You’ve likely found yourself in at least one hotel room that smelled a little…off. Some can be worse than others, and some can be so bad you’re forced to ask for a change of room (and hope they actually give it to you.) But if you find that your room just smells a bit stale, or something else that can be easily dealt with, you can try this tip to freshen up the air.
Use one of the clip-on air fresheners that are made for cars and put it directly on your main AC unit. And if you need to, use a couple of them. If the smell is truly overpowering though, just ask to move!
Netflix and Lounge
Let’s face it: some hotels have really terrible cable options. And of course, movies you can rent for $10 or something crazy like that. But none of those things matter in the digital age when you can simply hook your laptop up to a TV via an HDMI cable and stream anything you want from Netflix or Hulu, etc.
The moral of this story is: make sure to pack your HDMI cables whenever you’re going on a trip. You don’t want to get stuck in a never-ending loop of country music videos and golf games on the few channels you’re able to find on a hotel TV.
Wash Tub
Sometimes when you’re on the road, you’ve got to get multi-uses out of your furniture and the space around you. If you’re in a situation where you find yourself needing to soak or wash something, try this hack to stop up the sink. You may run into the sporadic sink stopper on your travels, but for the most part, hotel sinks just have an open drainpipe.
You can plug it up by using the plastic cover from one of your water cups and a handful of spare change to hold it down. This hack works like a charm if you need to wash dishes or a few bits of laundry in your hotel room.
Noise/Smoke Blocker
Whether you’re a smoker yourself or not, it may surprise you to know that there are plenty of hotels in existence that still allow smoking in some (or all) of their hotel rooms. If you happen to be staying in one of these smoke-friendly resorts and the smell bothers you, you can stifle the stench by laying a towel under your door to stuff the open space.
This trick is also great for blocking out light from the hall, as well as some of the noise from people partying throughout the night while you’re trying to sleep. If you’re using the towel to block smoke, get it wet in the tub and ring it out before placing it under the door for an extra-strong effect.
Book Directly Through the Location
While some travel sites advertise that they offer the lowest fees you’ll find, you have to keep in mind that the majority of those sites, along with travel agents, etc., are taking a cut of the transaction fees, so it actually makes it more expensive to go through a third party booking site.
Call the hotel directly or visit their official website and look for the “deals” section to find the best prices. Sometimes, there will be deals listed that third-party sites weren’t even made aware of yet.