Vacation at Home

Make Your Home Like a Hotel

crisp cotton linens, down comforters, scented soaps, breakfast in bed, snacks in the fridge, lots of pillows, plump couches, comfortable reading nooks, good light, great food, setting a lovely table 

I yearn for beauty. Beauty has such power over my emotions. Part of living on vacation at home is creating and living amidst beauty in our home. It pleases my eye and lifts my heart.

One of the special parts of vacation away is a lovely hotel room. I think it’s worth splurging and really treating yourself to the luxury of a fancy hotel. The lobby makes you feel a sense of grandeur with lots of places to just sit and relax, and the restaurant is open and inviting. (Think the Ahwahnee in Yosemite). When the porter opens the door to your room you feel a surge of surprise and delight. Why not create that atmosphere in your home? Here are some ideas . . .

First, create a sweet little nook in your home and keep everything you need close by, like you would in a hotel room; pen, paper, note cards, books, chocolate, a hot or cool drink, the TV remote, phone, lotion, clock, soft throw blanket, lots of pillows. One of the most crucial items is a carafe and a small creamer. Oh, you must have a good carafe that keeps coffee really hot! It is so luxurious to pour myself another cup of steaming coffee in the morning from my meditation nook.

Make sure that you are surrounded by books. I can see my favorites from my reading nook. It makes me happy to see all the books I have collected on Paris, mountain climbing, astrology and spiritual growth. I have collected most of my favorite novels in hard cover and I read them again and again. I love looking at their beautiful spines, grouped by my favorite authors; Edith Wharton, Henry James, Chaim Potok, Jane Austin, Michael Chabon, Wallace Stegner, Somerset Maugham, Fitzgerald. . .

Make sure you have a really comfortable place to read in your home with good light that’s easy to turn off. You wouldn’t believe all the places I’ve stayed where you have to get out of bed to turn the reading light off. Perhaps the most luxurious thing I do all day is read myself to sleep . . . just like I do on vacation in a good hotel.

Invest in heavy blinds or drapes so that you can keep your bedroom really dark. Isn’t it great to sleep in with absolutely no light or sound entering your sanctuary? Like a hotel!

Keep your fridge and pantry stocked with easy things to prepare, lots of fun nibbles and an assortment of cold drinks. Get fancy take-out on your way home from work for “room service” later with your movie.

Keep everything really white and clean; towels, bathroom rugs, the inside of the microwave.  Hire a housekeeper and keep it picked up in between. Take the time to vacuum the small rugs to keep them fluffy. Always make your bed.

Buy fresh flowers and put them in every room, even the bathroom. Flowers are inexpensive at Farmer’s Markets and Trader Joes, even Whole Foods now days. Buy a huge bunch of them and arrange them in colorful vases to match every room.

Make sure stuff works; the drains, sliding glass door screens, coffee maker, blow dryer – when you stay in a nice hotel you expect things to work beautifully, to glide; take the time to fix those little irritations at home.

Give yourself extra time in the morning to leave the house picked up and tidy just like when you come back from a long day of sight seeing to your fresh, beautifully made bed in a nice hotel with vacuumed carpets and clean towels.

Make sure you have a sumptuous bathrobe and put it on as soon as you get home from work. Every man, woman and child needs a soft, plush bathrobe. Throw away your tattered one and go out and get one right now! While you’re at it, pick up lots of comfortable, pretty loungewear. And replace your old pillows, too!

Invest in really good sheets; 100% cotton in the summer, preferably snow white, and thick flannel in the winter, (I favor LL Bean’s ticking stripe sheets). Make the bed every morning. Take the time to tuck in the sheets and pull them tight, maybe even slip a piece of chocolate under your sweetie’s pillow.

Take an afternoon nap in those clean, fresh sheets and settle in with the fancy take-out dinner you just have to pop in the microwave, arrange everything you need on your “room service” tray, put on your bathrobe for the evening and settle in with the cats and a movie.

I’d love to hear your ideas. What are your favorite parts about staying in a nice hotel? How do you make your home like a hotel?