I haven't been a guest, except at my parent's and in-law's place. However, I am often the hostess. When we lived in Chicago, our apartment was constantly getting over night guests. I miss that and can't wait to get back to have people over again.
I'm not too picky of a hostess. I just enjoy having people around. We used to have a great guest suite. The guest had a bedroom with a balcony and their own bath. The futon was very comfortable and there was a tv and N64 available. We also had an air mattress for when we had more than 2 people visiting.
Now, we'll just have an air mattress, but if the guest has trouble getting up from it or it's not the best fit, we'd give up our bed for them (with clean sheets and such).
I always make at least one meal while they are visiting and have food around for snacking so no one starves.
Always make sure to have extra toilet paper and paper towels. Some people use a lot more than others I've discovered.
I always put toiletries out for guests to use. I always hate getting in the shower and realizing I forgot my razor or didn't pack soap.
I used to try to plan out things to do, but it never worked out. Now, I just go with the flow. People usually know what they want to do when they visit. And if they don't, we just go out and pick a direction to walk.
It is nice for a guest to clean up after themselves, but I think (hope) that's common sense.
The biggest rule is to relax and have fun. It's a visit, not an invasion. Although when we had the huge meet-up and had 18 people or something in our apartment, it seemed like an invasion, but I was very impressed with how clean our place stayed and nothing broke. TFP house guests rock!
