It’s a question that’s gone on for decades – how much SHOULD you tip hotel housekeeping staff? We intended to find out.
Continue reading “How Much Should You Tip Hotel Housekeeping Staff?”
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Tag: Hotels
Our Weekly Recap: 8/27/17 – 9/2/17
Hi y’all and if you’re reading this in the United States, happy Labor Day weekend! Here’s a quick recap of our posts from the past week:
Joe wrote about:
- What each of the major rental car companies offer when you sign up for their respective programs.
- National Car Rental’s “One Two Free” promotion.
- The upcoming hotel promotions for this winter season and why it’s a good idea to sign up for their respective programs ahead of time.
- Our experience of flying Delta Basic Economy.
- His review of the American Express Platinum card and if he thought it was worth our renewing.
Sharon wrote about:
- Her review of the PacSafe portable safe.
- Two contests where you could win a free Disney Cruise (they’re legit contests – not hoaxes!)
- How to not be THAT guy/gal/airline/airport.
- A #TBT look back at their last day at Tokyo Disney Sea in April, 2005.
- The controversy of taking kids out of school to go on family vacations.
- Silvercar’s arrival in Orlando, plus a Silvercar sweepstakes!
Like this post? We have plenty more just like it and would love if you decided to hang around and clicked the button on the top of this page to follow our blog and get emailed notifications of when we post (it’s usually just once or twice a day). Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
Make Sure You Get All Your Points
There are many things you can do to earn points and miles. Most commonly these are flying on a plane, staying at a hotel or renting a car and it’s up to you to make sure you get credit for all of these activities. Following these tips below will help make sure that you get credit for all the points you deserve:
Hotel Review: Fitzpatrick Grand Central
We just returned from a long weekend trip to New York City, where our plans for the weekend centered around going to see the Classic East concert at Citi Field in Queens. When I was looking for a place to stay, there were not many options in Queens by the 7 train line that goes right to the ballpark. I saw that after leaving Queens, the 7 train’s first Manhattan stop is at Grand Central Station so my hotel search focused in on that area. There were several chain hotels in the area but when I looked at TripAdvisor, one independent hotel stood out – the Fitzpatrick Grand Central, originally built in 1916.
Our Weekly Recap: 7/23/17 – 7/29/17
Hi everyone! It’s the weekend! Woo HOO! Here’s a quick recap of our posts this week:
Joe wrote about:
- The strangest things that have been seen in hotel rooms.
- How to find cheap airfare when searching for flights.
- His review of the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card.
- The targeted bonus membership rewards available to some Amex holders.
- If you should book a hotel room directly with the hotel website or with an external website.
Sharon wrote about:
- Ways to avoid the crazy toll fees when renting a car in Orlando.
- Tools available to know what’s at the next exit on road trips.
- Floating hot tubs in canals in the Netherlands and London.
- The upcoming tighter screening procedures by the TSA.
- Her & Joe’s second day at Tokyo Disney Sea in April, 2005, in a #TBT post
Like this post? We have plenty more just like it and would love if you decided to hang around and clicked the button on the top of this page to follow our blog and get emailed notifications of when we post (it’s usually just once or twice a day). Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
Is It Worth The Extra Money To Book A Room Directly From The Hotel Website?
The hotel chains have spent a lot of money on marketing to try to get you to book a hotel room directly with them by using their website or app and have gone with the “carrot and stick” approach to achieve that goal. On one hand, they’ve gone out of their way to market special low “Member Exclusive Rates” that are only available to members of their loyalty program and “Best Rate Guarantees” that tell you if you find a cheaper rate after booking with them, they’ll match it and lower the rate even further. At the same time, the hotel chains penalize you for booking anywhere except directly with them. Some of these “sticks” are they don’t give you any recognition of your loyalty status or let you earn any points in their program when staying on externally booked stays. They’ll also only give perks like free Wi-Fi if you’ve booked directly with them.
When I say you need to book direct with the hotel, I mean you use the hotel’s website, the hotel chain’s website, the smartphone app for the hotel chain, or by calling the hotel to make a reservation.
When I mention using an “external” website, that is basically everything else. Websites like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotels.com, Priceline, Hotels Tonight, Hotwire and Booking.com are just some of them. If you’re completing the booking anywhere but with the hotel, it’s an external website.
Hotel search engines like Trivago, Kayak and TripAdvisor show you prices directly from the hotel as well as from external sites, so it’s best to use something like that to see who has the cheapest price.
So, should you only book your hotel rooms directly with the hotel even if an external site is less expensive? Continue reading “Is It Worth The Extra Money To Book A Room Directly From The Hotel Website?”
What’s The Strangest Thing You’ve Seen In A Hotel Room?
Most hotel stays are uneventful and that’s a good thing. Occasionally you’ll have a memorable stay at a really nice place and other times you’ll endure a night somewhere that “did not live up to expectations” and that’s life.
However, there can also be that hotel you remember for that ONE thing that made it, different or unique or just flat out weird. I’m not talking about cultural differences like a bidet or tea kettle. I’m talking about things you’ve never seen before.
With some contributions from our friend Steve, here are some of the things we’ve found in hotel rooms that to this day make us scratch our heads in bewilderment.
Continue reading “What’s The Strangest Thing You’ve Seen In A Hotel Room?”
