First up, we don’t call them hosting gifts. It is a useful catch-all term here for the uninitiated, but ‘thank you present’ will suffice in most cases, whether you’re referring to a present for someone having you to stay for the weekend, for a dinner party, for a week’s holiday in their Provençal villa and so on.
Secondly, always take something. Always. It can be a jar of jam, or a box of eggs. It doesn’t have to be extravagant if it’s just dinner. Some people believe it’s rude to bring wine to a dinner party because the implication is the host’s wine won’t be any good. Frankly, I’m always delighted with wine because it’s probably better than mine. If you’re coming to my house, I’ll be over-the-moon with a cheap bottle of pinot noir and a box of Maltesers. Preferably cheap chocolate over anything posh. Doesn’t everybody prefer a bar of Cadbury’s? If you’re dead chic and it’s a smart dinner party, you send a bouquet of flowers the day before the party, so the host doesn’t have to rush about finding a vase when you arrive on the night, and they help the house look lovely. That takes a heroic level of organisation, though. I’d still be happy with the Maltesers.
If you’re going to stay with someone for the weekend, you can probably try a bit harder. Some people grumble about getting another smelly candle or a bottle of bath oil, but have you ever received one of those and felt disappointed? I haven’t. You’re jolly spoiled if you have. A book makes a more thoughtful present, but only if you’ve read it and you know it’s good, or suspect it to be something that your host will like rather than any old book plucked from the shelf of the nearest supermarket. Plus, one (or preferably two) bottles if you’re a drinker. If you and they have hordes of children, what about a game they might all like to play together? An outside game, ideally. That giant bubble wand?
Talking of games, if you’re going to stay in someone’s house abroad, I don’t reckon you can do much better than packing Ex Libris as a present, an excellent after-dinner literary game that people seem to have rarely come across. Once you’ve returned, unless you’ve fallen out or done something controversial like sleeping with their husband and you’re never going to see one another again, that’s the moment to send something more generous — a case of wine, say, or an album or collage of photos from the holiday if you’re an arts-and-crafts sort.
-
Why you absolutely need an electric mini Bentley Blower furnished with Russian reindeer leatherA collaboration between Hedley Studios and The King's shoemaker George Cleverly has produced something rather remarkable. Jeremy Taylor goes for a drive.
-
'It'll either calm the storm or conjure something that chills the market overnight': The property experts' views on what The Budget will meanWith the The Budget expected to bring some of the biggest changes to property taxation in generations, Annabel Dixon speaks to agents around Britain to gauge the latest thinking in the world of housing.
-
Jane Austen's greatest scoundrel: Being Mr Wickham, with Adrian LukisThe actor Adrian Lukis, who played the role of Mr Wickham in the iconic 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, joins the Country Life Podcast.
-
How a floating salad farm fuelled two record-breaking rowers across the Pacific OceanMiriam Payne and Jess Rowe grew cabbages and radishes on their small boat while rowing more than 8000 miles from Peru to Australia.
-
‘I 100% always knew that I was going to do something creative’: Petra Palumbo on her design house, love of Scotland and consuming passionsThe London ‘It Girl’ turned Scotland-based designer makes tiles with men’s torsos and Henry hoovers on them, has a pug called Raisin and is married to the 16th Lord Lovat Simon Fraser. She chats to Lotte Brundle.
-
The dogs of Country Life, with Agnes StampCountry Life's deputy features editor Agnes Stamp joins the Country Life Podcast to talk all things dogs.
-
Madonna, David Bowie, Elizabeth II and me — this is what it’s like to have your photograph taken by RankinThe world-renowned photographer has worked with everyone from acting royalty, to actual royalty. His next subject? Country Life’s wandering scribe, Lotte Brundle.
-
The Falconer's Tale: Tommy Durcan on how an ancient art lives on in 21st century IrelandTommy Durcan of Ireland's School of Falcony joins the Country Life podcast.
-
‘She was absolutely extraordinary. One of my favourite things, photographing her, was the power that came through the door’: Rankin on capturing Elizabeth II, embracing artificial intelligence and almost becoming an accountantThe world-renowned photographer tells Lotte Brundle about his most memorable meal, with Liam Gallagher, Patsy Kensit, Elvis Costello and the bass player in The Pogues — along with the rest of his consuming passions.
-
'People always think that, working on The Telegraph, I'll be told that things aren't right wing enough. But in 37 years, I've never, ever been told that’: The Telegraph’s cartoonist Matt on his consuming passionsThe Daily Telegraph cartoonist Matt — AKA Matthew Pritchett — talks to Lotte Brundle about his career as a cartoonist, his love of Snoopy and how he ‘stole’ his wife from Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen.
