Quoting OOmis “You write that your husband would not appreciate your inviting your friend and her husband to a shabbos meal. My husband would not appreciate it if I were to REFRAIN from inviting couples to our Shabbos table. So you see it really is a matter of one’s perspective. Hachnossas orchim is a very huge mitzvah D’Oraisa. I totally respect your position on this, but it is a derech that I find very limiting.”
By the way, We preform hachnosos Orchim almost EVERY shabbos! Mainly we have bucherim from the nearby yeshiva WHO DONT HAVE A PLACE TO EAT. The boys are polite, many have been coming back again and again. They say good shabbos, when they come and go and they thank me for the meal. That is the extent of conversation I have with the boys. Some even prefer to go through my husband “please tell your eishes chayil that everything was delicious”. I am perfectly fine with that. I dont delve into their family history, ask who their cousins are, discuss politics, or how the food tastes in yeshiva…because I dont speak to “strange” men. This is a gedder. The meals are extremly uplifting with geshmake zmiros and divrei torah.
(BTW, many pple invite their friends – couples – for a shabbos meal as a social gathering and then pat themselves on the back – hachnosos orchim).