Halooo! I write you all from the comfort of my suite in an undisclosed location in Seattle, Washington. We have stumbled into some amazing freebies this weekend and I just had to share them with you. The next time you are heading out of town, make sure to ask your hotel staff if they do any of the following:
1) Free hotel shuttles
We discovered (on accident after walking to the hotel) that our hotel offers a 24 hour shuttle to any destination within 1 mile. Want to see local sites? Need to pick up some groceries? All we have to do is call down to the front desk to notify the shuttle service. Sure, we may have to wait a few minutes for the shuttle to make the rounds. But in an unfamiliar city it is great to have a guide, and tipping our shuttle driver is MUCH cheaper than riding in a cab.
2) Free early check in/check out
We showed up at hour hotel 2 hours early, but we stopped in anyway to see if they had a room ready. They did, and they let us in with no extra charge. Should your hotel be lightly booked, you may be able to ask for free late check out service as well.
3) Free odds and ends
New to us (but we are going to start asking from now on), our hotel offers a variety of freebies that you can borrow during your stay. Forgot your phone charger? Lost you phone altogether? They have some that you can borrow until you check out.
4) Free baggage hold service
If you do get into town ahead of schedule, or have a meeting that will last beyond check out time and you CAN'T get early check in/out... did you know that the front desk will hold your luggage for you? It's true! Just ask. Before you leave your belongings behind though, make sure to ask how they secure your luggage. Many hotels have a hotel "vault" or secure room that they will hold it in.
Keep in mind that many of the cheapest of cheap hotels & motels won't offer all of these services. Consider that a hotel shuttle may balance out the cost of a more expensive room. Our hotel, for example is a 3+ star hotel (that I booked at a discount through Expedia.com), but the shuttle service alone has saved us about $40 in cab fare just in the day we've been here.
That's all for now - I'm going back to my rest and relaxation!
