The Five Secrets Of Hospitality.
And here we are again at Sweet Blog, the sweetest blog online - The place to be for all fans of the 'Home concept.'
We hope you didn't miss us too much.
We at Sweet crib take great pride in being a platform that connects people.
Therefore, it only makes sense to review one of the most important issues related to the 'Home concept' that also deals with human connection -Hospitality.
Although there may be a tendency not to properly appreciate the concept of hospitality, we do not think so. On the contrary, in our eyes, it is essential beyond a physical meeting between friends.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "True hospitality consists of giving the best of yourself to your guests."
Aside from the accurate factual description of this quote, if diving a bit deeper, we will notice the principle of human connection, which we discussed above, occupies a central place.
When you host another person in your home with great kindness, you give them something tiny from 'You' that contributes to the human connection of all of us and, thus — contributes a little to making the world a better place.
Hosting folks in your home is a fun activity with many virtues.
Besides being an excellent tool for strengthening bonding between you and your loved ones, it will also grant you a sense of satisfaction and self-fulfillment.
In this article, we will tell you all about the five tips that will turn you into the perfect host. One that makes everyone wish to be invited to a brunch at their home.
So, if questions like how to be the perfect host interest you - You are in the right place.
As always, later in the article, there will be a refreshing infographic presentation and a video summarizing its content for you.
'The five secrets of hospitality.'
Shall we?
Table of Contents
1. Preparation.
Benjamin Franklin once said:
"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
Like most things in life, preparation is a critical key to success and is doubly true regarding hosting.
The first and most crucial part of your preliminary preparation should ensure the total fulfillment of the three hospitality principles. Or, as we at Sweet crib usually call them: "Cco."
Applying these principles will ensure your home's preliminary preparation prior to guests' arrival will be ideal:
'Clean and tidy' — Cleanliness and orderliness — During the day, before the guest's arrival, Ensure your home is as orderly and clean as possible. Besides the well-known importance of a clean and tidy house, it will help you greet your guests properly. Here, You can read practical tips to help you clean your home.
'Comfortable' — Comfort is one of the essential things in various aspects. Home comfort is just one of them.
Although 'Comfort' is a dynamic and subjective concept, each person has their own definition of it, and the same goes for the individual actions to achieve it. However, it can be roughly estimated there is a reasonably broad agreement regarding the 'comfort' concept being desirable.
Therefore, You must create a homely atmosphere that will be as comfortable as possible for you and your guests. You can find here great tips on how to do it.
'Odors' — Diana Ackerman once said, "Nothing is more memorable than a smell."
The importance of a good home fragrance cannot be overstated. It's the first thing that accompanies everyone entering your home from the first second, Even prior to seeing something. Check out this great article about it in our sweet blog.
Make sure you do everything necessary to make your home smell good prior to your guests' arrival (and in general). As we will see later, this is a significant part of becoming an elite host. And if you want to be the perfect host, you better handle it properly.
Do what is required to be ready
It also goes without saying that increased attention to small details is essential in each ‘Cco’ component.
2. Special Adjustments.
Have you ever asked yourself about the ‘Thing’ that provides the highest value to any service whatsoever?
Generally speaking, the answer is to grant uniqueness by enabling special adjustments. And the best way to do so is by getting to know your customers and their preferences.
Any beginner salesperson will tell you that providing good customer experiences tailored to the consumer’s individual needs and preferences will be the most effective for your business goal’s success.
Those personal adjustments made particularly for him Will make your customer feel special and even a little more confident that he is making the right decision by purchasing your product/services. It also contributes to the credibility of your brand.
The same applies to hospitality.
In order to be the perfect host, you must ensure your guests feel at home as much as possible and that their personal preferences/tastes are being prioritized.
Therefore - as part of your hospitality efforts - creating special adjustments within your home for their specific taste is highly recommended.
‘How do I you do it?’ You must be asking.
Well, If you are already well acquainted with your guests’ preferences, you have solved half the problem. Just create a hosting framework as close as possible to their taste.
It applies to a wide variety of things. Starting with flavors, through fragrances/music, and ending with A sense of comfort in the form of cozy furniture, etc.
The problems start when you are not adequately familiar with their personal preferences in advance — What exactly do they like to eat? What smells do they prefer, and what is the content of the conversations they will appreciate the most during their stay?
Suppose this is the case, and you are still interested in creating the perfect hospitality experience — you must do your homework and know the answers to all these questions prior to their arrival.
Every person is different. Discover the particular preferences of your guests
It's the only way you can create a personalized hosting experience. One that will make them appreciate your hospitality and, at the same time, teach you how to be the perfect host.
3. Providing Social Content.
As most of us know, hospitality is not limited to food alone; much more than that, its essence is creating an atmosphere of bonding among people while doing so within one of them's houses.
Therefore, It would be best to increase your guests' sociability/fellowship/bonding. And there is no better way to do so (while hosting) than refreshing social content:
Refreshing quiz, truth or dare, drawing games, "Who am I?" games, Catan, Monopoly, board games, trivia, and more. Lots more.
By the way, Social content is broader than just games. It can also be a good movie or a shared discussion circle concerning the group's particular interest.
Be creative.
We're pretty sure you can.
Enrich your hosting with quality social content
In order to be the perfect host, you must fill your hospitality framework with other topics besides food and drink. You will be surprised how happy it will make your guests. You can read more about it here.
4. Feelings.
The beloved Helen Keller once said:
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched."
Although our emotions' origin is not always clear to us, we can still roughly notice our current state of mind as a result of them. Are we good? Are we bad? Are we excited/anxious? and so on.
Let's be honest. We didn't exactly invent the wheel. The above three tips on becoming the perfect host are pretty well known. Most people already know they should take care of ideal preparation and make adjustments for their guests. These are pretty trivial things. But The tip in this paragraph, and the one that follows it, is our special input, so please pay close attention.
In order to be the perfect host, besides fulfilling his physical desires (food's taste, aromas, etc.), You must also provide your guest with emotional satisfaction.
You need to be familiar with his hidden/desirable deep emotions and how, as his host, you can evoke them while he stays at your house.
Suppose your guest is very fond of spiritual experiences, then incense aroma in the center of your living room with some calm shamanic music may very well blow his mind (in a good way).
Care for some more examples?
Gladly:
Let's say his favorite design style is Minimalism. Then, due to his space-loving approach, it would be wise of you to arrange the sitting area so that there is a lot of open space in front of his eyes. By doing so, you can instill in him a sense of contentment and calmness.
He will appreciate it in a way you can't even begin to imagine.
If you have advanced knowledge that your guest is an avid lover of classical music, it would be wise to play (dimly and quietly) some Mozart and Beethoven throughout your house.
This simple action can grant him a pleasant feeling of relaxation without him even understanding where it comes from.
Abracadabra Anyone?
Emotional satisfaction is just as important as physical satisfaction
The guiding principle is that making personal adjustments to your guests’ emotional wishes, and not just to their physical needs - Is the proper way to provide the perfect host for house guests.
It goes without saying that it's not an easy task - You must first do your homework and find out Everything there is to know about their hidden passions.
But once you figure it out, executing becomes relatively easy.
Due to the sensitivity of dealing with the feelings (of others), You must understand that the tip in this paragraph is quite delicate and requires a thorough understanding. Please give it a lot of thought before trying to implement it.
Accurately understanding other people's hidden passions is nothing less than an art.
Would you wish to become an artist?
5. Your ‘Special Thing.’
There is an old saying attributed to the magnificent Coco Chanel:
“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.”
Look, there are more than enough ordinary people/phenomena worldwide. And, yes, also ordinary hosts.
In order to be the perfect host, you must be different. We hinted at this briefly in paragraph four.
Try to bring your “special thing” to the hospitality experience.
Although we are quite aware it's a somewhat vague concept, we still believe that if most of you took a deep look into it for a moment, The essence of this mysterious concept would become quite understandable.
Each and every one of us has a specific personality stamp unique only to him. Your task is to create a reality in which after John or Melissa (you name them) walk out your door, they will stop for a second at the doorstep and wonder while mumbling with satisfaction:
“Wow, I don’t know exactly what it was, but I only have this thing here.”
Give them your personal and special touch
By the way, they probably won't even know what is this 'thing' they cherish so much.
As a paraphrase of the quote from Helen Keller at the beginning of the previous paragraph:
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched."
We will add the following:
"It can only be felt for a few vague and magical seconds."
In the end, everyone can prepare an excellent meal/make special adjustments for their guests/make fun board games — But if you want to be the perfect host, you have to serve a little of "yourself" and make sure that when the "customer" leaves your house, he stays with the unique taste you gave him. One he can't get anywhere else.
In conclusion, if you are interested in knowing How to be the perfect host for house guests, this article — 'The five secrets of hospitality' — will undoubtedly help you to some extent.
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