How to Create a Perfect Guest Room

When you open your home to guests, it’s important to be sure they feel comfortable in their guest room. In most cases, your guest room is a room that you don’t use yourself very often – why would you? So how do you know your guest room is really a comfortable place to stay?

These five things can make a guest room immeasurably more comfortable for your guests so they feel compelled to return time and time again.

How to Create a Perfect Guest Room

1. Extra Pillows and Blankets Everyone’s sleep preferences are different. Some people sleep without a pillow while others need two for their head and one more to hug. Providing a few extra pillows and blankets so guests can create their own sleep-style gets your guest room started off on the right foot. A bench with storage inside is a great place to keep these items year round – and can be a stylish addition to your guest room décor.
2. An Alarm Clock Many people don’t sleep with their phones in the same room as them. Living an “unplugged” lifestyle without technology in the bedroom can be amazing for sleep. However, it can make things tricky if there’s no clock in the guest room. Providing this will make your guest room much more convenient – and will help guests know if they might be at risk for missing breakfast.
3. Extra Toiletries Speaking from experience, no one ever seems to make it to a destination with all the toiletries they need. Providing backups of things like tooth paste, Q-tips, shampoo and conditioner can make everyone’s life a lot easier. These can be stored in a sleek cabinet that doubles as a storage unit.
4. A Great Mattress It can be tempting to skimp in the guest room and provide your guests with a mattress that has been handed down a few times. Since this room isn’t used often, it likely doesn’t get a large portion of your budget. However, a truly inviting guest room features a mattress that helps guests get plenty of rest. We typically recommend a firmer mattress for a guest room. Most guests who prefer a firm mattress have trouble sleeping on a softer mattress, although we rarely hear the reverse. As a bonus, well rested guests are much more pleasant to have in your home.
5. Side Tables While it may go without saying, no guest room is complete without a bedside table. This is a feature that’s overlooked more often than you’d think simply because as the owner of the house, you have no reason to sleep in that room and realize you have nowhere to rest your book at night. For extra bonus points, leave a few magazines or paperbacks in the guest room. They work to improve aesthetics and keep your guests from getting bored in their downtime.

Whenever you’re hosting guests, you want things to be as stress free as possible. Setting up an ideal guest room in advance takes the stress off everyone and helps make your visit a pleasant one. Of course, keep in mind if you make the room too comfortable your guests may never want to leave.

We’d love to hear: what are your best hosting tips?