More than 20 Clever Hotel Tips That Enhanced Our Travel Experience

Hotel Wi-Fi is not as secure as you might believe.

Connect to a hotel WIFI network at your own risk. These networks typically prioritize accessibility and often have minimal security. This means that anyone using them is at risk of malware, ransomware, cyber hacking, and identity theft. These threats are possible because once a user connects to hotel WIFI, their information is transmitted across the network in plain text, making it easy for anyone to intercept.

Moreover, there is no safeguard stopping a cybercriminal from directly accessing your laptop or mobile devices. If you are unable to use your mobile network, security specialists advise enabling your device’s firewall and using a VPN when connected to the hotel network.

It Is Okay To Bag The Items In Your Hotel Room

If you watched the TV show Friends, you might recall the episode, The One With Rachel’s Dream, where Ross and Chandler stayed at a hotel in Vermont and took everything from their room. We’re not exactly suggesting you take everything from the hotel room.

It’s perfectly fine to take insignificant items like shampoo, mouthwash, body lotion, or conditioner with you. Hotels expect guests to take these, and you won’t be questioned for it. However, do not take towels, as that’s not a courteous action!

No Light

If you’re someone who struggles to sleep with even the tiniest light on, you might have trouble catching your rest in places like New York, Hong Kong, and Miami. Not getting enough sleep could make you irritable and put you in a bad mood. You wouldn’t want that during your vacation.

Luckily, there’s a trick to block lights coming into your room through the windows. Remove a pants hanger from the closet and use the clips to keep the curtains closed. This tip can also be useful when you return home from a vacation.

Nicer Room

Tipping the front desk staff doesn’t always result in complimentary upgrades or a better room. Occasionally, they may not even accept your tip. So, what should you do if the hotel room you receive doesn’t meet your expectations?

Request to see other rooms at the hotel. It’s straightforward. Many hotels often try to fill their less desirable rooms first. Depending on when you arrive, you might be lucky enough to get a room that suits you at the same rate.

Improvise With The Shower Cap

Although a shower cap is quite handy, it is one of the least used items in a hotel room. Why is that? Mainly because many people are unaware of its value. You can apply several tips and tricks with just a shower cap. For instance, you can stop your dirty shoes from marking your clothes by putting the shoes inside the shower cap before packing them.

Even if you pack your clothes next to the shoes, they stay clean regardless. An unrelated use for the magic shower cap is for food storage. You can use the shower cap as plastic wrap to cover leftovers and store them for later consumption.

Plastic vs Germs

A hotel’s remote control is one of the last things you’d want to touch with your bare hands. Unlike bedsheets and pillowcases, the remote control is rarely cleaned by the housekeeping staff and is passed from guest to guest.

To avoid touching this “germ petri dish” directly, you can use either of two items. The first is the plastic ice bucket bag, provided by some hotels. The second is a shower cap, usually found in the bathroom. You can wrap either around the remote control to keep your hands free of germs.

No Key Card Needed?

In many new hotels, you must leave your room key card in the key card slot for the electricity to remain on in your room. This energy-saving feature helps hotels reduce power consumption and save costs. However, it can be inconvenient if you want to keep your devices charging or maintain a cool room continuously.

You don’t have to remain in the room. After all, you can’t leave your key card in the slot and step out unless you want to risk being robbed. But, interestingly, inserting any card of a similar size into the key card slot will keep the room powered. You might wonder how this works. It’s because the card is just pressing a switch at the bottom of the slot to maintain the electricity in your room.

Corner Rooms Rule

Are you familiar with the corner room concept? In office buildings, corner hotel rooms are typically larger, offering better views and more spacious bathrooms. This effectively makes the corner room an upgrade, often without an increase in cost.

When you check in, ask for a corner room. With luck, the hotel might accommodate your request. Nonetheless, some hotels are aware of the differences between standard rooms and corner rooms, including any drawbacks of the latter. As a result, they might charge you extra. However, we believe it’s worth trying.

Not A Single Drop

Have you ever experienced packing your toiletries in your bag, only to open it later and find that they’ve leaked all over your bag, clothes, books, and even shoes? That can totally ruin your day.

Luckily, there’s a simple trick to avoid this. Take a small plastic bag, remove the cap from your soap or shampoo bottle entirely, place the bag over the opening of your toiletry, and then screw the cap back on. This way, you can prevent leaks from your toiletries in the future.

Be Creative With The Doors

After a long and perhaps exciting day, you eventually settled comfortably on your hotel bed. However, just before turning in for the night, you opted for a cold drink. You glanced around but couldn’t find a bottle opener. What should you do now?

If you don’t want to go downstairs and ask the receptionist for a bottle opener, don’t worry. Your door closer can work just like a bottle opener. We’re not sure if the door closer will appreciate it, but if you’re too bored to use a lighter or the edge of a table, why not give it a try?

Towels Will Block It All

The summer and Christmas periods are among the busiest holiday times of the year. If you’re traveling during these times, it might be challenging to enjoy some solitude and peace in your hotel room.

To reduce noise, you can place a towel in the gap under the door. This will help make your room somewhat more soundproof and also significantly reduce the light coming in from the hallway.

Stop It From Closing

It’s convenient not to have to manually close your hotel room door since it shuts automatically due to its robustness. However, this can be challenging when bringing in a lot of luggage upon arrival. If you don’t have a door stopper and the door is close to a closet, keeping it open won’t be an issue.

Use a hanger from the closet to hold your room door open by hooking it on the latch or top lock. This will keep the door open while you take your time bringing in your luggage.

Staying For Longer, Saving Some Money

If you plan to stay for over a week, consider calling hotels ahead of time before making your reservation. Inform the hotel about the duration of your stay and inquire if any discounts on the room are available.

Hotels have demonstrated a willingness to offer discounts to guests planning extended stays, as retaining a current guest is generally more cost-effective than attracting a new one. You might need to contact several hotels to secure the best deal.

No Advice

It’s completely acceptable to ask the hotel owner or staff for advice on the best places for dining, shopping, and entertainment, particularly if you’re unfamiliar with the city. However, it’s always a good idea to do your own research as well.

Why? Because what they think is the best might not truly be the best. They may just be suggesting places where they receive commissions for bringing in new customers. Therefore, you can ask for their recommendations, but it’s important to verify them by conducting your own research.

Humidify

Is the air in your room feeling a bit dry? This is typically due to having the radiator or air conditioner running at full blast, unless it’s because of the weather. Most of the time, it’s the AC or radiator. And you probably don’t want to lower it.

Use a wrung-out wet towel to humidify your room. Place a luggage rack in front of the radiator or air conditioner and hang the towel over it. Ensure the towel is wrung out to prevent soaking your floor.

The Front Desk Is Your Friend

Most people only interact with the hotel front desk when they are checking in or out. This is because they are unaware of how valuable the front desk staff can be as a resource.

If you forget any of your daily essentials, you can contact the front desk and inquire. There’s a good chance they’ll have what you need. This could include a phone charger, a hair straightener, or a nail clipper. You can also request plates and dishware if you brought food, or extra pillows and blankets.

Hygiene Matters

One common mistake people often make when checking into their hotel rooms is putting their luggage directly on the bed. This is not a good idea and can make your stay at the hotel quite uncomfortable, even if you place it on the bed cover instead of the sheets.

Why not? Because if your luggage has bed bugs, they can easily transfer to your bed. Trust me, you don’t want to find out what it’s like to sleep on a bed infested with bed bugs.

Transfer Miles

It is always advised to book your flight using universal miles. This is because whenever you book with miles, the airline or travel agency offers you points in return. This benefits both you and the company significantly.

You can exchange and transfer those points to book a hotel at a reduced price or for free. Transferring reward points for hotel bookings is more convenient with airlines or travel agencies that offer both flight and hotel reservations.

Breakfast Butter Advice

When you reserve a hotel room, breakfast is typically included. However, the butter served with breakfast is often too hard to spread easily. While some people prefer it that way, others like it to be more spreadable.

How do you achieve that smooth butter spread you’re entitled to? Soften the butter by putting it on top of the toaster while you’re toasting your bread. This will melt the butter just enough to make it easy to spread.

Remember To Tip

There is a saying, “money makes the world go round.” This is usually entirely accurate, and hotels are no exception. As suggested by Ovolo Hotels, when checking in, include a $15 or $20 tip with your card and inquire if there are any room upgrades available.

Observe the results afterward. Even giving a small tip to the front desk personnel or bellboy might lead to receiving the hotel’s top services and gaining access to facilities that you might not have been able to use otherwise.

Keep The Hotel Staff Informed

Informing the hotel about any special occasion you might be celebrating during your stay could result in something special from them. It could be any celebration, such as a birthday, honeymoon, anniversary, or christening.

Just inform the hotel ahead of time, and they may surprise you with chocolates or champagne in your room or possibly offer a complimentary upgrade. Therefore, if you’re celebrating a special occasion during your hotel stay, remember to use this strategy to treat yourself to something special.

It’s OK To Complain A Bit (But Only A Bit)

If you believe the hotel’s services are not at their highest standard, you can file a complaint with the hotel manager. This could be because the room wasn’t cleaned properly, your bed wasn’t made, or there was no hot water in your room.

If you were dissatisfied with the services, speak to the manager and present your complaint in a polite and respectful manner—provide constructive feedback. Some hotels may offer compensation such as a discount or an upgrade. By voicing your complaint, you would also be assisting the hotel in enhancing its service quality.

A Simple Tip For Avoiding Bed Bugs

It’s impossible to be too cautious about hotel rooms. Since it’s not your home, you have no way of knowing what sort of insects or pests might be present. A general guideline for hotel rooms, particularly budget ones, is to avoid the beddings.

Bring your own bedding and set aside the hotel’s bedspread. If that’s not possible, look up online reviews of the hotel to see comments about the room conditions. Use the reviews to determine whether to proceed with your booking at the hotel or to look for a different one.

Fix Your Foggy Mirror

It’s frustrating when you’re attempting to use the mirror, and it continuously fogs up. This might happen when you’re trying to shave, style your hair, or put on makeup. A fast method to clear the fog from your mirror is to spread some shaving cream on it or rub a bar of soap over it, and then wipe it off with a dry cloth.

This method will prevent the mirror from fogging up again for several weeks. If you own a hairdryer, it can also quickly defog the mirror. Use it on a low heat setting and direct it at the mirror for optimal results.

Keep Your “Do Not Disturb” Sign On The Door

The “Do Not Disturb” sign can be used for purposes beyond the most apparent. By leaving the sign on your door, people might think you’re in the room, even if you’re not. Also, things might not be as clear-cut as you assume.

That can stop people from invading your privacy, keep the housekeeper out, and discourage thieves from attempting to break into your room to steal your belongings. Typically, the “Do Not Disturb” sign would help ensure your personal space remains yours and maintain tranquility.

Be On A Lookout For Better Hotel Deals

When planning a hotel stay, it’s important to explore all your options. By putting in the effort to search, you might discover hotel offers that far surpass the initial one that grabbed your attention. Numerous hotel deals and booking websites are available online. Utilize these resources to obtain complimentary benefits or secure hotel rooms at reduced rates or even for free.

Even after reserving a hotel, you can continue looking for options. Hotels are typically willing to provide a refund as long as you haven’t checked in yet. Therefore, if you discover a better offer, you can request a refund. If not, you can stick with the reservation you made. In any case, you won’t be at a loss.

Cooking In Your Hotel Room

If you’re traveling with a limited budget, you’ll be searching for methods to reduce your food expenses. Luckily, items like ramen or instant noodles, bread, and eggs are not too expensive. However, the challenge lies in how to cook them. There are two convenient tools you can use for cooking: a coffee pot and an iron.

You can cook your ramen using the coffee pot. Just boil water in the coffee pot and add your ramen. The iron is useful for cooking eggs and heating your English muffins. Cover the hot iron with a piece of tin foil and place your eggs on top.

Are There Bonuses?

Hotel credit cards can provide access to upgrades and benefits typically reserved for high-status guests. Upon request, hotels issue these cards and may offer incentives when you use them for your purchases.

You can enjoy generous welcome bonuses, automatic elite status, and VIP benefits, such as free room upgrades and extended checkout times. Travel expert Matt Kepnes, who has been exploring the world since 2006, believes that hotel credit cards are beneficial. Therefore, consider trying them out to lower your expenses on hotel accommodations and services.

Take Care Of Your Valuables

When staying in a hotel, you should not leave your valuables, like mobile devices, a computer, wallet, or keys, in your room when you leave. There have been many instances where people left these items behind and came back to find their valuables gone.

Being in such a situation can be disheartening. It’s important to do your best to avoid it. Therefore, whenever you leave your room, take your valuables with you and ensure your luggage is secured, preferably with padlocks.

Notifications For Discounts

Browsing through numerous hotel booking websites to stay updated on price trends can be quite a hassle. Technology has made such repetitive tasks unnecessary. You don’t need to do all that just to keep track of prices.

Simply register for updates on the booking website or enable notifications on the mobile app. This will ensure you receive push notifications or emails whenever there is a change in room prices, whether a decrease or increase. The site will also inform you about various discounts and special offers.

Divide One Bed Into Two

Sharing a bed can be troublesome when staying in a hotel with your family. Children often dislike sharing their bed and may argue with their siblings over who gets more space. Additionally, if your partner moves around a lot in their sleep, it might keep you from getting a good night’s rest.

You can resolve this by splitting the bed evenly on your own. Take a few pillows and use them to create a barrier. If there aren’t enough pillows in the room, you can call the front desk and ask for additional ones.

Anti-Wrinkle Method

Is your shirt or dress in need of ironing? If you didn’t bring an iron, you can simply visit the front desk to borrow one. However, if you’re short on time to iron your clothes, an easy solution is to steam your wrinkled shirt or dress in the shower.

Before taking a shower, hang the clothing item near the shower, turn up the water temperature, and let the steam accumulate. Leave it for a few minutes, and the wrinkles will naturally smooth out. You can also achieve the same effect with a hairdryer by running it up and down the clothing item. Alternatively, you can use a steamer. Call downstairs to request the steamer.

Charge Your Phone With The TV Set

Some places you travel to have sockets that are completely different from those you use at home. If you didn’t bring an adapter for your phone charger, you might run out of battery quickly, leaving you disconnected from the internet.

Luckily, many modern televisions come with USB ports located on the side or back, which can be used to charge your phone. Simply connect your phone using your charger cable. This can help save you from purchasing an adapter.

Be Environmentally Friendly

Experts suggest taking a water bottle with you when traveling internationally. In some countries, water can be more expensive than it is at home. By doing this, you can easily avoid such costs.

Bring your water bottle and refill it from a water cooler when it runs out. Additionally, having a water bottle with you helps lower your carbon footprint and keeps you from polluting the environment as you won’t need to purchase plastic bottled water packs.

The Perfect Time To Pack

It’s irritating to realize you’ve forgotten essential items at home after starting to unpack in your hotel room. A general guideline for travel is to pack the evening before. Create a list of necessary items and check them off while packing.

If you decide to pack on the day you’re traveling, it’s highly likely you’ll forget a couple of things. In contrast, packing the night before your trip allows you to remain organized, calm, and punctual for your flight, bus, or train.

Laundry Trick

Having your clothes washed by the hotel’s housekeeping service can be rather pricey and may strain your budget. If you’re running low on clean clothes and urgently need some, you can wash them in your bathroom sink or tub. It’s not the most convenient solution, but it’s certainly better than having no clean clothes at all.

Block the drain with coins and plastic, fill the sink or bathtub with warm water and soap, and hand wash the clothes. This may be inconvenient for you, but it saves you money and helps maintain your budget.

Look for Business Hotels

As you may already be aware, hotels come in various types, each offering services tailored to their specific clientele. For instance, a business hotel typically includes free WIFI in its pricing packages because its guests are mainly business travelers.

A standard hotel may not offer these deals since it mainly caters to guests who are just passing through. No matter what kind of guest you are, travel experts suggest booking at a business hotel, where you could find offers not typically available at a regular hotel.

Avoid Extra Fees When Paying By Card

When traveling, it’s important to remember this tip: always pay in the local currency. The reason is that if you pay in a foreign currency, the service provider may add a certain percentage to your bill, which will increase the total amount you owe.

Additionally, your bank may impose a conversion fee of 1-5% for converting the money into the local currency. Overall, you could end up paying twice as much as you would if you were billed in the local currency. This applies to booking flights and hotels, as well as dining at a restaurant.

Feedback Matters

If you’ve had a poor experience while staying at a hotel, it’s beneficial to speak with the hotel manager. As reported by Wise Bread, a traveler once emailed the hotel manager to discuss her initial visit to the hotel.

Since that time, she has consistently been upgraded to the king suite whenever she stays there. Informing the manager about your experience might provide benefits and upgrades in the future. However, don’t rely on this tactic too much, as nobody appreciates a ‘Karen attitude’ involving loud complaints and making you seem entitled. Remain as polite as you can.

Look for Price Guarantees on Booking Sites

Many travelers often ignore the best price guarantee offers due to various loopholes. However, learning how these guarantees operate can lead to savings of up to 50% on your reservations. Therefore, you’re likely to conduct some research before purchasing your tickets.

Typically, you should reserve a room through a hotel booking website. After that, find another booking site offering the same benefits at a cheaper rate, and submit your claim to the first booking site. They will review and confirm your claim, awarding you the difference as a discount.

Offer To Give The Hotel A Good Review

Letting the hotel know you plan to leave a review after your stay could encourage them to provide excellent service. When you check in, inquire at the front desk if the hotel is listed on TripAdvisor and express your interest in sharing your experience.

This could potentially motivate the hotel staff to provide you with an upgrade or other perks you’ll really enjoy. However, make sure they don’t perceive it as a scheme to obtain a discount, as that shouldn’t be the case.

Binge-Watch Your Favorite Shows On The Hotel TV

Are you missing your favorite TV shows and want to watch them on a larger screen? Connect any of your devices to the hotel TV and start streaming. Just make sure the hotel TV has an HDMI port and that your room has WIFI access.

Sign in to your Netflix account on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, and link it to the TV using your HDMI cable. This way, you can begin binge-watching your favorite shows on a larger screen. If you don’t have an HDMI cable, you can request one from the front desk. They likely have a few available.

Book Everything In Advance

Many individuals often go directly to the hotel and check in without making any prior reservations. This is a mistake as they miss out on discounts and benefits. It is advisable to book a hotel along with your ticket when traveling.

Booking sites often provide excellent deals when you book through them, which you might not receive by booking directly at the front desk. As advised by Ovolo Hotels, it’s more advantageous to make reservations directly through the hotel’s website or by contacting the hotel directly. This approach can sometimes lead to better offers or benefits compared to booking via a third party.

Put the Pressing Iron to Use

If you intend to take our suggestion of preparing your own meals instead of using the hotel’s room service, you might find that several appliances in your hotel room can serve as a cooker. You just need a little imagination to come up with a creative solution, which can also help you save some money.

One of the small tricks involves using an iron. Put a piece of aluminum foil on it and use it to make toast and heat up your food. It’s fast, efficient, and, let’s be honest, pretty funny. Just be cautious, as it’s an electronic device, after all…

Ask for Dishware

Are you planning to eat snacks or takeout while staying at the hotel to save money, but are also unsure about how you’ll use dishware for those snacks?

You can contact the front desk and request cutlery and dishes. They will gather everything you may require from the hotel restaurant and promptly bring it to your room. It’s much more convenient than eating your pasta from a plastic container.

Make Use of Virtual Private Network

When searching for affordable flights or hotel deals, the top suggestion is to use a virtual private network (VPN). It’s straightforward enough even for those who aren’t tech-savvy; you don’t need to be as skilled as Neo from the Matrix to accomplish this.

Websites use cookies to monitor the activities of internet users. If they see that you frequently search for hotels, they might raise their prices. However, by using a VPN, you can conceal your identity, stopping websites from tracking your actions.

The Closer to The Airport, The Better

If you have an early flight, reserving a hotel near the airport can be incredibly helpful. Although it can be expensive, sometimes it is the only viable option unless you want to spend hours sleeping on the floor at the airport.

Being near the airport could let you have more sleep and give you plenty of time to pack your bags without hurrying. Additionally, airport-area hotels can sometimes be more affordable, potentially saving you transport costs.

Don’t Be Reckless

Using the “Do Not Disturb” sign alone is insufficient. It’s important to also lock your hotel room door. Although the sign may discourage entry into your room, it might not prevent cleaning staff from attempting to enter, particularly during designated cleaning times.

Locking the room from the inside would prevent any attempts to enter. If the door has an actual keyhole instead of the card readers commonly used now, the simplest solution is to leave the key in the keyhole from the outside.

Room Service

Frequently using room service can significantly impact your budget, in case you didn’t know. We all recognize how costly room service can be for our finances. Naturally, we are well aware that it wasn’t included in the price when we booked the room.

Become your own room service by going to the hotel’s restaurant to order your food. If your research shows the hotel lacks a restaurant, bring foods that you can easily prepare in your room. We’re not suggesting you stop using room service, just that you use it judiciously.

A Paper Cup For Your Toothbrushes

It is generally anticipated that the hotel will have tidied up after one guest before the next one arrives. However, can you truly rely on the housekeepers to have thoroughly cleaned, particularly in the bathroom? Most hotels do not supply a toothbrush, and you probably do not want to put something that goes in your mouth in a place where cleanliness is uncertain.

To prevent this, take a paper or plastic cup, make a hole in the bottom, and turn it upside down to serve as a toothbrush holder. This way, you can keep your toothbrush from touching bathroom surfaces and maintain its cleanliness.