lmatty's Profile

I have to say I've been quite lucky. When I host, I feel a LOT more comfortable than when I'm a guest. Not a lot bothers me as long as I don't have to give up my bedroom. I don't even mind people not cleaning up dishes or doing laundry, since I have my own way of doing these things and would rather do them myself. things like leaving the carpet in need of cleaning or rings on the coffee table would of course bother me though. But i've never had any horror stories from overnight guests.

Ordinarily, when my boyfriend and I let our friends know we'll be in town, we have several people will offer out of the blue to let us stay with them. I tend to feel a lot of pressure to spend a ton of time with the host, plus I like my privacy, so usually we opt to stay in a hotel anyway. But if we plan to spend a lot of time with one couple, we stay with them, as they stay with us when they come to DC.

We of course make the bed and clean the sheets and everything else. We don't buy any gifts (well, we usually buy something for kids, if the hosts have them) but we do pickup dinner at least one night out. I usually stay out of the bathrooms until everyone is finished with their morning routine, and I will only use the kitchen for water. While I could make something in the morning or plan dinner or breakfast, I don't like doing this. The reason is because some people are VERY picky about how their stuff is used and where it is used and how it is cleaned. I don't want to accidentally surprise people with breakfast and use a dedicated omelet pan for pancakes. Same with loading the dishwasher! I've been scolded for doing it "wrong" from a host before - lesson learned!

The wonderful thing about these visits is you end up becoming more like family than friends. One couple we regularly stay with first came to stay with us for the '09 inauguration. we had a ton of fun with them and now we travel regularly together and we are frequent house guests at their place.