To ask what would be in your perfect guestroom and how do I be a good host?

[GuestTiger]

PILs are visiting for a month (from overseas) to meet their first grandchild. They are staying with us. We're turning our bedroom into a guestroom for them. It's a small room but has an ensuite, king-size bed, a wardrobe and chest of drawers.

How do I make it comfortable and welcoming? I've bought some 300TC bedlinen. Should I buy new towels? Are white towels better? How many towels per person? Which products should I put in the ensuite?

Obviously I'll empty the wardrobe and chest of drawers and deep-clean everything.

There is a small table and a lamp but no space for a bedside table.

Any tips for making them feel at ease?

You definitely need a bedside table/ shelf for books, glasses etc. Would also put tumblers and tissues by bed. We always make sure there's a clock (projection ones are good) and put the WiFi code in the room when we have guests. 2 towels each and free sockets for phone charger etc.

It's your house not a 5* hotel. I'm sure pil can hoik themselves downstairs for a glass of water. For guests we Hoover, do clean bedding and a towel of whatever colour and thread count is clean. Note we not I.

I hope you're not planning on sleeping somewhere inappropriate surrounded by piles of clothes postpartum whilst running yourself into the ground being a 'perfect hostess'.

Have you met them before? How helpful do you expect them to be? How much help is dh going to be with regards to feeding and entertaining them whilst contributing to looking after a newborn?

I think you are a very generous DIL!

Some good suggestions above. I assume they will bring most personal items with them as they are coming for a month, but to summarise:

1 Basic toiletries as these are hard to bring on a plane plus a box of tissues
2 A clock radio alarm
3 A TV if possible
4 A hairdryer and mirror
5 Laundry basket and waste bin
6 If there is space, a chair so they don't have to sit on the bed if they want to watch TV. also useful for dumping stuff on
7 Tea making facilities - if you can
8 A couple of books and old magazines.

But remember you are not running an hotel. You PIL are coming to see you and your newborn and be of help to you, not to sit like lord and lady muck in their luxury suite. Don't make them too comfortable, they might never leave!!

You definitely need a bedside table/ shelf for books, glasses etc.

If there's no room, there's no room. You don't definitely need these. If you manage without them, so can they.

They're family, why do you feel the need to stand on parade?

If my sons and their wives felt the need to do this for me when I came to visit, I'd be mortified.

Or is it that 'hosting' is a kind of hobby for you, and you're into the whole sort of hosting thing?

I second PPs that say mirror, I couldn't live for a month without one! Preferably full-size too - they can be pretty cheap from Ikea.

Seriously, where are you and your new born sleeping?

Is this for real? Do you like this sort of thing? I'd tell them how the shower works as we have a dodgy shower and leave them to it.

You have the lovely new bedding on your own bed and access to your own ensuite you will have just had a baby stick them on a blow up bed aslong as bedding clean and access to towels they cant complain

My top tip is to get your DH to do everything you mention in your OP, because either you are PG or have a newborn baby.

It's his parents so he should be making the preparations for them. He also needs to do some batch cooking of meals and put them in the freezer.

We do the same for my folks and DP's OP and it sounds like you've done everything right. I add magazines, maps of the area (there's a cute one produced locally with all the shops on), water carafes with glasses and some sleep spray for their pillows. I give each guest a bath sheet and a hand towel. Oh and everyone who stays always asks me for a hairdryer so make sure they know where it is!

It's his parents so he should be making the preparations for them.

That's what I was thinking, unless he also thinks the OP is going way OTT and all this is unnecessary.

I missed the deep cleaning bit. WTF. Where the hell are you going to find time to deep clean wardrobes with a newborn?

This has to be a wind up. Or a reverse of some weird sort. Or you've lost your mind. If so, go back to the maternity hospital and find it. Seriously, this is just madness.

Decent quality bedding and bed linen. Bed linen freshly washed and ironed before going on bed, goes without saying.

An extra throw folded over foot of bed in case nights are chilly.

2 clean robes hanging on back of door.

Fresh flowers in the room, and a small selection of new magazines and perhaps some books.

A clock, and good bed side lamps.

2 new bath towels and hand towels each.

Some nice lotions and potions in the en.suite, but small sizes as I would expect guests to probably prefer their own brands.

Where are you going to sleep and why do you need to give up your bedroom? I'm all for helping guests feel at home, but if you have a newborn you're going to need to be comfortable, deal with cleaning up vast blood loss, leaking books, painful urination and bowel movements - the person who'll need the ensuite is you.

And what the hell do you plan to do with all your clothes? The last thing you'll want to do while exhausted and juggling a newborn is hunt around in the loft for clean pants because all your others are blood drenched.

The bedlinen thing..... When do you ask for it, so you can wash it? My mum stayed for two (long) weeks and after the first week I said "I'm doing the washing. Shall I do your duvet and sheets?" but what if they change them more/less frequently than you?! Eek embarrassing

Watch out for the leaking books.... :-)

Just make it comfortable and clean. Forget the flowers (have them downstairs), but provide the nice linen, bin, hangers, basic toiletries and towels. If they are staying for a month you will soon get cheesed off trying to keep up the hotel appearance and your in laws will probably wanna kick in anyway 😊

a clean comfortable bed and a window that opens.
wifi and/or tv so I could get away from under your feet.

The OP hasn't been back then?

Fuck would I be having my in laws for a month or give up my room for them (least not with a new baby) and I love my in laws.

""Any tips for making them feel at ease?""

Don't go with the five star hotel standards suggested and just go with clean. Make them feel at home and if your MIL (and FIL) want to pitch in, let them.

Your DH should know what his Parents would like, so have some foodstuffs in, if possible. That depends on where they're travelling from.

These aren't guests, they're family.

Any chance the newborn they are coming to meet is not the OPs? She just said thdy were coming to meet the newborn and staying with them.

Could be a sil/bil's baby they are meeting but staying with OP not to put the new parents out.

Dont give up your room for them, thats just plain ridiculous!
If youve just given birth then you need the room, not them.
If I stay with relatives I either sleep in the spare room if they have one, an airbed or just the sofa, They will be there to see you, if you want to give them 5 star service pay for a hotel!
My parents came over for a couple of days when dd was born and my mum stayed for another week, she was on an airbed in dd's room (she co-slept with me) thats all she needed, I was too exhausted to host tbh!

No sign of the OP.

I think the top tip of the day would be:

Tell them to check into a 5 star hotel. If they are that bloody selfish that they would kick a post-partum woman out of her own bedroom, then no way would I be having them to stay for a day, nevermind a month.