7 Things to Avoid & Never Do in a Hotel Room
Everybody loves having a staycation in a hotel; it’s a great experience. However, are you aware that there are some behaviours and common mistakes you need to avoid if you don’t want your dream vacation to become a travel nightmare?
Remember, the pandemic is still far from over! Here are some of things you should not do in a hotel or hotel room during your next visit:
1. Constantly touching surfaces and floors (unless it’s needed)
This advice applies for the entire area of a hotel room, but more particularly in the bathroom.
Here’s a tip you may consider, use a towel and lay it down on the ground by the toilet so your naked feet will never touch the area where urine or other germs is likely to accumulate. Just imagine how many guests are staying in every hotel accommodation.
However, if you need to touch certain surfaces, your disinfectant wipes will do their job. Make sure to wipe down all door knobs, faucets, TV remote, and light switches. You need to remind yourself that these most ‘touched’ items in a hotel room are usually the dirtiest.
2. Sleeping on throw pillows (they are hard to clean!)
Hotels normally don’t have standard pillowcases. This is the reason why they are hard to toss in the washing machine. This only means you should avoid sleeping in them.
They are one of those housecleaning nightmares that staff try to avoid. They are not easy to clean, so if someone stains or drools or these pillows, they must be particularly cleaned, or even thrown out, which is much worse.
3. Taking a crowded elevator
Staying in a hotel with plenty of floor levels only means that there is at least one person using the elevator when you’re ready to get on it. Unless you’re claustrophobic, of course, you don’t want to take the elevator.
Doing this may feel a little weird at first, but don’t be! Just relax and don’t worry about passing an elevator if someone is in it already, you can always take the next one. Or you can totally avoid the elevator and opt for a healthier option. Why not take the stairs, right? Your legs and immune system will be happy about it. This is the same when you want to sit in a hotel chair, you need to think about it twice.
4. Checking out late without informing the reception
If you want to be a respectful guest, try asking the reception first if they provide late checkout before sleeping in. If you check out late, it can mess up a hotel crew’s whole schedule, and you may be charged a fee for your room.
During busy periods, the housekeeping employees are under great pressure to have the guest rooms turned around prior to new check-ins. If you leave the room 10 minutes later than the scheduled time, this can have new guests get delayed at check-in. So, it’s important to be considerate of other people too!
5. Lying about breaking something
Although accidents do happen, it’s not right to damage something in your room and not admit it. Keeping it a secret can surely bring harm to staff or future guests. If you break something made of glass, for instance, it can cut someone’s foot if they ever step on it since it’s very difficult to spot. And even if the room was cleaned by the staff, no one knows if the housekeeper has missed one piece.
Don’t be that guest who did not inform the hotel staff! We’re sure you have the conscience to not keep it as a secret.
6. Covering up the smoke alarms
Some hotels have smoking rooms that allow people to smoke cigarettes inside their own rooms. However, there are several guests who would not care about it and insist on smoking in non-smoking rooms. But here’s the bigger issue, guests who are doing this would try to cover the smoke alarm just to be able to smoke in bed not knowing that they’re risking their safety and that of others too. Follow rules, it’s not that hard!
7. Not reading or scanning the welcome booklet
Hotels usually have a welcome booklet in every room. Prior to contacting the reception or assuming that you are already aware of the hotel’s rules, it’s still recommended that you scan their menus, guidelines, and other bits of information that’s posted inside your room upon your arrival.
Every hotel has its own unique set of rules. For instance, some hotels finish their breakfast service at 10 a.m. and they won’t be able to serve you after that. Or for example, bringing pets or smoking in the room is not allowed. If you never read their rules, it’s not their fault anymore.
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