Hospitality is a reflex. A visitor steps through the door, and most people feel they ought to offer something: a glass of water, a coffee from the machine, a bottle from the minibar. Guests write to ask whether they should offer the therapist a drink, and whether declining would be rude on either side. The answer is simple and a little different from a dinner party at home. A glass of water is always welcome, anything more is optional, and nothing at all is expected.
Water, always
A therapist who has crossed the city and climbed to your floor is often glad of water, particularly in summer or in an overheated room, and a session of two hours or more is physical work. Hotel rooms make this easy: most have bottled water on the desk or in the minibar, with a clean glass beside it. Setting a bottle on the nightstand before she arrives is the most useful courtesy of all, because it spares her having to ask. She will usually carry water of her own in the bag as well.
Should you offer the therapist a drink from the minibar?
You can, and the gesture is appreciated, but expect a polite no to anything alcoholic. The women on the rota work with a clear head, in the same way they hope a guest will receive a session with one. A soft drink or a sparkling water is sometimes accepted after a long booking, seldom before. Do not open a bottle in anticipation or pour her a glass of wine before asking; an unopened minibar item goes back on the shelf, whereas an opened one reaches your hotel bill regardless.
Your own glass
A guest who likes a drink before a session is welcome to have one. One is the operative word: a single glass relaxes, while several blunt the experience and sometimes make it harder to settle at all. Finish it before she arrives, or set it aside for later. The hour after a session is when the minibar truly comes into its own, and plenty of guests describe that quiet drink as the best part of the evening.
Coffee, tea and the machine in the room
Many hotel rooms now come with a capsule coffee machine or a kettle. Late in the evening few therapists want caffeine, but on a morning booking, before a late checkout perhaps, a coffee offered while she settles in is a pleasant touch. Let her say yes before making it. If you are unsure whether the machine is complimentary, the card beside it usually says, and the late check-out guide covers morning sessions in more detail.
Room service and food
Ordering food for a visitor is a kindness best kept for the overnight, where a meal fits naturally into eight hours, rather than a single session. On a shorter booking a tray arriving halfway through interrupts everything, and a meal eaten just before a session is uncomfortable for both people. If you are planning the overnight booking, mention in the thread whether you would like to eat together at some point, and she will say what suits her.
Other small hospitalities
The courtesies that count most in a hotel room are practical rather than lavish. A clear surface near the bed for her bag. The bathroom free if she wants to wash her hands on arrival. The heating turned up if the session uses oil. A hook or a chair for her coat. None of these needs announcing; she will notice and appreciate each of them. The front desk etiquette guide deals with the manners of the building, while this note concerns the manners of the room.
Couples and shared rooms
When two therapists come for a couple, set out two bottles rather than one and clear two surfaces for two bags. Pour your own drinks before the knock, so neither of you is standing at the minibar as the sessions begin. If one partner will be waiting in the room while the other is massaged, the waiting partner is the natural host: water offered, the door answered, the lights set. The guide for a hotel stay with a partner covers the other arrangements two people make.
Declining is never rude
A therapist who turns down a drink is not refusing your hospitality, and a guest who offers nothing is not being cold. The session is the purpose of the visit, and she arrives ready for it. If you have set out water and cleared a surface, you have already been an excellent host by any standard she knows.
The practical terms
Nothing from the minibar forms part of the price, and nothing about the booking is added to the hotel's account. One therapist is €180 per hour and two are €360 per hour, with eight overnight hours priced at €1,250. Payment is made in the room when she arrives, and confirmation of any booking comes on WhatsApp in roughly ten minutes.