What Are Your Hotel Check-In Rituals?

August 8, 2012 at 3:04 PM | by Chanize | Comments (14)

For some reason, all these back-to-school commercials and sales seem to scream, "it's time to get back into the routine". No more footloose and fancy free days. But there's one thing we've always been a little OCD about, no matter the season, and that's our hotel check-in rituals. In no certain order (well, there IS an order, but we won't subject you to that bit of madness) here are the things we absolutely must do before we can relax in our room.

Adjust the Air Con It's always too hot. Or too cold. And the controls are always confusing so this will take at least 30 minutes to get just right.

Inspect the Bed White duvets seem more comforting and easier to check for bed bugs than comforters with busy prints, which usually will get tossed in a corner along with the dozens of throw pillows.

Sanitize the Remote and the Phone We already told you about the poopy remote controls. We're wiping them down, along with the telephone because chances are, we're ordering room service or a back-up wake up call.

Monitor the Minibar If we're traveling with children or friends who may not get that most minibars are NOT free, we're taking inventory of what's what in case a can of Coke goes missing, especially in the sensor-equipped fridges. Or, if we see something completely awesome, we might splurge on it.

Check for Cameras We just had to add this to our list, thanks to this story about a peeping Omni Hotel employee. Our level of paranoia was about a 7, and now it's jumped to an unsettling 9. It's going to take a while for us to calm down on this category, though we're glad we're not as bad as Lady Gaga, who has been accused of having some pretty strange rituals herself!

So tell us, what are your hotel room rituals? Let us know, in the comments below!

[Photo: David King]

Comments (14)

Return to » What Are Your Hotel Check-In Rituals?

but i usually don't use the remote or the phone so my #3 would be check out the WiFi offerings. #4 is flip through the room service menu and #5 is see if there's a snickers bar and a coke in the minibar. what can i say? old habits die hard!

I also thoroughly check out the provided amenities. Admittedly, good ones end up in my dopp kit before I even before I unpack the suitcase.

Before I even sit on the bed, or flip through the room service menu, I usually give the bathroom a once-over, checking out the faucets, the toiletries, the shower head, towels...pretty much everything. Then maybe after I'll open the curtains to see what the room is looking at.

...because you have to check for them too, you know!

By the time I've checked into a hotel my iphone is on 19% and I desparately need to get every second's worth of charge. I'm pobably going to be in the room for 20 -30 mins before meeting my peeps downstair, so I need to get that process going quickly.

Then I drop my stuff, unpack my bag and start cursing for not folding my shirts and extra suit better.

"check to see how nice view and bathroom are"

"Remove all the collateral and menus from the desk area"

"Take a power nap"

"Get hammered."

"easy. 1st thing: upon entering the doorway, take "do not disturb" and put outside the door :)"

"First thing I do is check to see what kind of view I have! #hotel #travel"

"ask for a map of the area & find out where the hotel is on there so I can find my bearings."

"Unpack. Like I'm home."

The bathroom, the view, I sniff the shampoo, turn on the tv, sit on the bed. I unload what I will need for my return, change clothes and head right back out the door. Love check in.

HotelChatter

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