The New York Times recently stated that ‘Dinner parties with nightmare guests can make for delicious art’; however, at some point, at least one of us will be a guest at someone else’s house over the festive period, so why not understand how not to be a total nightmare and instead be the guest of dreams.

So to be sure you’re invited back for the New Year, Victorian Plumbing, the UK’s largest bathroom retailer and overall home experts, has got Brits covered with a simple guide to house guest etiquette this festive season. The guide includes a few widely undisclosed but popularly gossiped-about guest house rules that are bound to go down a treat, even with the mother-in-law.

Brenna Ryan, Interiors and Home Expert at Victorian Plumbing, said: “Hosting can be scary for anyone, especially at Christmas, so making the experience as smooth as possible is where the guests come in. There is no hosting without them, but a bad guest can ruin the night. Following these rules can make you the ideal guest and in turn add to the overall experience of the night to help aid in an ideal Christmas. Because at Victorian Plumbing, we’re more than just bathroom experts.”

Etiquette tips

Remember… This is not a hotel

Just because you’re a guest, it doesn’t mean you get to always use what you want, with over half of Brits admitting they take the posh shampoos and toiletries from hotels, don’t start to think the same applies to the host’s house this Christmas. Bring your own, or simply accept that they might not want you using the good stuff, and if they do let you, then leave it where you found it.

No one likes a last-minute fussy eater;

Yes, Sally, we’re talking about your vegan, lactose-free, gluten-free, cooked for two hours turkey alternative that you only decided you wanted on Christmas Eve. With over a third of Brits saying they would happily eat a vegan or vegetarian Christmas dinner, we’re in a time of trying new things, but piling on last-minute dietary requirements that you’ve never spoken about before is the worst for hosts. If alternatives are needed, be sure to let the host know in plenty of time, and if need be, maybe bringing your own is the safest option and if not, then keep it to January.

No unannounced additions

An average of 41 hours per festive season will be spent on “unexpected” challenges, such as failed cookers and hosting for last-minute guests. There’s nothing worse for a host than an unexpected arrival, and we’re not talking about a Christmas miracle baby, but your friend Phil. Always be sure to prewarn the host if any unexpected additions might be arriving with you, as the odd chair and a smaller portion of stuffing aren’t what anyone wants.

Keep the snooping to a minimum

As a generation raised on ‘Come Dine with Me’ it’s no surprise we like to snoop when visiting a friend’s home, and according to a recent survey, Londoners are the most likely to, with almost half confessing to a secret snoop around, compared to the national average of 34%. But try to avoid a riffle through the draws because if the host finds even a pair of socks out of place, their paranoia could last until Easter – and we all know if the host thinks you snoop, it may lead to being left off the guest list in future.

For the full list of tips, from Victorian Plumbing’s Interiors and Home Expert, please see the blog post here.

And if we’ve reached any first-time hosts who might be worried about being less than perfect themselves, there is still time to make your home as welcoming as it can be this Christmas. As the bathroom is wildly considered the room where you start and finish your day, making it perfect for guests is essential. (Even for the guests from hell.) Victorian Plumbing has a wide range of perfect accessories to add style and hostability (yes, it’s a word) to one of the most used rooms in the house. They also have the perfect storage for hiding the posh soap away.