5 Tips For Your Next Hotel Stay

There are most surefire quick tips for the best hotel stay. In most cases, it’s easy to double-check the hotel’s listing. Google Maps is great for quickly verifying a hotel’s location. If your hotel stay marks a special occasion like a honeymoon or anniversary, you have a chance of getting an upgrade or special treatment if you tell the hotel before you check-in. If you let the hotel know when you arrive, it may be too late to give you special treatment if all the upgrades have already been used. Even if you’re not a big fan of hunting for discounts, it’s usually worth a 10 second Google search for a discount code to make sure you’re paying less than the rack rate.

If you’re like us and often travel spontaneously, you might sometimes face a sad hotel sign saying No Vacancy. If this is the case, don’t despair, as the hotel may have a room or two available. In some cases, a room is marked as booked because of a maintenance issue. Chat nicely to the hotel agent, and you may find yourself with a good discount for a room with a minor issue. Anyone who’s ever worked in customer service knows damn well that a rude customer gets worse service. Why? Would you be motivated to help out someone rude, condescending or outright abusive toward you? No? Well, you can bet that the front desk agent won’t be either. It’s worth remembering that front desk agents wield a lot of power in a hotel.

Not only can they give you free things, but they can also make sure you get the room with the noisy air conditioner or the room with curtains that don’t shut fully if you’re not so nice. On the other hand, a little kindness and respect toward the front desk can work wonders. A front desk agent who’s on your side can help you get an upgraded room, get a late checkout, or help with a thousand other little things. Even if they can’t help you out, at least you made someone’s day a little better. And that’s worth a lot. If you’re looking for great service, try a $20 tip. It’s no surprise, people working in the hotel industry, and especially in-room service, have one of the lowest salaries, so every tip they get makes a difference. Tipping your cleaning person a little every night (don’t just save it for the last day), can help you get impeccable room service for the whole stay and a squeaky clean room. Often, managers try to fill the least desirable rooms first, so you may be surprised to find that other available rooms have a much better view, or even more room.