Due to the current conditions of Covid-19, many people will be staying home this holiday season. We fall under that category and I know, it’s hard. Last year we visited my parents in Germany with amazing Christmas markets and European castles so this year is a vast contrast.
However, many people will still be traveling this year, whether on vacation, business, or seeing family. And hey, I have hope that travel will open back up really soon!
As travel does start picking up the pace again, I have some tips for your next hotel stay.
Did you know that you can sleep better in a hotel room if you create a home away from home? Sleep.org recommends booking a room with the same size bed that you have at home. (Although I love splurging on a king bed when we’re on vacation!)
Keep reading to learn 8 ways to make your hotel room feel more like home!
#1: Stuff the Dresser
As soon as you enter your hotel room, set your suitcase down and unpack. Put all your clothes in the provided dresser and closet. It’s funny what staying clean and tidy can do for your mental well-being and keeping your clothes organized is a big step in the right direction.
You can even put your shoes and bathroom supplies away too. Whatever else you have in your suitcase, find a nice place for it somewhere in your room. If you want to get even homier, put your clothes in the dresser the same way you have them at home.
For example, my personal dresser holds my sweats in the top drawer, jeans in the middle, and shirts on the bottom. If I were to do this at a hotel, I would keep my clothes in the same spots so my mind would have a much easier time adjusting to the change.
#2: Use Your Own Soaps
Yes, we all love the fancy little soaps that are always provided in the bathroom. However, using your own shampoo and body wash from home will help you feel, well, at home. Fragrances are a powerful thing so just the smell alone of your beauty products can keep your body calm throughout the day and help you sleep better at night.
Also, I can’t be the only one whose hair doesn’t always agree with the hotel samples. I have very long, straight, thick hair and sometimes a new shampoo or conditioner just doesn’t get the job done well.
#3: Bring a Picture
Bring a picture of what, you might ask? Well, anything you want! Setting up a picture of your family or dog on your nightstand makes it feel like they are with you. Plus, seeing that picture in a place where you look often will inevitably put a smile on your face and smiles are always a good thing!
As you are unpacking your suitcase, make sure to find a really good spot for your picture. (And no, having pictures on your phone doesn’t count.)
#4: Have Your Own Entertainment
If you’re a frequent follower, you know that I love games! Nate and I always bring several of our favorite board or card games with us whenever we travel. Some of our favorite games best suited for traveling are Monopoly Deal, Mastermind, Hero Realms, and a regular deck of cards.
You can also bring that book you’ve been trying to finish or download a movie – whatever you would do at home.
Pro Tip: If you have children, allow them to bring a couple of their favorite toys and a blanket. Parker sleeps so much better in a hotel when he can go to bed with his dinosaur and feel the familiarity of his own blanket.
#5: Keep Your Normal Diet
Just as smell can trigger emotions, so can taste. We normally bring our favorite snacks with us to our hotel room, which means we leave with Doritos and popcorn crumbs all over the place. Okay, there may be some healthy foods mixed in there as well.
Especially with kids, it is so helpful to have their normal snacks on hand. Trust me, you will know when you need to pull them out.
#6: Kick Off Your Shoes
Kick off your shoes, but only if you do that at home. Honestly ask yourself, how do you act when you get home from work? Do you take your shoes off and immediately change into more comfy clothes? If so, do that in your hotel room too.
I will typically take my shoes off and wrap myself in a blanket as soon as I sit down. (As I’m writing this right now, I am barefoot with my feet propped up on our coffee table and a blanket over me.)
Don’t feel like you need to act a certain way just because you’re in a new place. If nobody sees you anyway, what does it matter?
#7: Move the Furniture
If you have never thought of this before, don’t worry. Neither had I! My husband worked at a hotel when we got married so this tip actually comes from him. He says that it’s totally acceptable to move around the couch or desk to suit your liking. Unfortunately beds are normally screwed into the ground so you can’t move that.
Basically, if you want to read your favorite book while looking at the ocean views of your room, don’t be afraid to move the furniture around so you can have what you want. The hotel workers don’t mind!
#8: Make the Employees Family
I honestly think this tip is the best and most effective one for me. What better way to feel like you’re at home with family then to make the people around you feel like family? This is especially helpful during the holidays.
Learn the employees’ names and use them. Tip them well like they are family as well and you will find that they will start treating you like family too.
You will have a lot more luxury to do what you want and get what you want from the hotel when you are nice to the employees. My husband can confirm that after working at a hotel (and as a family when we travel together).
What is your best tip to make your hotel room feel like home?
Did you like this article? Then you will love 9 Tips for a Successful Family Road Trip!
I love these ideas! I do many of these already. I love to make myself at home while travelling!
It makes the stay so much more comfortable!
We always use our own soap and shampoo. Just feels better to us.
Same! My hair needs special treatment haha
These are great ideas. I never considered bringing a photo – although I do like to bring my own soap and shampoo
I don’t typically bring a photo because I travel with my family and they’re the only ones I would want to see! 🙂
Cute ideas!
Thanks!
We always try to bring something from home with us. I hate unpacking so we unfortunately end up just leaving it all in the suitcase 🤣 we also like to walk around outside to get a feel of where we’ll be staying.
As a kid, I loved exploring our hotel right when we arrived. It was always a big adventure 🙂
Great suggestions! I always unplug the appliances if we aren’t using them to quiet the room at at night as well.
That’s a great idea! I might have to make a part 2 and add that!
Great tips and advice.. it’s always nice to feel ar home no matter where we are!
I agree!
I like to unpack too, if I’m staying more than a nite or two.
Hadn’t thot about a photo though. Good tip!
Unpacking can definitely bring a sense of familiarity to the room I think!
These are great ideas. I like the thought moving the furniture to get a better view!
Right? I wish I would’ve asked my husband about it sooner!
I love making the employees family! I think that is such a good idea. I love this concept!
Me too! I find it makes the stay a lot more fun 🙂
These are great ideas and I use some of them; haven’t tried moving the furniture but that’s on my list for our next stay over New Year’s! Have a wonderful Christmas!
Thank you! I hope you have a great New Year’s stay!
Such great ideas. I definitely am an unpacker, even if it’s just for a few days. It makes it feel less chaotic.
Definitely!
Love these! My go to is definitely to stuff the drawers.
I love it!
Great advice!
Thank you!
I love unpacking in a hotel room, really helps to keep my clean and used clothes separated lol. Great tips!
So true! I really prefer not to mix my clean clothes with the dirty ones 🙂
Using your own bathroom supplies is also great for the environment! Less plastic used with all the hotel sample sizes 🙂 I aim to do this from now on!
That’s a great point! Yay for going green!
Excellent ideas! We try to tip regularly. Who would have thought to rearrange! Thank you for that tip!!
Tipping is so nice! I’m sure the employees love you for it!
I love unpacking my stuff into the dresser! And we feel so much better when we eat our normal diet too. I bring a lot from home.
Same! We either bring food from home if it’s a road trip, or go to the grocery store when we arrive.
Great ideas. We are not usually ones to pack our things into the dressers (unless we are staying in the same place for at least a week). But I totally agree with treating the staff nicely! And as far as food is concerned, if we are on a road trip, we usually travel with a cooler so that we can have food with us. Eating out is nice, but we also like to just make our own stuff when we can.
It’s so much cheaper to bring your own food too! I’m with you on that!
Great tips! The first thing I do when I get to a hotel is to unpack!!
I love it!
I do all of these….except I’ve never taken a photo with me. I love that idea! I like to unpack the moment I arrive too. When I travel internationally I especially enjoy staying in an apartment or Airbnb. It really feels like home.
That’s a good idea! I prefer hotels normally, but I love immersing myself in the culture of wherever we are staying.
I love the idea of taking a photo with us! We always unpack, first thing, when we get there. I’m very uncomfortable when I feel disorganized, so that helps tremendously.
I know what you mean, I like to be organized when traveling too 🙂