A lot of us have stayed in hotels and if you are like me after five or six trips you probably have a routine you go through when you check in. Still, everyone wants to save a little money and maybe pick the right hotel for comfort and safety. Here are some tips to share when you travel.
First, always check ahead to see if there are rooms available. Even if you have a reservation you may not get the room you want. If you call ahead from the airport or while you're still on the road and confirm that you get that non-smoking room, you won't be in for any major surprises when you reach the hotel. Some low-budget hotels sell smoking rooms as non-smoking rooms, or they may not be able to prevent people from smoking in their rooms.
There are ways to get rid of the smell of cigarettes and cigars from rooms. For example, Ozium air sprays have been used by hospitals and hotels for decades to sanitize and de-odorize rooms. You may not be able to take an air spray when you fly but if have no choice about staying in a smoke-smelling room and there is a 24-hour Walmart nearby you may be able to alleviate your problem for just a small amount of money.
It depends on how tired I am and how crowded the local hotels are, but sometimes I will clean the room with my own air freshener. I just don't want to take the chance of having an accident late at night, or finding myself without other options. But one thing you need to be careful of is to NOT use an alcohol spray like Lysol. That just makes it harder to breathe.
Bed bugs are another problem people have to watch out for while traveling. Although the hotel industry reacted to the Bed Bug scare of the last couple of years by adding plastic bed covers to their beds, you should still learn to check for the signs of bed bugs in your rooms. There are ways to deal with bed bug infestations and if you cannot get another room, you may have to treat the problem yourself.
You can get temporary relief by spraying the bugs with alcohol (like Lysol). I would also consider using the hotel room's iron to produce steam on the mattress. The steaming should kill any bugs the alcohol misses. But you have to remember that you may pick up eggs. If you're not sure about whether a room is infested ask for another room, or find another hotel. But if those are not options (like if you are fleeing a hurricane or other natural disaster and you're lucky to have a hotel room) then remember the alcohol and iron steaming solutions. Treat the sheets and pillowcases before you lay on the bed.
There are other helpful tips you can read for saving money on hotels. Some bloggers write more than one article explaining how to save money on hotels and airfares so if you find one good article be sure to check for more tips.
If you are making short trips you should try to avoid the baggage claim at the airport, which saves you time and helps you get to your hotel sooner (preferably before anyone else claims the most desirable room in your budget range).
Finally, bookmark several travel tip sites so that you can go back and check for more help if you run into a situation you did not anticipate. That's better than searching when you are angry and frustrated using cheap hotel bandwidth.
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