these mini-preparations for eating, sleeping, showering and entertaining!
Things We Forget
Make room for coat storage – unless you have a coat tree or other space for coats in your entry. Something to hold hats and gloves (and extras of each, just in case) will help avoid a mad scramble when people are coming and going.
It’s embarrassing to ask for, so make sure the bathroom that guests will be using has plenty of toilet paper and a plunger.
Keitha at Baja Texan suggests keeping in your guest room or on the blow-up mattress to discover, the way she did, that the space needed night lights, an alarm clock and a power strip. The last one is genius since people travel with multiple devices that need charging at a moment’s notice.
Readers Digest points out that if you’re not with your guests 24/7, leave a binder with maps of the area, delivery and
takeout menus, how to set the security alarm, or anything else someone might ask.
One of those questions will likely be, “what’s your Wi-Fi? Almost Makes Perfect has a printable Wi-Fi guest card to set out during your guests’ stay so you won’t have to answer more than once!
Snoozing and Showering
Elsie and Emma at A Beautiful Mess recommend a few simple tips for making holiday sleepover guests feel at home – whether in a separate guest room or on a blow-up mattress in the corner!
Have a tray or cart with fruit, packaged snacks and bottled water at the ready for between-meal munchies. Elsie and Emma also provide a homemade “pillow spray” of essential oils and distilled water to freshen sheets and cases.
Alice and Lois prepare a basket with new soaps, lotions, loofah sponges, spare toothbrushes and paste, plus fresh towels and washcloths in different colors so guests don’t get confused about whose is whose!
If there’s no guest bedroom or you have more than a few guests, placing an air mattress in front of a couch will create a makeshift headboard for late-night reading and texting. And if you have a folding screen for more privacy, that’s handy too!
Keeping Them Busy
Be prepared with a few suggestions for things to do. Even if you haven’t done them yourself. Trip Advisor has a list of local outdoor activities in Castle Rock, like the Zipline Tours right up the street on Plum Creek Parkway. With your choice of ziplining, the Epic Adventure Tower or Epic Sky Trek – the adventure possibilities are fun for the whole family.
Or direct them to Rock Park just north of Crystal Valley, or Hidden Mesa Open Space for an afternoon of hiking through nature. Plus, there’s always shopping at the boutiques in downtown Castle Rock or at The Outlets, just one exit from Plum Creek.
And you can always direct them to our weekend things-to-do blogs right here on LiveCrystalValley.com!
If You’re the Guest
Readers Digest offers 10 not-so-subtle hints about guest etiquette, from bringing a gift to asking about house rules and pitching in to help with clean up, when you’re the guest instead of the host!
Welcome to Crystal Valley
Guests are always welcome in Crystal Valley where the location of this master-planned community suits nature lovers, outdoor enthusiasts and anyone in search of a friendly neighborhood. D.R. Horton, Kauffman Homes and Richmond American Homes have models to tour with designs priced from the high $300s.
