I just spent a weekend at a hotel in a secret location.
Here are some tips on how to both save money and make your stay at a hotel more enjoyable:
- Don't use third-party booking sites, such as Orbitz, because they rarely have the best deal. Go directly to the hotel's website, look up their lowest rates, and then call their front desk (NOT the national reservations center) and ask for their lowest rate. Book using whatever method is cheapest. Also ask if they have an AAA rate.
- They can't charge you a "resort fee" or any other extraneous fee (aside from taxes) without disclosing it beforehand. If you are quoted $150/night and you get there to find it's actually $150/night plus a $20 resort fee, refuse to pay the resort fee. They have to honor the price you were quoted.
- Don't automatically use their parking lot, unless it's free or cheap. Often you can park very close by for free or much cheaper, and you can always use their free "loading/unloading" spots when you're checking in or out.
- Always speak up if something is wrong. Is your room noisy? Is there a maintenance problem of some sort? Call up immediately and they will always let you switch rooms, provided one is available. If they can't switch your room, they will almost always either fix the problem and/or give you a discount. For example, during this past stay, I found that they put me in a very noisy room which overlooked their main parking lot. They switched me to a much quieter one on the other side.
- If you're going to use their drinking glasses, immediately call up for new ones when you get there. The ones they bring up to you are straight from the dishwasher, while the ones in your room were probably hand-washed with the same towel that was used to clean the toilet (not even joking about this).
- Don't knock yourself out to get out by the posted checkout time. Call up the night before and ask for a later checkout, which they will usually give you for free, and will typically extend it by 30-120 minutes. Also, it is very rare for them to penalize you for checking out late, so you can check out even later than whatever they extend you. For example, if checkout time is 12:00, you can call and extend it to 1:00, and then not actually leave the room until 1:45, and they're not likely to complain or charge you anything.
- Before buying any package that includes a breakfast, check to see if the breakfast includes eggs made to order. If yes, it's probably a good breakfast. If no, the breakfast is probably terrible and worth almost nothing.
- Most hotels have a plastic laundry bag in the closet. That bag is supposed to be for using their own laundry service, but you are also welcome to take it for yourself. I always take the bag and use it for my dirty clothes.
- Never accept a "downgrade" unless they give you some kind of major compensation. Some hotels will oversell rooms, expecting a certain percentage of people to no-show. If you get there and your promised room category isn't available, don't just settle for that room and the difference in price. Demand that they either upgrade you, put you in a different hotel, or give you some kind of extra compensation.
- Don't be afraid to ask for credit on your bill if something isn't as expected. This includes plumbing problems (which aren't quickly fixed), lack of promised parking, unexpected noise, or anything else you didn't expect that somewhat ruins your stay. My personal policy is not to ask for credit if they can solve a problem quickly and easily, but anything left unsolved or extremely inconvenient deserves some sort of credit on my bill, because I'm not getting the service I paid for.
- Always get a final bill upon check-out, and make sure it agrees with your credit card statement. Before leaving, scan your bill and make sure there are no unexpected charges on it. A surprisingly high percentage of hotel bills have mistakes on them, and it is very rare for those mistakes to be in your favor.
- If you travel a lot, consider getting either an aircard for your laptop, or get some sort of "tethering"/hotspot service on your cell phone. This will allow you to avoid the obnoxiously expensive internet charges that many hotels are charging these days.
- Read reviews of the hotel you want to book on Yelp or Tripadvisor before making the reservation. If most of the reviews are bad, stay away!