Posted by lorijean44 "-----Talk about hijacking a thread!! ;-) ----" Lori is absolutely correct. I admit (with a guilty smile) that I am the first one to highjack this thread. This is not very nice of me. I am apologizing to diinohio and to everyone. dcarch

If a sliding door is the only solution for your space, then I wouldn't hesitate to use it. The hotels I visited are using barn look doors in their bathrooms and they don't really work with the space (IMO). My post was directed at readers who are updating or building and are worried about their choices looking dated. I remember when mid level hotels started using Santa Cecilia granite in the bathrooms. That's when it started to fall out of favor with the trendy crowd.

I don’t give gift bags for my guests, although many times I’ll buy them something local that they’re admiring while they’re here. I always put a vase of fresh, seasonal flowers in our guest room, as well as a few magazines, and a recent dining-and-regional attractions guide for the area. I also keep a number of books on New Mexico and our local area for anyone interested, on the book case in there. On the nightstand, I keep a box of Kleenex, a small bottle of non-perfume-y hand cream, and small open container that holds a pen, pencil, small thin flashlight, emery board, etc. It’s a nice-sized nightstand, as I always myself appreciate a nice area next to the bed for my water, book, reading glasses, etc. Because we have very low humidity here in New Mexico, I also add a carafe of water and drinking glass or bottled water. In our guest bathroom I keep a nice-sized basket of things our guests might need during their stay with us: small bottles of Tylenol, Tums, etc. Band-Aids, sunscreen, (new, sealed) Chapsticks, small toothpastes and toothbrushes. Several shampoo, conditioner, and bar soap samples in case they don’t care for the shampoo and bottle of liquid soap that I keep in the shower, or haven’t brought their own. I always remind my guests before they come that I have a (very nice) hairdryer and an always-washed-and-ready, generic terry robe in the guest room closet, if needed. I’m happy and surprised how many of our guests save packing space in their suitcases, and use the robe and hairdryer. We travel frequently, and what I DON’T like in guest rooms, besides knick-knack clutter, is not having a nightstand on both sides of the bed for DH and myself. And, not having decent lamps on the nightstands to read by. Also, a full-length mirror in the guest room is great. I’ve hung one on the wall behind the door in my guest room. Not enough space and/or hangers for our clothes is another irritant although I’d never, as a guest, complain to our family or friends about it. So, that's what our guests get when they come for a visit, but no gift bag.

We just came back from a memorial pilgrimage for my Mom, to my family's ancestral home to visit her grave and see a completed memorial project there that we funded. It was for Dad, who is almost 89 and not doing too well. It was stressful, but mostly due to Dad having acute anxiety. The motel was annoying because of some maintenance issues, but those would have been a pain even without the pandemic. The mediocre maintenance made me wonder what else they were "just getting by" with. However, the room was small, we brought sanitizer and cleaned every hard surface ourselves so I felt relatively safe. I didn't interact with too much in the room, and we kept the windows open during the day. I wasn't too worried about washed sheets or linens. The carpet was sketchy but they usually are. The air conditioner didn't work very well and had no filter, so we passed on that. The screen was bent so let in mosquitoes at night so we had to close. That was the worst part and some of the maintenance issues I'm talking about. The whole trip was stressful, all the constant mask management and hand sanitizing. We went to a public beach and met some folks out for a stroll. We were talking and one guy said, "Everything just feels uncomfortable." But as for safety, I did not feel I was taking high risks. But then I read science-based recommendations and follow them. But also, we did not eat out, even in our favorite outdoor deli/ice cream parlor. We picnicked on our own at all of the lovely local parks, and there were no crowds, it was nice, regardless of pandemic. I know too many people who have gotten sick by eating out and also flying so not going to risk it. Those venue are too closed in and you share the air with too many variables/people you don't know. I did not have a problem in the stores with not a lot of customers crowded in, and masked employees and customers. But if you do travel, bring lots of your own water and beverages, maybe even your own coffee maker, and lots of cleaning supplies. They gave us our complimentary breakfast in a brown bag, and had chairs outside the rooms on a little patio for eating. We sanitized our own chairs just to be extra safe.