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In September, we are traveling to Turkey. Part of the trip is a family home stay. We will be staying with a local family who will feed and house us for the night. We want to thank the family with a gift.

What kind of gift and what approximate value would be considered acceptable in this circumstance?

Are there any specific expectations or taboos we should be aware of?

On our side, we would prefer it to be somewhat representative of where we live, the San Francisco Bay area, but that's not a given. We certainly want it to be tasteful and have some value to them after we leave.

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    Hi @forestplay. Welcome to Travel.SE and hope you have a good time here planning and research tips. The question is good, however, shopping recommendations are off-topic on Stack Exchange websites. Thus, I need to close down this question. I hope you don't mind.
    – Ankur Banerjee
    Commented Aug 2, 2011 at 15:07
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    Let's discuss this on chat. The blog post is generic, yes, but I think in general this is a) off-topic b) the answer will vary a lot according to what the OP can afford, the homestay family he's going to etc. There's no 'one right answer' for such a query. chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/1511433#1511433
    – Ankur Banerjee
    Commented Aug 2, 2011 at 16:29
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    The FAQ states: "If your motivation for asking the question is 'I would like to participate in a discussion about ______', then you should not be asking here." and "To prevent your question from being flagged and possibly removed, avoid asking subjective questions where • every answer is equally valid: 'What’s your favorite ______?'" This is a subjective/poll question with no "correct" answer, and as such, fails the requirements in the FAQ. It would be a very interesting chat topic, though.
    – Dori
    Commented Aug 3, 2011 at 5:38
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    This is a fairly common question in Central Asia - when in a homestay, finding out what to offer the hosts and what not to. I see both sides - but perhaps a more possible title would have been 'What traditional gifts are common to give a host family in Turkey' - eliciting more definitive answers.
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Aug 5, 2011 at 6:50
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    This isn't a question about shopping, it is a question about customs and culture. This would be helpful to other people and fredley's answer is a good one. I think this should be re-opened and if necessary reworded slightly to make it more 'acceptable'.
    – g .
    Commented Aug 5, 2011 at 9:23

2 Answers 2

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I've stayed in a lot of homestays around the world, and in my experience the best thing to give is something local (to you) and edible. Being a Brit, this usually results in local hand-made fudge. Usually people who provide homestays will receive a good many guests so trinkets are not so good - they just accumulate as clutter. Confectionary is a safe bet, but always check local dietary habits - don't take anything inappropriate (i.e. containing pork or pork extract) to a mostly Muslim country such as Turkey!

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  • My particular trip is 3 weeks and the one night home stay is in the middle of the trip. It will occur in Konya, Turkey. I do not know the family before the trip (their ages, children or not, etc).
    – forestplay
    Commented Aug 2, 2011 at 16:35
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I think the best way is to give every member of family something interesting depends on their age; toys for kids, electronic devices for young members and something local and edible for parents.

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    For a long stay that might be appropriate, although most of the time I don't know in advance who I'm staying with!
    – fredley
    Commented Aug 2, 2011 at 13:23
  • if you want to go particular, gift to kids will garner far more that just general food items
    – kmonsoor
    Commented Feb 18, 2013 at 11:02

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