New answers tagged hotels
4
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 host directly, the host will get the full amount of your payment, instead of just 75-90% of it, and booking.com gets cut out of the deal. The discount they're ...
1
As someone who has managed several inns, I will say that:
I want to know who is renting the room.
I want to know that the person renting the room is the one on the credit card used to pay for the room, in case there is a dispute.
I want guests to be deterred from renting a room for other people who may not have an ID.
In many areas, local ordinances ...
1
If the wifi is unsecured, it means that all data is sent as-is without encryption over the air between your device and the access point. Anyone can sniff the traffic, and see exactly what's going there. Using secure connection (e.g. HTTPS), then the data is encrypted and essentially secure, although the source and target IP addresses are not, since it's ...
2
Does the hotel's wifi asking for a password make any difference to the visibility of your internet traffic? (A guest/hacker in another room would also get that password and could detect your traffic.)
This depends - is the password entered via a captured portal (do you get redirected to a payment or login screen when you try to browse) or when you select ...
6
If you don't want to tip the people who serve you in the US, then don't stay in a hotel, eat in a restaurant, etc. That's the only real answer.
When you travel to other countries, you are expected to make at least a token effort to accommodate local customs and expected behavior, even when it's inconvenient. Tipping service people in the US is expected ...
3
In some situations, a hotel might require a minimum number of nights when a booking includes some specific nights, or prevent check-ins and/or check-outs on some specific dates.
I’ve seen this happen around New Year or Christmas for instance. This may be due to limited staff on those days, other practical constraints (e.g. they know in advance that traffic ...
9
Yes, you are expected to have some cash for tipping purposes. You might also need it if a bellman carries your bags to/from your room or you receive other tipped services. Many people don't tip housekeeping, but if you're going to leave a tip, do it in cash. The front desk should be happy to make change if you need it; they want you to be able to tip. With ...
16
The correct address is the one in Patra. The other one in Athens is most probably a mistake on Google Maps. Here is my reasoning:
The address is basically the same - EO stands for Ethniki Odos, and the road from Patra to Korinthos is the same as the one from Athens to Korinthos
Palea Ethniki Odos means Old National Road
26500 is the postcode of Rio
Rio is a ...
1
There used to be a blog called Murder Motels. It seems to have disappeared, with the final post from November 2013 and the domain now owned elsewhere. However, you can still browse it through the internet archive. A passage describing the Leland Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, USA:
It’s the stairwell where things get awesome. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this ...
2
Building on @BKlassen's answer, you can purchase cooling towels that will make a difference, but only if the humidity isn't so high that evaporative cooling can occur.
When we travel to SE Asia, we bring them with us. You soak the towel in water and drape it over your neck so it touches the skin by your carotid arteries. While not super effective in ...
1
According to this question on history SE about how ancient desert civilizations stayed cool allowing water to evaporate can help a lot with cooling.
Answers to this question mention wrapping oneself in a damp blanket that will draw the heat from you as the dampness evaporates. Answers also mention filling water pots around the room which may be applicable ...
4
I've realized that this seems only common practice in Southern Europe (Portuguese here), due to the other answers, but the first thing I've learned to do during the summer while growing up is to always have the shutters down and the window(s) open.
Especially if where you're staying is directly facing the sun, because this avoids the heat coming in but ...
1
To answer the question about what to do in a room that's too cold, a hot water bottle can help a lot. Even if you haven't planned in advance and brought one with you, they are relatively inexpensive. If your room has hot drink making facilities you can use those to fill it with properly hot water, but if not then even just the hot water from the tap will ...
2
The only solution that actually works is getting some sort of AC, or other active cooling to lower-than-ambient temperature, of your own. Evaporative cooling is useless in most climates; it just adds humidity that makes the heat more unbearable. Compressor-based AC is going to be bulky and hard to travel with. Some less conventional options that remain are:
...
3
You can acquire a small portable fan for not very much money at all (£10 for a reasonable one) and they are surprisingly powerful. Get one that can be plugged in and you can bring it with you and leave it running at night to give yourself some airflow.
0
If having extra items with you is not a problem (e.g. you travel with the car), you could bring your own small fan or a portable A/C unit with you. There are A/C units which cool air by evaporating water from a reservoir: those won't cool an entire house, but perform better than a simple fan, and can be quite small (some are USB-powered). Compressor-based ...
3
A hot shower will cool you off more than a cold shower. Hot water will increase blood flow to the skin, which will make your evaporative cooling work better.
Reference https://theconversation.com/health-check-do-cold-showers-cool-you-down-71004
The verdict
Our bodies respond more to changes in skin temperature than core temperature. So, if we cool part ...
21
In my experience there are two possible explanations. The least likely one is that the person who checked you in does not understanding the booking.com procedures. The more likely explanation is that the hotel is trying to save the amount of the commission due to booking.com. Bring the matter to the attention of the hotel reception and reply to booking.com ...
13
It seems contradictory, but keeping the windows (and shades/shutters) closed during the day really help prevent too much heat accumulation. It works best if you can close them while the morning is still cool. Then as soon as the evening is cooler than your room, opening the windows allows the heat to escape more optimally. When I moved to the South of ...
8
If the bed has duvet, then take the duvet out of its cover. Then use the duvet cover as a light blanket/sheet. This will provide minimal insulation, and make the bed feel cooler.
3
The other answers offer some tips with dealing with the heat, but they'll only take you that far. Cold rooms are easy to deal with by using your jacket or asking for an extra quilt. But a hot room is simply intolerable for most.
So although in the OP you ask what to do if there is no air-conditioning, the real answer is to never get into that situation ...
7
You can acclimatise to heat. After all, humans evolved in a warm climate. According to the University of Connecticut, it takes one or two weeks:
Heat acclimation is a broad term that can be loosely defined as a complex series of changes or adaptations that occur in response to heat stress in a controlled environment over the course of 7 to 14 days. ...
30
Air conditioning is unfortunately not universal in Germany. There is only little you can do:
Keep the window shades closed during the day (when you are likely to be absent) if they are on the outside or relatively bright.
Ask at the reception if they have a fan that you can borrow.
You already found that you can take a cold shower.
Opening the window only ...
2
Some sites are now doing price adjustments based on your setting, your history, and even your location / device type. Makes sense if they get more money.
Orbitz targets Mac users with more expensive hotels is one example.
A study on price at Northeastern University indicated:
We saw price steering from Sears, with the order of search results
varying ...
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