A night in a hotel room can be the ultimate relaxing experience, but for some travelers it takes a few steps before they feel comfortable.
While many would assume that hotel rooms are freshly prepared and ready to use, this idea has been up for debate in recent years Ask Reddit forum.
When user ‘Powerful_Anxiety8427’ asked, ‘What’s the first thing you do when you get to your hotel room?’, hundreds of hotel guests jumped in to share their check-in routines.
And it turns out there are several areas that people inspect before settling.
Checking for bed bugs and adjusting the room temperature were popular answers to the question, “What’s the first thing you do when you get to your hotel room?”
Checking for bed bugs proved to be a hugely popular measure in the thread, with many users quickly agreeing with ‘bugman8704’, who wrote: ‘Inspect for bed bugs.’
User ‘in-a-microbus’ replied: ‘The former…sometimes the latter’.
Others agreed. ‘Chemical_Reality4606’ wrote: ‘Check immediately to see if they have a bed bug cover over the mattress and also inspect the mattress.’
The user said his roommate had brought bed bugs with him on a previous trip.
They added: ‘It was an absolute nightmare and I had to pay for the treatment out of pocket. So I inspect the ever-loving s*** from that mattress.”
Taking an even more extreme measure, user ‘1_2NV’ said: ‘Put on my disposable gloves and check for bed bugs.’
‘Realtomato’ also prioritizes hygiene, saying: ‘Wipe down the TV remote, door handles, light switches and toilet seat with antibacterial wipes.’
‘ParlayKingTut’ added to the discussion by revealing that they ‘always check the shower water pressure first’, adding: ‘That will quickly determine if I would stay at that hotel again.’
Meanwhile, others published longer lists.
“Fearedfurnacefighter” said, “Put my bag on the luggage rack; make sure the alarm on the alarm clock is not set; look for the USB outputs; look out the window; go to the bathroom and unpack.”
The final step to the almost military routine was ‘make sure I have my key card and go to the bar’.
Commenting on the user’s precise regimen, Redditor ‘lostandfound1’ said: ‘Unpacking? I never unpack. Probably for a three-week stay, but other than that my suitcase is my wardrobe.’
‘iconix_common’ revealed another specific routine, saying: ‘Drop bags; check out the view; inspect bathroom; check if there are surveillance cameras in the room; check if the refrigerator can be disconnected, as I despise the noise; check if the TV works; and set the air conditioning to a reasonable temperature.’
Adjusting the room temperature is another common habit, it seems, with another user revealing that the first thing he or she did was ‘mess with the temperature’.
According to user ‘LycaonKing421’, who claimed to work at a hotel reception, these room checking routines have not been lost on staff members.
Redditor ‘lostandfound1’ said: ‘Unpacking? I never unpack. Probably for a three-week stay, but otherwise my suitcase is my wardrobe’
The user revealed: ‘The sooner we discover there is a problem with the room, the more likely we are to help with it.’
The user urged hotel guests to inform staff of any issues as soon as they notice them, continuing: ‘If you spend the night and go to reception to claim compensation for an issue you are aware of was as soon as you checked in and don’t tell us until the morning we won’t be happy. We are not mind readers, so please don’t expect us to be.”
Although the thread shows that most guests have their own hotel room routines, some quickly fall out.
‘Able-Sky-7555’ simply said: ‘Belly flop on bed.’