Parking, Wi-Fi, and a 24-hour check-in desk are the minimum free services to look out for when choosing a hotel. What else is free? We have collected a whole scattering of possibilities that will make your stay in hotels more pleasant. We also recommend being friends with the staff: even if the necessary service is not on the list, you will try to help at the reception.
Get to the hotel for free.
Once you have booked a room, check whether the hotel provides a complimentary transfer service from the airport or the station. So you will save on public transport or taxis. After all, a trip to the airport or the railway station is usually more expensive than the passage within the city.
Take a compliment
Newlyweds know that if you announce your recent marriage loudly when you check-in, there is a chance to get a gift – a bottle of champagne, a basket of fruit, or a discount on spa treatments. If you get lucky, they might move you to a more expensive and comfortable room. This is called a “hotel compliment.” You don’t have to get married to get a compliment. The reason may be the anniversary of a long past wedding, well, or a birthday. And perhaps in the room, you will be waiting for some surprise.
Get a bed for your child.
If you are traveling with a young child, ask for a cradle or an extra bed. The main thing is not to forget to tell the hotel that you have children. Write about it in the comments on the booking. The service is provided if the room is spacious enough, and it has a place to put another bed – it is done in the mind of fire safety standards, which are strictly observed in hotels.
Ask for everything that’s missing for happiness.
In hotels, people feel happier. But, as at home, complete happiness is always missing: corkscrew for wine, a set of dishes, hygiene supplies, threads with a needle, or charging for a smartphone, which, of course, forgot at home. All this boldly asks in the hotel. And also: iron and ironing board, additional blanket or a softer pillow. Some hotels have a special “cushion menu” to choose from. Or the service “Preparing the room for sleep”: hotel staff will straighten the bed and heat it with an electric sheet, close the curtains, reduce the lighting in the room.
Drink a seagull before going to bed
Among all “wants,” the usual cup of strong tea is perhaps the most pleasant and most important thing. It can be ordered in the room. Or get a kettle in the hotel to not torment the staff with the same request every night.
Wake up from a (someone else’s) pleasant voice
Many travelers from fatigue turn off the alarm on the phone without waking up. So you can sleep anywhere. Ask the front desk to call you at the right time. Phones in hotels usually ring loudly, and the staff is very persistent: do not pick up the phone – you will call back several times or knock on the door. Condition one: check-in at the hotel must work around the clock. Check this out in advance.
Visit the gym and spa treatments.
Large hotels have gyms, saunas, swimming pools, massage rooms, and other health facilities. You can relax and gain sports form right during the journey: pump the press, improve stretching, learn to jump rope—train for free.
Read at breakfast
For breakfast, it is good to read the fresh press, especially in another country. Stay updated on the latest events: suddenly a strike or mass demonstrations, and it is better not to leave the hotel today. Most often, newspapers and magazines provide guests with free. How to read them (in English, French, Greek…) is a guest’s problem. In addition to the press, hotels have small libraries that are formed from forgotten books. So you can stumble upon something worthwhile.
Borrow a treasure map
Internet outside your hometown is expensive, and Wi-Fi is not everywhere – paper cards help even in the 21st century. You can ask for free maps at the hotel reception. They are printed mainly in guidebooks, listing the main attractions, mode of transport, schedule of concerts, exhibitions, and sporting events.
Find out about discounts, ask for recommendations.
In many hotels, near the reception is a rack where the surrounding cafes and restaurants post announcements of events and coupons for discounts. Ask the porter to recommend your favorite establishments: so you can have lunch cheaper and tastier than on recommendations from the Internet. You do not have to book a table yourself (especially if you do not know the local language). It is also happy to do for you a hotel employee. A satisfied customer is the best customer!
Print, scan, fax – if there is any need in urgency
The paper and office equipment have not been canceled yet. Sometimes you need to print something, scan or fax: return tickets, a copy of your passport, and so on. Contact the reception – you will help.
Send a postcard home.
It’s a small thing, but it’s nice. Postcards are sometimes sold at the check-in desks. You can send them to your friends or yourself directly from the hotel. At the same time, you will save yourself from the headache – searching the post office. Finding mail abroad is sometimes more difficult than in Russia. For postcards and stamps will have to pay, but the service itself is free.
Leave your luggage at hotel.
If you need to leave the room, and before departure another half a day or more, it is unnecessary to walk around the city with a heavy suitcase or look for a storage room. In almost all hotels, luggage can be left for the day after you have checked out. Check where you can leave your belongings: even if there is no luggage room, you will not be thrown in trouble, and something will come up.
Call for the most ordinary taxi.
Ask to order a car, and you do not have to understand all the intricacies of the local transport market. In addition, hotels often have arrangements with nearby carriers, and you may be taken for less money.
