Hotel Hacks

[Rushman2112]

So I was playing around in my lunch break and on a site someone had posted "hotel hacks" - some were a bit weird but one I thought was clever and one to share: in some hotel bedrooms, the curtains never close fully, so this guy uses the hanger for trousers and clips the curtains together. It looks rather unsightly but if it keeps the room dark so I can sleep, I'll try it!

Then I got to thinking about some others which I use - I travel at least once a month either work or holidays so:

If you have an early meeting, or presentation, or flight the next day, even if it's only coffee and a croissant, order room service. You have to get up to answer the door. Don't rely on a call service or your alarm clock, you can always roll over and go back to sleep especially if jet lagged.

If you are being entertained (and likely to take drink!), take a photo of your bedroom door and if it's in a foreign land, take something with your hotel name and address with you for the taxi back.

 

[Gorman]

Good advice! Thank you!

 

[VerbaVolant]

Not sure if this qualifies as "hotel hacks" but it is funny:

Hotel Room Cooking: Steak with a Clothing Iron!

 

[VerbaVolant]

Oh, wait, there is more

How To Cook In Your Hotel Room

 

[ackvil]

At one time I traveled extensively on business often staying at two or three different hotels in a week. One time I went out for a run but forgot to take my key. When I came back I asked the front desk for a spare key but they would not give it to me without ID. I had to wait for security to escort me to my room to check my ID. After that I always asked for two keys and before retiring for the night put one key on the floor right by the door as a reminder.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

I regularly throw a moderately wet towel down across the bottom of the door to decrease noise. Will do the same across the heater to get some humidity if it’s excessively dry during the winter months.

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Always ask for the top floor and you will never have someone who walks on their heels pounding along the ceiling above you. Request a room at the end of the hallway to minimize traffic like unsupervised pre-teens running past your door. Top floor by the stairs at the end is a winner.

 

[Doc4]

in some hotel bedrooms, the curtains never close fully, so this guy uses the hanger for trousers and clips the curtains together.

 

[esswun]

I buy Lysol wipes and wipe everything down when I enter the room.

 

[Scarry Knight]

Blow dryer to search for bedbugs, before you get settled in. Directing it behind the edges of the bathroom mirror is one example of where you might flush some out.

 

[Rushman2112]

View attachment 1038714

That's organised!

 

[DocPapi]

One time I left some things in the room safe at a hotel I stayed at. Now, if I put anything there, I also put something I know I won't forget like one shoe (of a pair) or my luggage lock.

Also, sometimes the hotel AC won't go low enough for me (I like it cold when I sleep). It doesn't always work, but sometimes you can use this to put the thermostat into "VIP" mode and lower the temp past the threshold preset by the hotel:

• Hold down the “display” button
• While holding that button, press “off”
• Release off, continue to hold down display, and press the “up” arrow button
• Release all buttons

 

[esswun]

One time I left some things in the room safe at a hotel I stayed at. Now, if I put anything there, I also put something I know I won't forget like one shoe (of a pair) or my luggage lock.

Also, sometimes the hotel AC won't go low enough for me (I like it cold when I sleep). It doesn't always work, but sometimes you can use this to put the thermostat into "VIP" mode and lower the temp past the threshold preset by the hotel:

• Hold down the “display” button
• While holding that button, press “off”
• Release off, continue to hold down display, and press the “up” arrow button
• Release all buttons

The shoe thing is a good idea. You'd think someone wouldn't forget something important like a gun but I know a guy it happened to (not "I know a guy it happened to" lol) so the shoe thing could really help.
The thermostat thing I feel like would be very manufacturer specific and even moreso model specific. Do you know if the times it worked it was a specific brand of thermostat?

 

[Rushman2112]

I'm quite reluctant to use the hotel safe after a mate missed his flight - the safe would not open and his passport and wallet were inside and by the time the technicians had opened it, his flight was up, up, up and away.

If I do use them I take the stuff out before I go to sleep on the last night in the hotel, that way if there is a problem it *might* get sorted before my flight!

 

[DocPapi]

The shoe thing is a good idea. You'd think someone wouldn't forget something important like a gun but I know a guy it happened to (not "I know a guy it happened to" lol) so the shoe thing could really help.
The thermostat thing I feel like would be very manufacturer specific and even moreso model specific. Do you know if the times it worked it was a specific brand of thermostat?

Couldn't tell you manufacturer, except that it has worked for me several times. It does seem to be effective mostly with older thermostats, though.

 

[DocPapi]

I'm quite reluctant to use the hotel safe after a mate missed his flight - the safe would not open and his passport and wallet were inside and by the time the technicians had opened it, his flight was up, up, up and away.

If I do use them I take the stuff out before I go to sleep on the last night in the hotel, that way if there is a problem it *might* get sorted before my flight!

Agreed. I never use it the night before I plan to leave the hotel...no point, since typically I will be in the room until I leave. If I'm not leaving until later in the day and want to go out, I'm generally all packed and ready to go, so I lock up my luggage and just leave it in the room. Having status with Marriott is nice, since I can usually get a later check out time!

 

[njpaddy]

I always unplug the alarm clock so I don't have to bother learning how to set it or having it go off in the middle of the night. My wife and I use our cell phone alarms, like we do at home. I also bring a CO detector, like this one, on vacation although it seems like most newer hotels now have them in the room. Having a second one never hurts. I have a CO detector hardwired into the alarm system on the main floor of our house, but I keep the battery one in the basement closer to the furnace & water heater.

 

[Raissermesser]

I always cover or put rolled-up facial tissue in the door peep hole. That's because you can look in through the things just as easily as you can look out.

When I travel, I always set my wrist watch alarm as a back-up. So far no trouble setting the alarm clock in the rooms.

 

[Old-Fashioned Coughy Pot]

I guess no one brings a portable 'black light' like I've seen on some old TV news/expose shows back in the 90s exposing the 'cleanliness' of a typical hotel room back then. l remember thinking "Ewwww!" at what they found hidden from the naked eye on those shows.

 

[Pattorashu]

The trousers hanger works a charm.

Little known, if you're staying at a nice hotel, if the concierge has this on their lapel:

"The Golden Key Hotel Concierge knows everybody and everything, and anything that they don’t know, they find out. People, not just guests, want to be friends with these powerful people. "

They literally are in the know about everything.

That fancy blanket over the bed? Yeah, they don't wash that.

The blanket in the closet is always washable and is (except at the skeeziest of motor hotels)