165
votes
Accepted
What are these chair-like things in hotels?
These are for placing your luggage (presumably a suitcase) on. Easier to reach than if it's on the floor and you won't have to put it on the bed.
- 1,198
147
votes
Accepted
How do I insist that American hotels accept my employer's credit card for payment, instead of asking for personal credit card upon check-in?
The problem here is not the corporate credit card, but that you're trying to do this without a physical card. A credit card number is good enough to make a reservation, which is why the phone call ...
- 98.5k
145
votes
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Should I not use double things in a double room if I have booked it as a single guest?
Being a supervisor at a well known 3/4 star hotel I speak from experience.
If a consumable/expendable amenity has been provided in your room, it is yours. This includes personal care products, snacks,...
- 1,066
127
votes
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My hotel "blocked" 5,000 dollars when I arrived and now is taking again the money
It is usual for hotels to put a 'block' (a deposit) on your payment card for the total amount, plus some estimated incidentials.
On a credit card, this has little consequences (unless you are maxed ...
- 28.4k
119
votes
My hotel "blocked" 5,000 dollars when I arrived and now is taking again the money
I'm going to disagree with the other answers here, and state that the hotel didn't follow the correct procedure for charging your card, which is what has caused your problem.
When you checked in, the ...
- 114k
117
votes
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Hotel booking: Why is Agoda much cheaper than booking.com?
Booking.com uses the Agency model, this means the website is a place where hotels list their offers and booking.com gets a commission with every booking done through their website.
On the other hand, ...
- 95.6k
114
votes
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How to cope with too slow Wi-Fi at hotel?
At first, I thought it would be sort of difficult to answer this. The only options are hotel WiFi and 4G/LTE, and it's not always easy to do much about the speed of those. (Except for the fact that ...
- 14.5k
110
votes
What are these chair-like things in hotels?
As mentioned, they are for luggage. They are also typically required to receive a certain star rating by the different companies that release star ratings. For example, the catalogue of criteria for ...
- 781
103
votes
Is there a reason for heavy doors in hotels?
They're fire doors. They have a fire rating, that describes how long they can survive a fire burning on either side of them. This fire rating means a fire in a room will give safe passage in the ...
- 15.3k
97
votes
Accepted
What is a "French bed room" in German hotel terminology?
German double beds are usually equipped with two mattresses. A 'French bed' (französisches Bett), on the other hand, is a bed wide enough for two persons, but equipped only with one mattress.
They ...
- 51.7k
95
votes
Accepted
Host telling me to cancel my booking in exchange for a discount?
Part of the host's contract with booking.com is that booking.com will take a commission fee of 10-25% out of each booking made through them.
So if you cancel your booking.com reservation and pay the ...
- 37.3k
94
votes
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How to avoid hotels with bellhops in the USA
You don't need to worry about this. Bellhops are always optional.
Usually when you check in at a place with bellhops, (and they really only exist in higher end hotels), a bellhop will approach you ...
- 62.6k
89
votes
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Why do some hotels ask you to leave the key at the reception when you go out to come back later?
I have encountered this practice in the past as well. Once I actually talked to them about the reason for it. In that particular hotel, this was encouraged, but not required. They explained that ...
- 14.1k
85
votes
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Why would you cancel a non-refundable hotel reservation?
Etiquette generally demands that if you reserve something you're not going to make use of, it's polite to cancel your reservation. Even if you can't summon any desire to be nice to the hotel's owners ...
- 85.6k
78
votes
How is it possible for a hotel to have Wifi but no internet access?
I think that the websites are confusing terms. I have also seen this on AirBnb where places have separate checks for WiFi and Internet. I think that what they actually mean is:
WiFi - non-wired ...
- 14.1k
77
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of this cloth in hotel?
A bed runner is a small, long piece of decorated cloth used to enhance the appearance of an otherwise plain bed. While some prefer the look solely for aesthetic reasons and would choose it even if it ...
- 2,064
75
votes
Why don't hotels offer (at least) 1 kitchen bookable by any guest?
The premise of this question is flawed. A hotel room is pretty much defined as a place to sleep, and not much else. Once you add in a kitchen, you've moved from "hotel room" to serviced apartment (...
- 98.5k
74
votes
How does Expedia manage to sell a room significantly cheaper than the hotel itself?
The last time I booked a room with a seemingly ridiculous discount rate from Expedia, I think it was around 85%, I asked the hotel manager how the hotel manages to operate with so low income. Expedia ...
- 51.7k
72
votes
Why do Hilton Garden Inns have color printers guests can use freely, but more upscale hotels offer just free black white printing?
More often than not, the more you pay for a hotel, the more you pay for amenities. If you stay at a $30/night hostel in Singapore, they often provide a simple but free breakfast. If you fork out $...
- 98.5k
67
votes
Accepted
Why do hotels often not allow you to swim after dark?
This reddit thread has some reasons, some of the primary ones being:
Noise. Especially with an outdoor pool, nobody wants other guests at the pool disturbing their sleep, and rooms often overlook the ...
- 85.6k
67
votes
Accepted
Am I entitled to a refund on a non-refundable booking that has been cancelled by the hotel
If hotel is cancelling, you will get refund. Since hotel said that they didn't charge, you have two things to do.
Contact booking site, hotels.com and explain the situation and ask them to reverse ...
- 13.7k
64
votes
How to avoid hotels with bellhops in the USA
I've only seen them in higher-end hotels.
I don't understand why it will/should scare people away. It is good customer service, and some people like that.
IMO, bellhops and porters are really useful ...
- 14.6k
62
votes
Expectations when dressing in a Dutch hotel room (no curtains)
Living in the Netherlands (and being Dutch) I would expect a hotel in the Netherlands to have curtains or an other way to keep people from looking in if there is any spot from which to look into the ...
- 55.9k
61
votes
In US hotels, what happens if you skip checkout and just leave the hotel?
At many hotels, particularly those affiliated with major chains, it's perfectly fine. It's common for such hotels to leave a copy of your bill under your door sometime during your last night (they'll ...
- 85.6k
61
votes
Accepted
Does everyone in a party need to be 62 or over to qualify for the Marriott senior discount?
That description seemed ambiguous to me too, so I called the phone number on the Marriott Senior Discount information page.
The representative told me that as long as one person is 62 or over, the ...
59
votes
Cooking inside a hotel room
The simple answer is, no, this won't be allowed in any normal hotel-hotel.
Very simply, use holidayrentals.co.uk or airBnB.com to rent a "gite" instead. You'll save more money and it will be far more ...
- 6,447
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