Great Advice About Hotels That Anyone Can Easily Follow
Staying in a hotel should be a relaxing experience. But when you are in a hotel that continues to surprise you with a lack of quality, your stay will quickly turn ugly. Considering the high costs of hotels, you want to get the most for your money. The advise below will help you do just that. To avoid having to iron your shirts when you unpack everything in your hotel room, pack your polo and dress shirts more carefully. Use a hanging bag, and stack your dress shirts together. Then, starting with the shirt in back, bring the arms around, stacking the arms and wrapping them around keeps your shirts in place. It can be hard to know how to select good hotels. Joining a travel club can be a very smart choice if you do a lot of traveling. Your travel club will provide you with hotel guide materials. Representatives can answer your questions, help you choose hotels and even help you plan and book your reservations. To keep from paying through the nose for dry cleaning services from a hotel, ask what the costs are before you send your clothing out. If you need cleaning done, it's often cheaper to walk down the street to a nearby dry cleaner. People who are in town on business often benefit greatly from these savings. When traveling with small children, try to choose a hotel that caters to them. Most hotels offer cribs. Some have playgrounds and/or pools to help keep your kids entertained. Some even offer or children's programs during the day or babysitters at night. Many hotels do not charge extra for children under a certain age to stay in the same room with their parents. If you're training for a marathon and have a weeklong business trip planned, there's no reason to let your running slip. Look online for local running groups in the city where you are going to stay, and join them for their social runs. If there aren't many groups, look for local running stores, as they also offer social jogs. Before you make your hotel reservation, check to see if any fees will be added to your bill. Many hotels charge extra for parking, Wi-Fi and even room cleaning. These charges can make your stay more costly than you anticipated, so be sure to ask about them before you make your decision. It is not a good idea to place the "maid service needed" sign on your door at a hotel. This is a dead giveaway that you are not in the room. It can attract people who want to steal your valuables. It is better to notify the desk when you need maid service than to leave out the sign. Use Twitter to your advantage. Prior to booking your hotel, tweet the property and see if there are any discounts available. Social media is becoming more popular than ever, and hotels use this medium to get the word out about the specials they have out there. If you aren't very familiar with tweeting, you can simply use the search function on Twitter. Pay attention to your security when you stay at a hotel. Make note of the fire exits and locations of fire extinguishers. Keep your door locked, and keep your key or key card in a safe place. Stash any valuables in the hotel safe. Consider bringing a flashlight along and keeping it by your bed in case you need it during the night. Always know the hotel smoking policy wherever you stay if you personally smoke. Many have rooms set aside for people who smoke. So be sure to request one of these rooms. If you smoke in a room designated as non-smoking, a big penalty can come along with it. To ensure that you don't leave anything behind when you are checking out of a hotel, make a sweep through the room after you've packed your bags. Open every drawer, check down on the floor by each bed, and check every outlet to make sure that you haven't left any chargers plugged in. Never ask for the minibar to be removed from your hotel room. You may think this is a great way to ensure that you don't partake of the minibar; however, most hotels charge for this service. Instead, if you may be tempted to drink alcoholic beverages, purchase your favorite beverage at a package store. Don't drink the water! You may be thirsty and tired. You can be tempted to casually open that bottled water beckoning on the mini-fridge. Hotels are really aware of this, and the water will cost you quite a bit more than it really should. The gym in the hotel may have water for free. It's best to simply pack your own bottled water. You should take your time when checking out to ensure that your bill is correct. Travelers often find additional fees for items that weren't used or wanted. For example, many hotels now charge a usage fee for their gyms and swimming pools. If you see you have been charged for an unwanted item, contest the charge with the manager on duty. Don't settle for the advertised price when booking a hotel. The advertised price is known as the rack rate. If you are a savvy traveler, then you can get away without paying as much. Most hotels expect some haggling. Give them a call and ask for a deal. Take charge and be assertive. Different travel sites often have coupons for various hotel chains. Check the pet policy of a hotel before staying there. If the hotel charges a pet fee make sure you know about it before making the reservation. This way you will not be surprised when you check out and pay. It will avoid any surprises regarding extra fees on the bill. As demonstrated above, there are many things you can do to make sure that you are not being overcharged for a substandard room in an undesirable part of town. It just takes a bit of research and using the advice in the hints above. So keep them in mind the next time you are booking a room and have a enjoyable stay.
0 Comments
Take The Stress Out Of Travel With Easy Advice
Seeing the world, or just a city next door can lead to all sorts of fun and adventure. Whether you are a seasoned pro or a novice traveler, the following tips are a collaboration of helpful information to make your next journey much safer, easier and a whole lot more fun. Try to avoid calling attention to the fact that you are a tourist. There are many people who earn their living by preying on unsuspecting vacationers. To avoid looking like a potential target, consult your maps and itinerary before you leave, avoid conspicuous jewelry and clothing and keep your camera in your bag when you are not using it - not dangling around your neck. Take a translation tool when traveling to a country that doesn't speak your native language. This can be in the form of a book or a phone application. While you might find that a lot of people speak English in large cities, it may be quite different in small towns or rural areas. Attempting to speak in the language of the country is really appreciated by the citizens. Always bring a personal set of earplugs. Whether it is a child crying two rows ahead of you or an annoying person sitting next to you who wants to discuss his dream from last night of the plane crashing, it always helps to have a way to drown out that extraneous noise. When planning to travel to a country that uses a very different language or even alphabet than your own, it's a good idea to get precise, up to date information about exactly how to travel to hotel bookings or sites of interest ahead of time. Often, maps or travel guides won't go into the amount of detail necessary, so make sure to have a custom map which shows everything you'll need. Pack an extra bag for dirty clothes. No one wants to pack their dirty unmentionables in with all their nice things. Pack a small, collapsible bag to pack dirty clothes in for the return trip. Alternatively, bring a garbage bag. You can wrap dirty clothes in the garbage bag to keep them separate from everything else. If you are staying at a hostel or camping while traveling, you may want to scout out other locations to use the restroom. Bathroom facilities at may hostels may be unclean to the point of disgusting, while the bathroom at the fast food joint down the street at least has to maintain a minimum level of sanitation. Before booking any hotel, do your research. Use websites that allow users to review destinations. Ask your friends and relations about their travel experiences. If you do adequate research, there will be a less likelihood of a bad experience when you arrive at your destination. When you travel, it's tempting to try to pack activities into every spare minute. But you should also plan for some downtime. For example, a three-day weekend in New York City can be crammed with things to do, but why not build in a couple of hours' ramble around Central Park? It will give you time to regroup, relax, and just enjoy being in your new surroundings. Use a few different merchants from the same niche, based on what you like. Offering your visitors three or four different banners to click on gives them options in potential destinations to select from. This can also provide you with valuable information as to which merchant performs the best against the others. Try to only bring carry-on bags. If you can travel light, you will not have to face the mess that is the check counter. Just remember the policies about weight, and be ready to buy toiletries upon your arrival to your destination. You can call your airline to clarify any specifics. A direct flight is not the same as a nonstop flight. Both types of flights mean you do not have to change planes; however a direct flight may stop at other airports before your final destination. This leaves more possible areas for delays, making you late to arrive at your destination. Be sure to take some form of entertainment for the kids. Consider a portable DVD player and some headphones or a laptop computer that is loaded with games and movies to keep them happy during the flight. You will be glad that you have found a way to keep them entertained while you travel to your destination. Never underestimate the power of a small medicine kit while traveling. Include an over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medicine, antibiotic gel or cream, anti-itch cream, stomach acid reducers, pain relievers and Band-Aids. You never know when tiny medical irritations may strike and it is better to be prepared. You may even be able to help out a fellow traveler! After getting settled in your hotel room, look for fire exits. This may seem trivial, but it can save your life. By knowing where the fire exits are - if the fire alarm goes off - you know which direction to leave. Also, try not to forget your hotel key or card in the event of a fire evacuation. Whether traveling to see a family member or as part of an adventurous expedition, everyone needs some planning and preparation for their trip. Hopefully you learned something from reading this article that will help you on your next vacation and maybe something you can pass along to a friend. |
Details
ArchivesCategories |