For many of us out there, hotels are where we stay during vacation. They can range from palatial estates to not much more than a room with four walls (roof optional). The good, the bad and the ugly can be found at any destination and are often hard to tell apart when you’re booking online. So, if you’re a budget minded traveler and aren’t totally sure what kind of place you’ll be checking into, there are some things that you can do to prepare yourself.
Unless you live in a home where there’s regular maid service, painfully generic art on the walls and a coffee-maker in your bedroom, repeat after me: A hotel isn’t home. Good. Now, that said, it doesn’t mean you can’t try and make it a bit more comfortable, especially if you’re on a weeklong vacation.
If you’re planning on staying awhile and all hopes of packing light have long flown out the window, then there is no reason for you to use the shampoo and soap that the hotel has provided for you. Unless you’re in the classiest of establishments, the stuff you brought from home is going to be better. At this point, many of the female readers are likely rolling their eyes at me and proclaiming, “duh”. The thing is, I’m a guy and thus first thought that all shampoo was created equal. Whoops.
Pack a pillow-case with you when you next hit the road. They take up very little space overall. Of course, unless you’re staying in the seediest of establishments, your hotel bed will have a pillow but at least this carry-along is dual purpose. Bring one that you’re comfortable with and it will make falling asleep that much easier. The added bonus? When you’re at the end of the trip, the pillow case doubles as a nice little laundry bag for your worn clothes. Get home, dump it all in the wash and start planning the next trip. Piece of cake.
Another thing I try not to travel without is a little spray mister of lavender scent. I actually picked this habit up because one was provided to me by a nicer hotel and I’ve been doing it ever since. Occasionally the detergent that hotels use can be pretty harsh if you’ve got a sensitive nose. A few sprays of the lavender and your hotel room will have a rather nice fresh scent and not a bland sterile one.
Mood music. Nope, not for that, unless you’re on your honeymoon. There’s always a chance that your hotel will end up being next to an interstate/construction site/farm with loud rooster/airport/active volcano, so you’re going to want to be able to drown out a bit of that noise. Many of today’s hotel radios allow for you to hook up your portable music player. All you need to bring is the proper cables, which should only cost a few dollars and you’ll be able to listen to your own soundtrack.
See, that wasn’t so bad now, was it? Keep those things in mind when you travel next and any hotel can become a resort.. Actually, hotel won’t turn into a resort… just throwing that out there 
