Hotel stationery makes a great (and free) souvenir – Souvenir tip

by Gadling Staff on

Instead of buying traditional souvenirs like art, postcards or even a miniature of a famous monument, here’s a great non-traditional way to remember your trips: pick up a sheet and envelope of the hotel stationery.

Most hotels keep some sort of stationery in the rooms — whether they are tiny little scratch-pads or elegant letter-writing paper — and envelopes which have the hotel’s logo and address on them.

You can use these as backdrops in your photo albums or scrapbooks, or even write something memorable about your trip on them and save them in a photo album.

Leave notes to yourself without the hassle of paper – Hotel tip

by Gadling Staff on

If you often leave items in hotel rooms, remind yourself by writing it down — but write it on a mirror with a dry erase marker instead of on a piece of paper you could easily overlook.

Dry erase markers can be wiped off mirrors easily with toilet paper, napkins, or even a towel, and there won’t be scraps of paper everywhere.

You could leave notes to yourself and you can be sure that you’ll see those notes later.

Just be careful of bathroom mirrors, because you might accidentally wipe those notes away after showering, if the mirror steams up.

If the hotel charges for Internet access, ask for a room on a lower floor – Hotel tip

by Gadling Staff on

Hotels in city areas are usually surrounded by cafes and other places that offer free wi-fi hotspots. Rooms on higher floors (above traffic light levels) usually can not pick up strong signals, but a good wi-fi detector can find a strong signal from a first or second floor room.

Sometimes an encrypted connection is free for customers, so getting internet access might be as easy as stopping in, buying some coffee-to-go, and asking for an access code. Test out the connection in the lobby or hallway before actually switching rooms.

[Photo credit: Flickr user dana~2, used in accordance with Creative Commons]

Report: Summer forecast improves for hotels

by Melanie Nayer on

Summer has always been the peak travel season for U.S. travelers. While the past few summers have kept more Americans at home than usual, the summer of 2010 is shaping up to be a much better travel season, especially for hotels.

According to STR’s revised 2010 summer forecast, the U.S. hotel industry is forecast to end the summer with increases in all three key performance metrics in year-over-year comparisons – occupancy, daily rate and revenue.

For the months of June, July and August, STR – a worldwide leader in hotel benchmarking and research statistics – anticipates hotel occupancy to increase 4.3 percent to 64.4 percent; the increase in average daily room rate will rise 0.1 percent to $97.17; and revenue per available room will increase 4.5 percent to $62.60.

This is a successful jump from the summer of 2009, when STR reported occupancy fell 9.1 percent to 61.7 percent; average daily room rates dropped 9.6 percent to $97.15 from the previous year, and revenue for available room was down 17.8 percent to $59.96.

What’s this mean for travelers? The economy is still on the up-and-up and travelers are starting to resurface and indulge in their favorite travel traditions. If you haven’t already booked a vacation, it’s time to make some buying decisions. As hotels start to book at occupancy, less rooms will be available for discounts or upgrades. Want a few tips? Check out: Ask Gadling: Getting the most (hotel) bang for your buck.

[via HotelMarketing.com]

Use a t-shirt as a pillow case – Hotel tip

by Gadling Staff on

You’ve already gotten the benefit of wearing your t-shirt. Now, make that shirt work just a little harder.

If you’re concerned about the cleanliness of your pillow, the inside of your shirt is probably cleaner (or at least more acceptable) to lie on than a suspect pillowcase. Simply turn the shirt inside-out, slide it over your pillow, and you’re good to go… to sleep.

[Photo: Flickr | bandita]