The hospitality industry is pivoting towards a newer era of newer hosting settings, the most trending of which is the system of homestays. Homestays essentially are people’s homes that are rented out in entirety or in portions to guests to come and stay in for a short period of time.

Since the homestays are made out in regular homes, they can be found in just about any place from a buzzing city to a calming mountain retreat as an alternative to traditional hotel stays. The idea of opting for homestays has been welcomed amongst consumers as a fresh and comparatively affordable alternative to occupying hotel rooms. 

Especially since the pandemic hit, people have been wary of visiting hotels with large occupancies. Homestays have  been offering a better alternative as there is much less crowd in the home stays since the capacity is limited.

It has also become a pick for those that are working from home. Having to be limited to the confines of your home for months can be frustrating which is why people are moving into homestays in different locations over longer periods of time as a remote place to work out of.

Homestays are also a great pick for hosts as it gives even common people the opportunity to host and earn out of their otherwise idle spaces. Setting up a homestay is simple and rewarding.

Here’s some things you need to keep in mind while curating the ideal homestay: 

PICK OUT THE RIGHT LOCATION

Picking the ideal location is the first step to creating a productive and amazing homestay. While you may wish to create it in your own home, the location makes a difference. For a homestay to gain any kind of traction, it actually needs to be in a place that has either a tourist crowd or at least a good footfall creating the possibility of garnering guests.

While holiday locations are primo spots for homestays, metro cities and surrounding areas can prove to be equally beneficial, especially around business and industrial hubs that draw out guests on a regular basis.

The location you offer has a lot to do with the revenue and the guest’s comfort as it needs to be in a space that is well facilitated yet comfortably situated even in noisy environments.  

PLAN A LAYOUT 

Depending on the occupancy you can shell out and the amount of space, is foremost essential to pin down a layout for your homestay. The layout needs to be planned startegically to develop such a plan wherein the rooms are close enough to facilities yet kept at a safe distance to maintain privacy.

In spaces where keeping rooms apart as much isn’t possible, there are other ways to create privacy through the interior design. The layout that you plan should include a sense of independent living. Since one is replicating the ambience of a home, it is essential to have certain areas built into the room to create a similar effect.

This would mean adding workspaces or additional seatings within a space so as to give a more comprehensive environment. Keeping the layout open and arid would be the safest bet to develop a comfortable experience. 

CHOOSE AN AESTHETIC 

Having an aesthetic basically means having a  central idea for what you wish to achieve out of a space. Picking out a certain aesthetic or theme can help plan an ideal environment with ease, while giving your homestay a central quality which is needed to set it apart.

Depending on the location you are in, your vision and what can be achieved in your given resources you can pick out amongst hundred of different aesthetics to go with the place. You could go bang on trend with a tropical or biophilic aesthetic, enter the story book charm with a cottage core aesthetic, keep it classy with a luxe aesthetic or even break out a vibrant theme for a change.

Nailing down the aesthetic simplifies a lot of design and material choices for the space. Ensure a certain amount of uniformity in the aesthetic around the space, yet personalize each space as you wish. 

PROVIDE PRIVACY 

Privacy is a key factor to ensuring a comfortable experience for the guests. In a homestay strategically planning to have rooms at a distance for privacy is not always possible. However, materials and interior design choices can help simplify the process.

For instance, you could consider soundproofing the rooms through wall paneling, or even restrict noise through the flooring choices such as wooden flooring and carpet tiles which absorb a lot of the sound.

Further, you could try to allocate rooms to the homestay that are farther from your personal living space or even slightly parted front the common areas so as to restrict the disturbance factors for the guests. 

DEVELOP A COMMON AREA 

The biggest factor of homestays over hotels has been the kind of comfortable and fresh environment that such settings have to offer. While making the rooms as comfortable as possible is number one priority, developing an equally good escape area is also essential.

A common area gives the opportunity to break free from the room, or even for guests to mingle as per their liking. A common area can be planned a bunch of different ways around a space. If you have a backyard or a front lawn, you could transform that into an outdoor common area by installing a patio ro seating arrangements with a fire pit.

In the indoor environment, you could opt to transform the lobby or common area into a retreat by adding couches, magazines, books or even an entertainment unit for the guests to use. 

CREATE A UNIQUE FEATURE 

Every homestay or rather every hospitality service needs a usp, a unique selling point that sets it apart from the rest of the market. In a homestay too, having such features is important.

There are a bunch of different ways to go about that. The basic point is to pin down something that would be appealing to the guests as something different, making them want to stay in your homestay.

You could try out a tech powered homestay layout, develop a themed aesthetic for a unique ambience, add features such as swimming pools, small backyard ponds, fountains, home libraries, a small gym room, or an activity area amongst other things that can be housed comfortably for a smaller scale setting yet eb worthy enough to draw out a clientele. 

MAKE THE ROOM FEEL LIKE HOME

While personalizing each room to make it feel like home to every guest is an impossible prospect, the idea to create a home-like feeling is to simply create a comfortable environment where one can feel at rest.

Interior design plays a key role in this. To begin with, try to pick a color scheme that is neutral so as to create a calming and soothing surrounding and avoid the risk of bold colors which may not appeal to all. Further, going for comfortable and exquisite furniture and textiles is important to give the guest a comfortable space to rest in.

The lighting in the rooms too, must be planned in a way that is both practical yet has an aesthetic charm to it making the room look appealing and ambient. It is also important to create an ample amount of storage so the guests have enough space to set out their belongings in comfortable reach as well as store their luggage. 

TRY OUT A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH 

Be it exuding the feeling of being at home, ro simply ensuring comfort and independence, taking a more comprehensive approach to design might be helpful to create the perfect homestay.

This would mean to try to include facilities within the room as far as possible. Be it attaching a washroom area, or simply adding a compact kitchenette, such features help the guest keep their privacy and comfort and make the most from their room itself.

Such features can especially appeal to the remote working crowd who move to such places for a change of environment yet may not necessarily want to compromise on their routine. 

To sum up, setting up a homestay is not a big challenge. In the era where people are leaning more towards enwer concepts and approaches, developing a homestay gives just about anyone the chance to gain a little extra revenue while the consumers get to experience a new hospitality setting. Follow the above tips to develop the ideal homestay with ease.