When it comes to staying at a hotel, there are plenty of ways you can improve the comfort in your room. Some of these come with the room – things like the view, or a decent air conditioning unit.
Others can be brought along with you, and even the simplest gadget can make your stay just a little bit more enjoyable. Here are 5 gadgets that can help make your stay a little more comfortable or entertaining:
The Air-O-Swiss portable humidifier
Ever woken up in your hotel room with a dry mouth and eyes that feel like someone sprinkled sand in them? If you have a tiny bit of spare room in your bag, consider the Air-O-Swiss portable humidifier. This $50 device takes water from almost any small water bottle, and is powered using a compact (international) AC adapter.
Check out my review of this device here.
The Chip Clip
Hotel gadgetry doesn’t get much easier than the chip clip. In fact, any clip will work for this purpose. The purpose? Blocking annoying sun light from waking you from your deep sleep.
The hotel is probably the one time and place you can sleep in without worrying about heading to work or getting the kids ready for school.
Anyone who has spent some time in a hotel will know how annoying it can be when the sun shines through the drapes and wakes you up, often hours before you had planned to be awake.
A $2 clip can clip the curtains together, and prevent you from being woken up by the bright sun.
Of course, if you are anywhere with the kind of tourists that like to grab themselves a lounge chair by the pool at 5am, then being awake extra early may not be such a bad thing!
The MP3 player AV kit
The best cure for hotel boredom? Movies! Instead of suffering through the horrible selection of hotel TV channels, bring your media player (filled with movies) and hook it up to the hotel TV.
Most players can be equipped with an AV cable kit for about $20, and more and more hotels are equipping their TV’s with the line-in jacks required to add some of your own content.
You’ll of course need access to some movies on your device, but that isn’t too hard with online stores like the iTunes movies store.
The pocket projector
Are you regularly stuck in a hotel in the middle of nowhere? Does that hotel block the use of the line-in jack on their TV’s? Then consider spending $300 on your own pocket projector.
Simply hook the projector up to your computer or media player, and point the projector at a wall. Then sit back, relax, and enjoy your new pocket big-screen TV.
Sure, you’ll need a dark room, and anyone entering the room will probably think you are a nerd of the highest order, but you’ll end up with the last laugh.
Check out our review of a pocket projector here.
The Kensington laptop lock and USB power adapter
Two of my favorite gadgets on the road are the Kensington 4 port USB mobile device charger and the Kensington MicroSaver keyed retractable lock.
The 4 port USB charger is perfect for those hotel rooms with just one spare outlet hidden behind the desk. With just one charger, you can charge 4 devices at the same time.
The MicroSaver keyed lock is what you’ll need when your room does not come with a safe. Sadly more and more rooms lack a safe nowadays, and theft is not decreasing. The keyed lock allows you to attach your laptop to something sturdy.
When you are done with the lock, the steel cable simple retracts into the device, making it nice and compact.