20 Secrets Hotel Managers Don’t Want You to Know

Check the hotel rates online, but call the hotel directly to book your room. Hotel managers have the authority to give you discounts that online booking sites and national reservation lines don’t. You can use the rates quoted online to negotiate a better deal.

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According to the Daily Mail, rooms are more expensive when you call in the morning to book for that night. The best time to call is between around 5 and 6pm when no-show reservations are freed up. However, if you leave it too late, the hotel will know you don’t have many options and may increase the rate.

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A great advantage of booking directly through the hotel is that if you mention that you’re celebrating a special occasion such as an anniversary, they might go out of their way to give you some thoughtful little extras. Booking through a third party decreases your chances of getting something like a bottle of bubbly from the manager.

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Hotels are more likely to give you special treatment if they can put a face to the name. Guests who are regulars, who have booked directly through the hotel or who are paying more have a greater chance of getting a room upgrade, than those who booked through an impersonal discount booking site. It's especially important to keep an eye out for these 10 red flags when booking a hotel online.

The best time to ask for a room upgrade is when it’s quiet, for instance later in the day or midweek. Hotel staff will be less likely to try and accommodate you if they’re trying to accommodate several other people at the same time or if you are rude.

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When a hotel has overbooked, and all the guests show up, you may have to be relocated to another hotel. The Daily Mail says that disabled people, families and single female travellers are usually excluded from this policy. However, if you’re rude, you’re more likely to become another hotel’s problem.

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The best rooms, according to the Daily Mail, are corner rooms or ones on the top floor. Corner rooms are usually bigger while rooms on the top floor normally have higher ceilings and are less noisy.

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According to the online golfing magazine The A Position, large hotels usually have a few rooms that are designated as “out of order” because of some minor maintenance issue. If you’re desperate for a room and the hotel says that they don’t have any vacancies, indicate that you’re willing to take one of these “out of order” rooms and you might even get a discounted rate.

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The Daily Mail suggests this trick for cancelling your reservation at the last minute without having to pay a cancellation fee: call the hotel and ask to have your reservation moved to the following week. The next day, call again and cancel your reservation. Since you’re not within the 24-hour deadline, you won’t be charged the fee.

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The A Position says that everything is negotiable. For example, if the parking lot is fairly empty, you can ask for a reduced parking fee. The hotel may even waive the fee altogether.

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Few hotel rooms get a deep clean before every new guest. This means that some items, such as doorknobs, the TV remote control, the phone or the light switches may be infested with months’ worth of bacteria. The A Position suggests that you give these items a quick cleaning with some antibacterial wipes when you arrive Be sure to make them one of the 20 things you should always travel with.

According to The A Position, hotels may clean the sheets every day, but the blankets and bedspreads are washed once a week if you’re lucky. When you check in, fold these, put them on the floor or a chair and request clean linens.

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In 2007, a Fox News team’s hidden-camera investigation revealed that the drinking glasses in your room aren’t always properly cleaned. Instead, they may get only a quick rinse or wipe-down, so wash the glasses thoroughly before using them.

Like the drinking glasses, the coffee maker in your room has probably not been cleaned properly in ages, so it’s full of bacteria and worse. Australian travel website Traveller.com.au quotes a former hotel staffer who kept a special pen just for extracting used condoms from hotel room coffee pots.

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As The A Position points out, some guests try to avoid paying for the drinks they’ve taken from the mini-bar by refilling the bottles with water or even urine. Housekeeping may have missed this, so check the seals on all bottles before you get a nasty surprise.

The Daily Mail warns that some hotels may charge you for putting personal items in the fridge. Find out what your hotel’s policy is before trying to save on mini-bar costs by bringing your own.

While the concierge is a great source of information on anything from great restaurants in the area to interesting attractions, they may get kickbacks for sending you to certain places. To avoid being sent to an overpriced tourist trap, ask other people for advice.

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Hotels actually expect you to take the toiletries, since they have to throw away half-used bottles. The Daily Mail says that the Marriott chain spends about $20 million every year just on the Thann skincare products they use in some of their hotels. So, feel free to stock up.

The small safe in your room is not usually insured against theft, according to The A Position. Considering that most hotel employees have access to your room, it’s best to place valuable items in the hotel’s main safe, which is insured and is more difficult to access.

Instead of tipping housekeeping and other hotel staff at the end of your stay, give them small tips every day. This way they get to know you, which not only is likely to get you better service, but is an extra security feature too, since they’ll know when someone shouldn’t be in your room.

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