How To Never Leave Anything Behind In Your Hotel Room

by SharonKurheg

It’s happened to everyone; maybe even you. You pack up to leave your hotel room, go out the door, fly to your next location, and as you unpack you realize that the power brick for your laptop is gone – you must have left it on the desk in your room. Or you forgot to grab the khakis you wore last night and threw on the chair. Or you left your electric toothbrush in the bathroom.

The first time I ever went on vacation as an adult, I realized when I got home that I had left my nightshirt on the bed. It wasn’t a big deal to me; it wasn’t a very expensive nightshirt and I had others. But from that point forward I made sure I checked everything before I left a hotel room. And to make sure I didn’t miss a nook or cranny, I had a special way of doing it…

To make a long story short, I started in one part of the room and worked my way around until I had gone through everything. It was simple, it took about a minute or less, and it worked.

Fast forward a little more than 25ish years and I discover that someone at USA Today has roughly the same “check the room” habits as me. Who woulda thunk?

Here’s what Christine posted on USA Today:

I find a starting place, usually the front door, and I walk through the room, checking the floor, surfaces, and any closets or drawers as I pass, making sure to look under things like beds and tables.

Because I’m usually staying in a normal-sized hotel room (pity the poor fool with a suite; they would need at least half a minute for this), this process takes about 15 seconds. I’ve then got another 15 seconds to head into the bathroom and look everywhere—the counters, any drawers, the bathtub (sometimes I forget that I’ve hung laundry there to dry), and the back of the door.

In 30 seconds, I’ve just cleared the whole room and gathered any straggler items (there’s usually at least one).

I can confirm from many years of experience that Christine’s method works. 😉

Oh, and to make sure you don’t leave anything in the safe? Do this. Works every time!

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

3 comments

Robert August 26, 2020 - 7:40 pm

Hi
I pack 90% the night before leaving, including the safe contents. All that goes in my pocket is collected on my night-table. Anything I charge, I also try to do it there. The clothes I am wearing the next day ( even jacket/ sweater ) are piled up on a chair, shoes underneath. In the AM I stretch my bedsheet so I have a clean high contrast surface to work with. I methodically open every single drawer and dump everything I missed the night before into that bed. Same for closet. As I perform my toiletries, I also leave them on the bed. With bags at the door, I perform one final walk through inspection (specially useful for those pesky overseas electrical adapters which I sometimes forget to unplug with the charging cord). So far about 99% success rate.

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Bob Jonas January 21, 2023 - 8:36 pm

Good post but I think literally everyone does this

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SharonKurheg January 21, 2023 - 9:00 pm

Based on the amount of things hotels have (if you want to borrow), I’d tend to disagree. Especially people who don’t travel on a regular basis.

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