Ask about TV hookups – Hotel tip

by Gadling Staff on

Before venturing to a hotel, call ahead and ask about their televisions and what can and can not be hooked up to them.

In a pinch — or during horrid weather — having a DVD player or gaming system with you can be a life-saver. If you have the youngsters along, pack up their favorite DVDs. While you may never need them, they’re nice to have in case there’s inclement weather that makes venturing outside impossible.

Alternatively, in the unfortunate situation someone becomes ill, this could be a money-saving alternative to paying for expensive hotel movies.

Read the fine print – Hotel tip

by Gadling Staff on

When making reservations for a hotel stay, don’t assume all booking companies (i.e., Expedia vs. Travelocity) are created equal.

If you book a hotel one month with one agency and then book the same hotel again the next month with a different agency, don’t assume the terms and conditions for refunds or changes will be the same. Oftentimes, cancellation fees and refund policies differ from company to company.

Always verify any important conditions such as deposits, refunds, service fees, and fees for changing a reservation. This will ensure that when you do travel, your hotel stay will be smooth and you will limit the unexpected surprises that could possibly ruin your stay.

Pack snacks – Hotel tip

by Gadling Staff on

To save money while staying in a hotel, forget about the vending machines and room service. Instead: pack snacks.

Before booking a room, check to see if the room is equipped with a mini-refrigerator. If it isn’t, bring a cooler packed with ice. Put things inside it like cans of soda and bottles of water, fruit, cheese and sandwiches. You can refill the cooler with ice from the ice machine in the hotel. After all, there’s usually an ice machine on each floor directly across from the vending machines.

The money you save on snacks can be spent at restaurants and area attractions!

Bed Bugs Still Biting a Year Later

by Jamie Rhein on

“There’s a problem with bedbugs in hotels,” my mom said while we were driving somewhere in her car yesterday.

“Oh, really?” I thought back to my own bedbug experience when I was living in a village in West Africa.

“Yes, even the best hotels,” she added. “There was a person on TV this morning who was giving tips on how to avoid them and what to look for.”

Sure enough, when doing research, I came across an article about the story my mother saw, plus some interesting facts. This is not the first time gading covered the topic. These tiny creatures that wreck havoc on sleep and cause welts were written about on January 30, 2006, March 9, 2006 , and February 8, 2005. The slew of articles I also came across from last year sound a lot like this year’s missive. See sample.

It’s true that some things don’t change. This bedbug trouble is even in the finest hotels, so if you do end up with welts some day, don’t rule them out as a culprit. Although pesticides seemed to thoroughly annihilate bedbugs in the United States over the past 50 years, our traveling habits have brought them back. Put your suitcase on the floor or on a chair in some place with bedbugs and you have stowaways that multiply in their new locations, even if it happens to be a Westin Hotel with fine bed linens. Read. The person my mother heard on TV recommended always using the luggage racks if provided. As Erik Olsen stated in his January 30 post, he’s pretty fed up with hotel horror stories. Generally, I agree and don’t know how much I’d worry. It’s good to be aware though, and if someone has had a problem, sympathy is in order. I’ve been there, and it is awful.

For tips on checking for bedbugs before you get into a hotel bed and what to do about them, here is a link from MSNBC. For some other people’s horror stories, read on. The photo is thanks to Ewa Anita Barczykowska who took a picture of her pillowcase in a place in India and posted it on Flickr. I hope the bug and its friends stayed in Karwar.