TOP TEN TRAVEL TIPS: The hotel edition.

Booking a hotel in a city you've never been to can be daunting, especially if it's not something you do often. And what do those star ratings mean anyway? I've stayed at wonderful 3 star hotels that felt like 5 star hotels, but I've also stayed at 3 star hotels that feel more like 1 star hotels (hello, the WHOLE of San Francisco).

These days I aim for 4 and 5 star hotels when my budget allows it, and I'm lucky that I get to book my own business travel, so I have a lot of flexibility. Needless to say, I learned a lot of this stuff the hard way. On average I stay in hotels 8-15 nights a month, or more, but never less. I think it's safe to say: I've seen them all!

Here are my official top 10 tips for getting the most out of your hotel stay:

1. My #1 tip for booking hotels, is to narrow your search down to 1 or 2 options, and then READ THE REVIEWS. Online reviews are very helpful, and will often tell you more about the hotel than you can see from their website. Other travelers will also post their own photos for a more realistic representation of the facilities and/or surroundings.
2. Check with your hotel beforehand, often hotels have airport shuttle services for free. You can arrange with them to pick you up if you’re budget conscious. I recommend calling them to check, as they don’t always list this service on their website or through other travel sites.
3. Always, and I mean ALWAYS check for bedbugs. Make sure you buy your bed bug detector and check for those pesky bugs first, before getting comfy. Check out BuggyBeds to stock up.
4. Mention that you did some research on trip advisor (or site of your choice) and that you’d prefer a certain floor or section of the hotel as those had the best reviews. Mention that you also post reviews. They will give you the golden treatment. Want extreme VIP treatment? Become a blogger, blog about hotels and let them know upfront that you’ll be coming. You’ll be sure to get a good room with some perks! You have to actually be a blogger (brand new, or old) for this to work, though. Don’t make stuff up!
5. Best hotel programs :
   1. Hotels.com – free nights, unrestricted, after you stay 10 nights, and this is unlimited for every 10 nights you stay. Actually, accumulating hotel points or free nights saves you more than collecting frequent flyer miles for free flights. Think about it: A flight may cost you $500, $1000, $1200? Well, if you want to take a real vacation that’s 2 weeks long and stay fairly comfortably, a hotel can easily cost you $200 per night - that’s $2800 for hotels!!! Collect those points, and get part or all of your stay for free.
   2. Hilton – they have one of the best programs in my opinion. You can collect Hilton Honors points to use towards free hotel or you can convert the point to miles on one of your frequent flyer programs. You also get airline miles with every stay – it all adds up. The points you earn also earn you membership status, which gives you extra perks like free upgrades to better rooms, free breakfast, and bonus points, to mention a few.
   3. Starwood Preferred (SPG) works similarly, and is a good one too.
6. Stay at hotels in business districts if you’re staying over a weekend – their weekend rates are usually cheaper.
7. Write down your hotel info prior to getting on the plane – cellphone batteries have a habit of dying.
8. Pick up a hotel business card at the front desk when you check-in. That way, when you leave the hotel and you get lost (or drunk – lets be honest), you can get back easily by showing it to the cab driver or a local passing by.
9. Call the hotel ahead of time if you like having extra hangers for all your clothes, extra pillows (or a certain type of pillow), and a baby crib if you’re travelling with a kid. They will make sure your room has everything when you check in, and saves you time and energy when you really need every bit to spare after a long trip, especially if you’ve been travelling with kids who are now tired, cranky and want to/don't want to go to bed.
10. If you have a credit card on file, you never need to check out of the hotel. Often, this is a waste of time – you stand in long lines just to confirm the amount you’ll be paying (if you spent anything on your room). They charge your card anyway, so if you’ve reviewed your bill that they slide under your door the night before, you are good to go! No long line-ups and time wasters. #timeismoney

If you're a frequent traveler too, or just happened to come across something great, please share your tips with me and the travel community by commenting below. When it comes to making my hotel stay better - I'll take what I can get! Happy travels!