HOUSE GUESTS : How to Make Your Visitors Feel at Ease

You can’t blame them--the cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and dear old friends from Wisconsin and Vermont--for wanting to thaw out, and you’re happy to see them. But where can you put a houseful of guests without having your home seem as stuffed as a holiday turkey?

First, ask yourself if it’s truly necessary for you to provide accommodations for your visitors. When relatives or friends say they’d be just as happy staying in a hotel or motel, they might mean it. Many people are uncomfortable as house guests. They like more control over their hours and privacy than being in someone else’s home allows. Take them at their word, and bless your good fortune.

Your guests will appreciate your scouting out suitable hotels for them ahead of time, however.

Business-oriented hotels provide some of the best rates this time of year. The Embassy Suites Hotel in Irvine, for example, normally charges $139 per night for its suites for non-corporate guests, but during the holidays the rate has been reduced to $79. The two-room suites can accommodate a family of six, providing parents and children with separate quarters, each with a television. Another bonus: free buffet breakfasts and late afternoon refreshments.

Are your guests planning to take in Disneyland while they’re here? If so, one of the package deals offered by many hotels in that vicinity might make sense. The Sheraton Anaheim Hotel, for instance, offers a package of two nights lodging, two breakfasts, and two adult admissions to Disneyland for $234. To put that figure in perspective, an average room at the Sheraton Anaheim (accommodating two adults and two children) runs $85 per night, and admission to Disneyland is $30 for adults.

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If your relatives and friends prefer being in the thick of things, however, they’ll probably want to stay with you, even if accommodations are somewhat improvised. Lacking extra bedrooms, here are some options:

* Rented roll-away beds. Rates vary more than you might suppose, so do some comparative shopping. Taylor Rental in Anaheim, for instance, charges $10 a day for a two-person, 48-inch bed, or $30 a week, while Haz Rental in Garden Grove charges $14 a day but only $22 a week. Ask about pickup and delivery charges--they vary, too.

* Sleeping bags. These are an especially good option for young relatives.

“Kids love bedding down together in sleeping bags in one big room,� says Ginny Richardson, who has been host to Scout troop-size gatherings at her home in Fountain Valley. “It’s like a slumber party. They love talking all night with their cousins.�

For that reason, she recommends separating children as far from the adults as possible--in a family or bonus room, for example. And she separates teen-agers from younger children when possible, as well.

“We’ve even put kids in the hallways at times.�

Sleeping bags are available for rent at such recreational equipment stores as REI, Adventure 16, Sports Chalet and Grant Boys. Again. Prices vary. Grant Boys, for instance, charges $20 for a four-day minimum, plus $5 for each additional day, while Sports Chalet rents for $8 a day and $2 each additional day. Most stores also require a refundable security deposit.

Ask your relatives if they have sleeping bags first, though, suggests Richardson. Many kids do, and they’re easy to pack.

* Inflatable air mattresses. These go a long way toward making guests’ pallets a bit softer and are also available for rent. Grant Boys, for example, charges $12 for a four-day minimum. These mattresses make sleeping on the floor comfortable enough even for adults, Richardson says.

“I’ve had as good a night’s sleep as I’ve had in my own bed, even when the mattress was on a hardwood floor,� she says.

If you expect guests again next year, you might want to purchase an air mattress instead of renting one. Sizes vary from single to king and prices from $4 to $80. You’ll probably want a mattress toward the upper end of that range, however.

* Futons. Lightweight, six-inch-thick foam futons aren’t as easy to store as collapsible air mattresses--they will only fold up into a third of their extended size--but they do make very comfortable sleeping platforms. Cost for a full-size foam futon at Nu Age in Fountain Valley runs $119.

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Whatever route you take, don’t forget you’ll need additional sheets, blankets, and pillows for your guests as well. Unfortunately, these can’t be rented. You’ll have to borrow from friends or add to your linen closet. Or invite friends like Richardson.

When Richardson and her husband are part of a houseful of guests, they are likely to arrive with complete bedding.

“We bring air mattresses, cotton blankets to go on top of them, sheets over that, and then warmer wool blankets--our own bedrolls essentially,� she says.

We should all be blessed with such house guests.