YES, ABSOLUTELY. I share my home. Guests have their own room but it is a rather large apartment so I could “hide” if needed but I’ve found that greeting guests at check-in helps. I’ve had 2 travelers who had never used a gas stove and showing them how to use the appliance and reassuring them that it would not cause an explosion put them at ease!
I make an effort to greet for a few reasons:
1.) They may see me in the kitchen or hallway and it is important that they know it is my home and I’m not another guest in a different room.
2.) I give them a quick “tour”. Takes less than 5 minutes but showing where there is extra bathroom tissue, soap, more towels/linens if needed, where kitchen appliances are and encouraging them to use if they want to cook, etc. makes them feel welcome
3.) When guests meet you and can match a face & personality with a name and you show that you are approachable, they seem more willing to raise concerns or issues during their stay rather than leave a highly critical review for something that could’ve been resolved.
I’ve had a wide range of guests – some here exploring NYC by themselves and wanted to hang out, chat and grab a drink and others for business/family who wanted nothing to do with my aside from getting keys and a clean place to sleep. In any case, greeting the guest upon check-in (or at least early during someone’s stay) helps a guest feel comfortable raising any issues (before they show up in a scathing review). And on the other side of the coin, I think someone who would otherwise be a pretty careless guest is less likely to trash your place if they think “I met him/her, seems like a great person who cares….I will at least not be a horrible guest for this one”!!!