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Accommodating guests

 I have just spent a few days with my aunt and uncle on their farm in Limpopo Province in their most beautiful guest cottage. My aunt is a wonderful hostess and ensures that everyone who stays with them has absolutely everything they need to enjoy a perfect visit. 

A guest cottage on a farm
If you are fortunate to have a guest cottage, or are thinking of building one, there are a few things you can do to ensure maximum comfort. An en-suite bathroom is essential in a detached cottage, even if it is just a shower, basin and toilet: your guests should not have to wander around your property with a sponge-bag! 

When furnishing the room, think about how it may be used in summer and winter - is there a shady, cool spot to read and relax in summer and a sunny, sheltered space in winter? Your guests will enjoy being able to spend some time on their own to be able to wind down and relax. When my aunt first set up her guest cottage, she slept there for a night in each season to make sure that there was suitable bedding and other amenities such as heaters, and fly-screens on the windows for maximum ventilation in summer. The curtains should also be of good quality to exclude any outdoor lights at night and sunlight in the early morning in case your guest wants to sleep in when on holiday. In a guest cottage, you would usually have a dedicated bathroom, which is only used when you have visitors. A couple of days before they arrive, check to make sure the geyser is working and set to the correct temperature, and that the plumbing flushes and drains properly. Also be sure to provide a bedside lamp and some candles and matches in case of a power outage.

You may be able to dedicate a room in your house as a guest room if you don't have the space for a whole cottage. If you do not use this room very often, it is easy for it to become a dumping ground for random things, making it a huge mission to tidy up when someone is coming to stay. Try to set aside at least a couple of shelves and some hanging space in the cupboards for your guests, and keep a set of bedding and towels always at the ready in case you have an unexpected visitor. 

Your guest room may have to double up as a study or other room that is in use every day. You may want to furnish it with a sleeper-couch or a daybed, but try to get the best quality you can afford, for maximum sleeping comfort. Mine has a mattress that is a bit too thin, which makes for quite an uncomfortable night if it is pulled out to make a double-bed.

A mid-century sleeper couch that pulls out to be a double bed

Whether or not your guests are on a holiday or a working trip, they may need to check in with their emails and other business, so it is great if there can be a desk or table close to a plug point where they can work with privacy. If you can arrange for good WiFi this will be hugely appreciated, not just for the working guest, but for so many other things that we now do on our phones.

Just before your guests are due to arrive, do a quick scan around the room and a final check: do all the plugs work; is there a two-pin adapter; do all the lights work; is all the junk tidied away? Your visitor may be too embarrassed to tell you if something is not working. A spare hot water bottle and kettle are also great: put out some cups or mugs, some coffee and tea bags, sugar and a small box of UHT milk. My aunt has two final things to make her guests feel special: a small vase of flowers and a book or magazine on the bedside table.

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