How Can You Get a Room Upgrade at a Hotel?
Keys to a Room Upgrade
An upgraded room at the Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten
Image copyright Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten
How Can You Get a Room Upgrade at a Hotel?If you want a room
upgrade -- a better quality room for the price of a standard room -- you
have to ask. Although there are no guarantees, knowing how and when to
ask just may land you that coveted room upgrade. Here are some
techniques that may just land you that coveted upgrade.
Rather
than booking online, make a call and ask the reservation manager about
any specials the hotel is offering and whether you can have a room
upgrade. When you book a stay during the hotel's off season or a slow
time of the week, your chances are better. And if you've had the
opportunity to join the hotel's frequent visitor program, your request
will have more clout.
No Upgrade Yet? Ask Again. And Again.
If
the reservation desk can't upgrade you immediately, ask again a few
days before your stay when you confirm your reservation. Still no luck?
Ask again when you check into the hotel. If you're only staying a day or
two and they haven't booked a higher-price room by the time you arrive,
the hotel manager may be willing to grant your request.
Make a Connection
It
helps if you mention you're celebrating a special occasion like a
birthday or anniversary. But I don't recommend fibbing. It would be
better to honestly tell the person your dealing with your real story,
such as "My wife has been working so hard with the kids, I'd love her to
be able to enjoy her much-needed vacation with an upgraded room."
Connecting
with hotel staff members you're talking to in a sincere, friendly way
always makes a big impact. If you're not good with people you don't
know, ask your warm-and-fuzzy significant other or friend to do the
talking.
Strength in Numbers
If you organize a stay
for a group of visitors -- say for a reunion or business meeting -- the
resort will likely be very willing to reward you either with a room
upgrade or a free stay.
A Few More Upgrade Strategies
You did your research. You booked a really plush room at Hotel
Chaching for a great rate: $150 per night. You spent less than 14 hours
there. But your bill at check-out is over $225--and that's before taxes.
What happened?
Hotels have plenty of ways to earn more of your hard-earned cash
sprinkled cleverly all around the building and even in your guest room.
Mini bars, fitness centers, spas, restaurants and room service are all
profit centers for the hotel, and a cash drain for you. But you can
enjoy your hotel stay and still escape with a bill that more closely
reflects the rate you signed on for. Follow these five tips to cut your
hotel bill by 40 percent or more.
Feel like you're cheating when you cruise in the front door rolling
your bellman-buster suitcase? Don't worry. You'll save enough with these
tips to spend an entire extra night at Chaching Hotel. Or spend it
instead on a splurge, like a massage in the spa or appetizers and drinks at the hotel's fabulous (read: fabulously expensive) signature restaurant.
Read on to learn how to reduce that hotel bill by nearly half.
If you already travel fairly often, you're likely doing the basics.
But it doesn't hurt to check. Let's start with a few no-brainer ways to
save money on your hotel stay:
Hotel Chaching has a convenient fitness center. They'll charge you
$35 per day, per person to use it. That's like paying over a thousand
dollars a month for a gym membership. And this gym is only slightly
bigger than your dorm room. Unless it's included free with your stay,
skip the hotel gym.
Now, should you skip the workout? No dice, and don't use me as an
excuse. Exercising while on the road is essential for maintaining your
good health and keeping your stress levels in check. There are ways to
get a great workout without padding your hotel bill.
Start with the on-demand channel in your in-room TV's menu. Chances
are good they've got a handful of exercise videos, absolutely free and
ready to go around your schedule. I've seen yoga,
Pilates, core workouts and even Bollywood Booty videos free for the
asking on hotel TV sets. Spread a towel on the floor and press play.
Weather and neighborhood permitting, another great option is to ask
the concierge for a walking/jogging path near the hotel. They can likely
give you a map and point the way. Many will hand you a bottled water to
take along.
Chaching! You just saved $35-$70 per day. On to the next money-saving tip.
3 Bring Your Own Entertainment
Hotel Chaching has the latest Hollywood movies and network TV shows
on-demand on your guest room TV, and it will cost you--$14.99 to rent
one movie. We can do better.
You probably already have a Netflix plan. (For about ten bucks a month, you can stream movies and TV shows to your laptop computer.) Amazon.com also streams movies and TV shows, many of which are free if you have a Prime account. And Hulu.com
is a great place to catch up on the latest prime-time network TV shows,
free. Of course, you can watch on your computer, but with a little
inexpensive tech we can improve the experience.
Many hotels have media docks that let you plug your equipment right
into the TV without having to dig around behind the furniture. You'll
need to bring an extra cable. If your laptop has an HDMI cable output,
you lucky devil, this step is easy. One cheap HDMI cable [compare prices] is all you need to connect your laptop with the hotel's media dock or straight into the TV.
DVI is another common laptop computer-to-TV interface, and will give
you a pretty good picture. If you have a DVI output on your laptop, a
DVI-to-HDMI adapter cable [compare prices] will do the trick in most hotel rooms. You'll need to add an audio cable; see below.
More typically, a laptop will have a 15-pin VGA jack that's used to
connect it to an external monitor. You'll need a cable that converts it
to an input the TV can use, like an S-video cable. Luckily these cables
are common and cost a couple of bucks [compare prices]. You'll also need an audio cable that connects the computer's speaker or headphone jack to the audio-in of the hotel's TV [compare prices]. These are also cheap and readily available.
(Confused? How Stuff Works has an article describing this in more detail. Once you get the right cables, the rest is easy.)
Not traveling with a laptop? I've been known to pack up my old-school Apple TV [compare prices]
(it's only about the size of my outspread palm) and hook it straight
into the TV with an HDMI cable. It takes about thirty seconds and give
me access to my entire home library of movies, TV shows and iTunes
songs. Beware, though; the new version of Apple TV has no hard drive; it
only streams content, which means you'll have to have an Internet
connection to make it work.
Congratulations! You've invested less than $5 in cables and saved $15
or more every night you stay in a hotel. And you're very entertained.
But don't stop there...
You love the convenience of Wifi in your hotel room, and more
importantly, you need it to get your work done and stay in touch. But
the prices Hotel Chaching charges are outrageous--$15 per 24-hour
period, per device--and worse, the signal's not reliable. There's got to be a better way.
Try plugging an AirCard modem [compare prices]
into your laptop's USB port. These tiny devices can work with a service
contract with your cell phone company--most providers have some version
of the device. WiseGeek has an article running down the basics of AirCards. You can also get a prepaid sim card
to use in your AirCard, so you can connect to the internet
contract-free. Alternatively, I've heard you can purchase an unlocked
AirCard and insert the sim card from your smartphone. You'd be using you
existing data plan to surf with your laptop.
Congratulations! You've saved another $15 a day at Hotel Chaching. Keep going...
- Frequent flier miles can be turned in for upgrades, but the exchange is only a good idea if you don't think you'll need the points for building credit for a free flight.
- If a hotel has seriously disappointed you with a significant service failure, such as not cleaning your room or mishandling your baggage, you can always suggest they can make it up to you with a room upgrade. Use this tactic judiciously, however, or you'll be written off as a conniving whiner.
- And finally, if you're not already a member of the resort's loyalty program, join it so you will have a better chance for an upgrade the next time you louge
Five Ways to Reduce Your Hotel Bill by 40 Percent
Paying the hotel bill
Image courtesy Getty Images CR: Ross M Horowitz
#1 Cover the Basics
Rolling suitcase
Image courtesy Getty Images CR: Robert Daly- You pack light in a shoulder bag or rolling suitcase you can handle without the bellman's help.
- You don't make calls on the hotel phone; you're using your cell phone for both local and long-distance calls.
- You don't order room service unless you're splurging or burning the midnight oil on an essential project. When you do order, you don't overtip by adding to the 18 percent included service charge.
- You booked a package that has free valet parking, you picked a hotel with free parking, you've checked out your parking options, or you skipped the rental car and found a more economical way to get around.
- You spotted the resort fee they tried to slip past you at check-in and negotiated it away. If you're there on business you aren't going to be hanging out by the pool anyway. (If you're a leisure traveler, just ask what the fee covers and make sure it's something you're going to use during your stay.)
Hotel fitness center
Image copyright Charlyn Keating Chisholm, licensed to About.com.
3D Glasses
Image courtesy Getty Images CR: Richard Newstead
#4 Bring Your Own Wifi
Laptop Computer
Image courtesy Getty Images CR:ColorBlind Images
