Keep Your Toothbrush Clean
Luxury hotels are nice and all, but they still won't be as clean as your house. In most hotels, a maid has about an hour at most to clean up the entire room. And while cleaners will certainly do a decent job, that new room smell and sparkle is all a façade. Bathroom counters are our main point of concern when it comes to cleanliness.
Think again before you decide to just lay your toothbrush down on that sink. You don't know what people have used that surface for, leaving behind a plethora of bacteria. Most hotels don't have toothbrush holders, so are we expected to just risk it and go without? Definitely not! Simply take a coffee cup, flip it upside down, cut a tiny hole in the bottom, and voila! A toothbrush holder for yours truly.
Mood Lighting Done Right
When it comes to the lighting in hotel rooms, one doesn't know what to expect. You could be dealing with overpoweringly blinding fluorescent lights that straight up kill the mood, or if you're lucky, you've got lamps to work with. If you find yourself with a single light setting, try sprucing up the mood by improvising. You can use a colored rag or shirt.
Add some character to your drab accommodation by tossing that colored fabric over your lamps. Just be careful not to do this if there's an exposed bulb. And make sure not to leave your lamp on when you leave the room. This hack can be risky, so be mindful of setting fire to your clothes. That's a surefire way to dampen the mood!
Buttery Goodness
One of the simple pleasures in life is warm toast smeared with a generous serving of soft butter. However, in hotel buffets and continental breakfast bars, this small pleasure can turn into a huge ordeal, namely because butter is served in small pats that are ice hard and almost impossible to spread.
There is, of course, a simple solution which only involves a little forethought. After you collect your butter pat, leave it on top of the toaster or another warm surface like the top of a warming drawer to soften while your bread toasts. And by the time you're back at your table, you'll be ready to spread that buttery goodness.
Keep It Cool
Staying within budget while on holiday can be a real undertaking. Though eating out at new places is one of the great pleasures of traveling, doing so every meal isn't very practical or affordable. It's a far better option to bring some of your own basic food items and refreshments. However, keeping them cool can become an issue.
Though some hotel rooms come with minibars that can be repurposed for food refrigeration, others aren't so well equipped, having only a tiny unit or no refrigeration at all. A simple hack is to make the most of the ice machine that most hotels have. Simply fill a waterproof bag, sink, or trash can with ice to make your own DIY cooler.
Hoard Those Tiny Shampoo Bottles
Who said nothing in life comes for free? When your hotel stay is booked, you can already start imagining all the perks that'll come with it. However, besides the free breakfast buffets, swimming pool, and other amenities, there are certain items that come with your room that you're allowed to keep.
Now, that doesn't mean you have free reign to just snatch up any odd thing in your room to take home – there are limitations to what you can and cannot take with you. Your bathroom should come stocked with travel-sized shampoos, soaps, and conditioners, so make sure to take those with you before you check-out. Just don't run off with the bathrobe, or the hotel will charge you.
Silence and Safety
Here's a tip that will not only improve the quality of your stay, but your overall safety as well. Hotel rooms not being sound-proof is almost as infamous as questionable sheets, and the noises that penetrate them can make guests feel very exposed and uncomfortable. The solution? A wet towel!
Apparently, if you place a wet towel under the door in your hotel room, it will dramatically dim the sounds that travel from the outside in and vice versa. And as for safety, in the event of a fire, this wet towel can actually slow down the flames and give you more time to escape danger. Now that's a practical tip!
Germ-Free Plastic Protection
A hotel's cleaning staff can be a gamble. The maids will either clean diligently as if they were cleaning their own home, or they'll cut corners and hurry up just to get it over with. Your hotel room may appear immaculate and spotlessly clean, but there are certain items that have tons of bacteria you should be wary about.
The television remote is one item that every guests' grubby little fingers have touched, and often not on the to-clean list for most maids. To save yourself from having to touch a bacteria-covered remote, use the plastic bag in the room's ice bucket and cover the remote. This small precaution can save you a trip to the doctor or spending days feeling ill.
Extra Table Space
Reality can sometimes be disappointing, especially when photos of hotel rooms online look much better than in real life. It's all about the lighting, camera lens, and right angle that can make any drab room appear palatial. You're excited, thinking that your hotel room is going to be spacious. You open the door and…
Wow, so small! There's barely any room to move around. The pictures online were misleading, and now you're contemplating where you'll even have space to eat. Ask reception for an ironing board. It gives you an extra surface to dine or even to use as an extra shelf.
Keep Your Phone Nearby
Where did I put my phone? How many times have you said or heard that phrase? In some hotels, they won't provide bedside tables on both sides, so you're forced to leave your phone across the room on the desk, or you're left having to tuck your phone under your pillow. This is risky, given that your phone can just slide off the bed.
There's a simple solution to keep your phone safe, secure, and at hand. Just untuck the top end of your bed sheet. This creates a horizontal phone pocket so you can easily slide your phone in and out.
Don't Eat a Cold Slice
There's nothing worse than eating ice-cold leftovers. Some hotel rooms don't provide a microwave, so it can be difficult to reheat last night's dinner. Don't throw out perfectly good food, though. There's a hack to heat up that depressing slice of pizza.
Check to see if your hotel has an iron and a blow dryer. Most will have these items. Place tin foil at the bottom of the iron, put your slice of pizza on top, and use the blow dryer to heat up. In just a few minutes, it'll be like your slice just came fresh out of an oven or microwave.
Keycard Trick
Hotels got rid of traditional keys for hotel rooms a while back. The reason being, they adopted keycards that save tons on electricity bills. For those familiar with how keycards work, you slip your keycard into a slot in the wall, which activates and turns on your room's electricity. These slots are usually next to the door when you first enter your room.
Most people aren't aware that each room's slot doesn't require a specific keycard, you can place literally any kind of card in there, and it'll activate. Say you have your devices charging, the air conditioner blasting, and you want to leave your lights and everything on – simply stick a business card or gift card in there while you're out and about.
Turn up the Volume
Don't expect surround sound or a Bluetooth speaker waiting for you when you get to your room. They aren't that common unless you've booked a penthouse suite, then maybe it'll come with one. Many people have to settle with putting on headphones or using their phone speakers to play music.
An easy way to amplify the volume and take the hotel room party up a notch is to place your phone inside a bowl or cup. Although this won't be the best sound solution, it will still upgrade the life of the party and make the music louder. It's important to remember to be considerate of your next-door neighbors, though. Nobody likes to hear loud music when they're relaxing or trying to sleep.
DIY Humidifier
There's nothing worse than waking up with a sore throat because the air in your hotel room is desert dry. You can feel drained of moisture and all dried out after just one night. Water shouldn't be a rare commodity; this isn't Mad Max. Luckily there's a hack to get your hotel room feeling comfortable.
Simply get a towel and soak it in water. Leave the towel draped over your heater or air conditioner to make your room humid. When you're done with the wet towel, place it on your luggage rack or ironing board. Your room's air quality will instantly improve, and you may even get rid of disturbing snoring issues you may have.
Safely Stash Your Cash
Although hotels are meant to be a home away from home, they aren't as secure. Although you've got a keycard and your room is locked while you're away, hotel staff still have access to your room. While most hotels hire their staff hoping they're honest people, you can't be 100% certain if there's a bad apple in the bunch.
Don't leave valuables out in the open when you're not in your room. To avoid having cash stolen, try putting it behind your hairbrush. It's not a common spot to store cash and would be one of the last places where someone would look. Just remember that, although your hotel room door has a lock, locks only keep honest people out. Best to be safe and prepared to hide your valuables.
Get on Board With This Laptop Stand
Nowadays, one cannot simply just have their head hit the pillow and go to sleep. YouTube videos and your laptop's blue light are a part of your pre-bed routine. In a hotel room, though, you won't always have room to place your laptop on the bed. What to do?
No need to start rearranging your bedside table to place your laptop there. Watching movies while sleeping on your side isn't the best viewing experience either. Simply take out the ironing board in your room and set it up to hang over your bed. Place your laptop on it, and you're good as gold. The setup is quite comfortable, as well.
Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite
Despite preventative measures, hotels are in the top three most common places for bed bugs to be found. Want to be extra safe on your next stay? Here's the perfect tip for you.
Make sure not to do one thing - don't put your luggage in the luggage racks! Bed bugs can hide in the hinges and joints. Keep your luggage in the bathroom next time, which will be the most disinfected area in the whole hotel room.
Put Your Shoes in a Shower Cap
Hotels have a plethora of toiletries free for their guests—no need to hold back. Get your hands on as many complimentary toiletries as you can, and even ask for extra shower caps. Shower caps, you say? Why bother getting extra? For your shoes, of course!
You've been walking all around the city in your shoes, and even though the sidewalks look clean, they aren't. Instead of tossing your shoes into your suitcase with all your other clothes, stop the spread of filth by wrapping them in your spare shower caps.
A Spoon Mightier Than a Sword
You've got your luggage, and you're trying to unload it in the hotel hallway, but the pesky door won't stay open. The door is heavy, and it keeps slamming shut. For those who have stayed in hotels, you know how irritating the door can get. When the door slams shut, it's almost never gentle. Next, you're fishing around trying to find your keycard again.
Simply jam a spoon under the door to prop it open. The spoon will hold the door ajar so you can move your luggage in and out. And it doesn't have to be just a spoon. Any piece of silverware may work. Teaspoons are typically available and easy to grab. So, next time you're rushing to get your luggage through the doorway, worrying about getting locked out, keep cool and use a spoon.
Clamp Those Curtains Shut
The average Joe feels like royalty when they stay at a hotel. However, they lack a certain level of privacy. Either the thin walls that remind you you're not alone or those annoying curtains that have a small crack exposing yourself to the world outside your window.
What's also annoying is getting woken up in the morning by sunlight creeping in through a perfect eye-level crack. A simple hack is to use a clothes hanger with clamps. Turn the hanger sideways and clamp your curtains shut. You won't have to wonder if anyone is peeking inside or if sunlight is going to be your new alarm clock in the morning.
Dryers for More Than Just Hair
Hotels have notoriously expensive laundry services, sometimes charging per item of clothing at a price so high you might as well buy new clothes! Some people forgo washing and are reduced to stuffing stinky socks or sweaty shirts to the bottom of their suitcase, stinking up the other clothes.
A bathroom sink can be used as a washbasin to do your laundry. Instead of hanging your clothes all throughout your room, though, a quick solution to drying your wet clothes is to use your blow dryer. Dry out your shirts and socks super-fast. Put a sock on the mouth of the dryer before turning it on, and you'll be wearing clean, dry socks in no time.
Get a Clean Night's Sleep
You've rolled your luggage all the way to your hotel room. Exhausted yet relieved to finally be checked in, the first thing you do is toss your suitcase onto the bed. Given that the wheels on the bottom have been rolling all around the city, you should think twice about where you put them.
You could wipe the dirty wheels down with sanity wipes, but that'd take forever and it's only half the battle. Say you place your suitcase on the bed and go use the bathroom. When you leave your suitcase open, it's fair game for bedbugs to hitch a free ride. You should always try and place your luggage on a chair instead of the bed.
Serenity Now
Falling asleep instantly once one's head hits the pillow sounds like a dream. For many, this isn't a reality, and it takes quite a bit of effort to get the right environment to go to sleep peacefully. This can be especially difficult when you're not sleeping in the comfort of your own home.
Many distractions can keep hotel guests awake such as pesky elevator dinging, people chatting in the hallway or that annoying light that sneaks under the door. All of these annoyances can prevent us from falling asleep and are the main reasons for one-star hotel reviews. An easy hack is to roll up a towel and wedge it under the door crack. Doing this will block out light and can potentially soundproof your room a bit.
Steer Clear of Room Service
Getting room service seems like a fantasy. Who wouldn't resist the temptation of getting a fancy meal delivered directly to their room? Made out to be a high-class thing only the rich can indulge in, room service has been popularized in movies and shows. But honestly, it's over-hyped and looks better on-screen than in real life.
It's over-priced, and you'll end up spending $25 on basic chicken fingers that have cooled by the time they've left the kitchen and made the long trip to your hotel room. If you went directly to the dining area, you'd most likely save 33% or more for the same meal. Although the meal wouldn't appear on a silver platter, at least it would still be hot.
Book Directly, Ditch Third-Parties
Agoda, Hotels.com, Booking.com, etc., they're all great booking websites, and we can see why people would use them to book a nice hotel room. The convenience that comes with using a third-party service sure beats the hassle of having to call up a bunch of hotels, especially if they're in a foreign country. Third-party sites also allow one to make price comparisons for other hotels in the area.
Keep in mind, though, that you can save a boatload of money if you book directly with the hotel. Plenty of hotels offer excellent discounts and deals if guests opt to book directly with them. They're also happy to match any prices you've found online. Given that the hotel can forego paying any middleman fees to the book sites, they may even throw in some extra perks.
It's Your B-Day Everyday
Budget traveling always involves using tricks and tips to try and get the best deal possible. If you're trying to get out of a gloomy budget box room and would like to upgrade to something a bit more classy, try mentioning to the receptionist when booking your room that it's your anniversary, birthday, or some special occasion.
Ninety percent of the time, this wee white lie will end up with the receptionist giving you a free upgrade. You may also score a free bottle of wine too. Although this hinges on how flexible you are with your morals, the ruse can definitely be of some use.
Band-Aid Baby Proofing
In the past, traveling used to be a time to get away, or it was just you and your significant other. Now, things are a bit different as you've added a little one to the mix. Your baby is coming along on trips now, and you can feel a bit paranoid regarding their safety, given that all the baby-proofing efforts you've put into securing your home are no longer of use in your new hotel room.
Hotels don't really take the time to baby-proof their premises, so now you've started to notice that every door, outlet, and cabinet is an accident waiting to happen. No need to fret. You can always use a few band-aids to baby proof those electrical sockets. Now that that's off your mind, you'll just need to watch out for the doors.
Locks Only Keep Honest People Out
If you're staying in a high-end luxury hotel in London, then you can sleep tight without having to worry about some stranger breaking into your hotel room and stealing stuff. However, on some occasions, you'll find yourself staying at a cheaper hotel or motel that isn't ideal. These places will most likely have cheap and flimsy door locks, which don't bring you any peace of mind.
Luckily, with this hack, you can be proactive and protect yourself from any potential thieves who try to break-in. Take one of your shoelaces and tie it around the latch. This extra bit of precaution will make it more of a challenge to get into your room. Knowing that you've added this extra bit of security will have you sleeping peacefully and not having to sleep with one eye open the whole night.
Your Own Food Boiler
We didn't say all these hacks were going to be pleasant. This one isn't going to be ideal for the maids or for the people staying in your room after you. However, if you're on a budget and need to prepare a meal, desperate times call for desperate measures. Turn your attention to that kettle sitting on your hotel desk.
This device does more than just boil water for coffee or tea. You can do a myriad of things with boiling water, including what the people are doing in the photo. Boil some hot dogs or corn for lunch or dinner. You can even add veggies to make a tasty soup. You can turn your hotel room into a kitchen now that you know about the iron and blow dryer microwave and this kettle boiler hack. Bon appetite!
Prevent Messy Leaks
You see it all too often. We bring our favorite shampoos, conditioners, and other hair products only to discover that they have leaked in our suitcase and have gotten all over our clothes. What a mess! Somehow from the plane ride to the hotel room, the caps came off, and now there's an explosion of liquids and gels in our suitcase.
These accidents can be a thing of the past, though. Avoid this mess by getting some extra plastic from the hotel you're staying at and twist the caps over the extra layer. This extra step will save you from cleaning up any messy spillages in your luggage.
Freshen Up the Air
If you're fortunate enough to be staying in a lavish hotel that appears like it was just built, then chances are it'll also feel pristine and untouched. But if you're on the opposite end of the spectrum and staying at a Motel 6 or somewhere cheaper, then there will definitely be residual signs of life in your hotel room.
This becomes apparent as soon as you flip on your air conditioning or heater. You'll be met with nearly 20 years of mold and dust build-up that can make any guest gag. Simply take an air freshener with you, like the kind you'd use in your car, and attach it to the vent. This way, instead of breathing in dirty air, you'll be treated to pleasant scents of your choosing.
File Nails With Matches
Hotels offer a lot of nice free accessories that make you feel all the more comfortable. From robes to slippers, conditioner, shampoo, shower caps, and a book of matches, but where is the nail filer? How's a person supposed to get their nails looking flawless?
You can search all over the place, but we wish you good luck finding a nail filer. You don't have to worry about your nails growing out of control during your stay, and you definitely don't need to head out and buy a nail filer. Simply use that matchbook to file down your nails!
Make Your Own Drain Plug
You've been running around all day, catching one mode of transport to the next. All you want to do is soak in a hot relaxing tub and unwind. You reach your hotel room only to find that there's no drain plug! How is one to relax!? You've already got the candles lit and relaxing music going, but no way are you going to settle for a shower instead.
No need to worry, though. Your relaxing bath isn't in jeopardy, all you need to do is create a mini DIY drain stopper, and you'll be soaking in no time. Step 1 - get a plastic bag from the ice bucket. Step 2 - place a few coins in the bag. Lastly, put the plastic bag with the coins weighing it down over the drain. Voila! Your drain is now plugged.
Knowing Where Your Belongings Are
The feeling of losing or forgetting something is an easy way to increase stress, anxiety, and blood pressure. We've all been there before. You've hopped into a taxi or boarded your plane, only to run through your mind and have it dawn at you that you've forgotten something. House keys, phone chargers, or even your passport have gone missing!
A simple hack to ensure that this forgetfulness never happens again is to combine all your most precious items, just like in the picture. This person combined their keys with their phone charger to make sure that neither would get left behind.
Door Hinge Bottle Opener
Traveling can be exhausting. You're dealing with long flights and hauling heavy bags around. All you want to do is sit back, put your feet up, and relax with a nice ice-cold beverage you've just gotten out of the fridge in your hotel room. There's a problem, though. You can't find a bottle opener!
You search all the drawers in your room but find nothing. You're now debating between walking all the way down to reception in your bathrobe to ask for one, or even worse, contemplating going out to the store to buy one. It doesn't have to be this difficult. Simply crack your door open and use the hinge to pop off that bottle cap!
Dinner Is Ready
Traveling becomes more expensive when it's not just yourself you have to worry about. Bills pile up. You've got your partner and kids now. They're definitely not going to get excited about staying in a hostel or some low-budget accommodation. You and the fam will want something nicer.
This isn't good news for your bank account. Skipping a few dinners or settling for a hotel meal may be in your future. There is going to be a lack of table space, so instead of having the kids eat on the floor, unfold the ironing board and use that instead.
Prop the Door Open Part II
A hotel room door can be a source of headache, as discussed earlier. When you're juggling all sorts of luggage out in the hallway, all you can think about is the door slamming in your face, locking you out again. You can't find any silverware to wedge under the door to keep it open.
Feeling hopeless, you're thinking about just giving up. Hope still exists, though! If you find yourself a hunger, just hook one end from the closet pole and the other end onto the door latch. This method may be more ideal than wedging a spoon or fork under the door.
Charge Your Phone in Style
Hotel rooms are designed in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some even blow your mind and are miles better than your expectations. Others, well…not so much. The room may look good in photos, but once you get there, they're a letdown.
The room will lack plenty of things, even an outlet to charge your devices! This may seem like a nightmare. How does one charge their phone? It is essential and must be charged! No need to worry if your room has a TV, though. Check the back, as most televisions have a USB port to charge any of your devices.