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Our spare room doubles as the laundry room: door shut, dehumidifier running on washing days. It runs cold, and we’ve had guests sleep in it. A guest doesn’t need the room to look like a hotel. They need to get through one night without having to knock on your door to ask for anything: where to charge a phone, where the coat goes, why there’s a draught, whether there’s anything to warm the bed.
That is what this edit is for: five things that answer those questions, and together they came to under £50 when we chose them. Three of the things on this page are ours: the door seal, the hot water bottle and the heater that warms the room. Every card below shows Amazon’s live price.
How we chose
We started from a guest’s night in a cold room, not from how the room looks: each pick had to save them a question, and anything that only improved the photo was cut. The door seal and the hot water bottle are ours; the lamp, the hanger and the eye masks are researched picks, not first-hand reviews. Every pick was new and in stock when we published. How we research
The one to buy
A room kept shut all year usually has a gap under the door, and on a winter night that’s where the cold comes in.
We bought this for our own spare-room door. There’s noticeably less draught there now, and the door still clears the carpet.
Vellure self-adhesive door draught excluder strip, white
The silicone strip sticks along the bottom edge of the door, with no tools. Unlike everything else here, it keeps working after the guests go home, which matters in a room that stays cold all winter. More door fixes are in our draught excluder guide.
Vellure® Premium Door Draft Excluder Strip - Door Seal for Energy Saving - Quick and Easy Installation - Draught Excluder for Bottom of Door - Ideal for Keeping Out Cold
By the bed
Light, a charger and a warm bed: the three things a guest reaches for in the dark.
Light and a charger
Most spare rooms have one socket, and it’s behind the bed. This lamp has USB-A and USB-C ports in its base, so a guest’s phone charges where they can reach it, and the lowest of its three touch settings is dim enough to leave on while they find their bearings.
UPXNBOR touch bedside lamp with USB-A and USB-C
UPXNBOR Bedside Lamp, Touch Table Lamp for Bedroom, Living Room & Office | Desk Lamp with USB A+C Charging Ports, 3-Way Dimmable Touch Lamp, Warm Light, Linen Shade, 1.5 m Cable, E27 Incl., Wood Grain
A warm bed, for pennies
A spare bed is a cold bed. This is a proper 2-litre rubber bottle with its faux fur cover, and Ram say it is made to BS 1970:2012. Fill it from a kettle that has stood for a few minutes, never boiling, and never more than two-thirds full.
Ram Large Cosy 2L hot water bottle
Ram® Large Cosy 2L Litre Rubber Hot Water Bottle with Faux Fluffy Cover Pink
Dark and quiet
Spare rooms rarely have proper curtains, and other people’s houses make other people’s noises: the boiler, the fridge, an early riser. A mask and earplugs left on the pillow deal with both.
ILLUVA silk eye masks, 2 pack, with earplugs
Silk Eye Mask, 2 Pack Natural Silk Sleep Mask with Adjustable Strap and Ear Plugs, Eye Sleep Shade Cover, Blocks Light Sleeping Eye Mask for Women Men
For their things
If the wardrobe is full of winter coats, a guest ends up living out of a suitcase on the floor.
On the back of the door
Five hooks take a coat, a dressing gown, tomorrow’s shirt and a bag. It hooks over the door with no drilling, and pads keep it off the paint.
MIVITOOM over-door hanger, 5 hooks, white
MIVITOOM Over Door Hanger with 5 Hooks,Heavy Duty Hooks for Coat, Towel, Keys and Bag Storage (White), 11CM-WHITE-5HOOKS
Warming the room
Outside the £50, but the thing that makes the biggest difference in a cold spare room.
This is what heats our spare room. It’s a small 700W oil-free heater, and an hour of it costs about 18p at the price cap.
Dimplex Eco Chico Mini 700W oil-free heater
Put the heat on well before bedtime, not as your guest goes up: a room that has been shut for months takes a while to lose the chill. More options are in our oil-filled radiator guide.
Dimplex Eco Chico Mini Oil Free Portable Radiator Heater, 700W, White | Rapid, responsive compact spot heater, flat-to-wall freestanding base, dial temp wheel, easy setup
What it costs to run
At 26.32p a unit, the price cap from 1 October 2026.
18pan hour
700W oil-free heater, like our Dimplex
53pan hour
2kW fan heater, for comparison
The free part
Do these before you buy anything.
- Light the way to the bathroom. Leave the landing or hall lamp on its lowest setting, or plug in a night light if you have one. Someone in an unfamiliar home at 3am is feeling along a wall for a switch they can’t find.
- Empty one drawer and leave six hangers. Guests don’t need much space; they need to know which space is theirs.
- If the spare room is also the drying room, stop drying laundry in it a couple of days before. The damp takes longer to clear than the washing does.
- Put the towels, a toothbrush still in its packet and the Wi-Fi password on the end of the bed. It saves you a tour, and it tells your guest they were expected.
- Put a glass by the bed and tell them where the water is.
For the rest of the visit (food, timings, the day itself), see our calm guide to hosting Christmas, including its 60-minute countdown.
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