Have you ever come across articles about the secrets hotels don’t want you to know? If so, then this is the complete opposite. In collaboration with The Webbington Hotel, I’ve put together a list of seven hotel ‘secrets’ which hotels would love guests to know about. It’s basically everything we want to hear as travellers and hotels are totally OK with that!

1. Complain!

Apparently, there’s nothing more saddening than seeing a guest have a less-than-perfect time during their stay. If you have an issue then talk to a member of staff about it, someone on the front desk should be more than happy to help. This way, the hotel can rectify the problem and ensure you have the best possible stay. Having a moan on TripAdvisor may make you feel better later, but identifying an issue with someone is how you get a better room, a free meal or drink and, more importantly, a much more enjoyable time.

2. Book Direct for the Best Customer Service

Guess what? If you’re booking through another website you won’t be getting the same experience as if you book directly with the hotel, and you may still be paying more unless you go direct! Most hotels, including the Webbington, offer special offers and benefits to guests who book directly via their website or phone, instead of going through an online travel agency, such as offering a free breakfast.

3. Take The Toiletries – Leave The Linen

You know how you always feel a little bit naughty when you pack up all those little soaps, shampoos and conditioners? Take them all! They are included in your room rate and every time you use them when you’re not at the hotel makes you remember your stay. Linen,on the other hand, is a different matter, taking that is simply theft and you’re likely to get a bill for it.

4. Need A Charger? Ask!

It is unbelievable how many people leave their phone chargers behind and never come back for them (after all it’s only a charger). This means the majority of hotels have an abundance of chargers you can borrow if you’ve forgotten your one. So, next time you leave your charger at home or lose it when travelling, just go and ask the front desk if they can lend you the one you need.

5. Ask for Perks, but do it Quietly…

Hotels like to upgrade guests almost as much as you like to be upgraded, the problem lies if you ask us for an upgrade when other guests are also around. If you do this then they either have to let you down or upgrade everyone which unfortunately is not always possible.

Try making subtle hints, like “is this your best available room?” This way there is flexibility in your request and front desk staff can quickly change it during the “let me check” pause. 

6. Hotels Are Glamourous Tourist Information Points

The amount of local knowledge the front desk of a hotel accumulates is astonishing, this means they pretty much know everything there is to know about the area. So if you’re looking to venture out for dinner or a few drinks, the number of a local taxi company, or maybe the cheapest way to get tickets to some of the local attractions – talk to the front desk and watch the fountain of local knowledge glisten before your eyes!

7. Irons Are Available

You know that “hotel hack” of steaming your clothes with a hot shower to iron out the creases? Never works. Just ask for an iron! Most hotels have hordes of them in fact, all ready to be borrowed by guests to get those unsightly creases out of your clothes. Hotels are fully aware if the fact that guests come with a bag packed and we know that clothes don’t always travel very well.

Next time you go away, don’t waste your time on being unhappy or lost. Instead, remember the greatest tip of all time when on your travels is to ask!