The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Sarah Marshal
A night in a hotel room can be the ultimate switch-off experience, but for some travellers a few steps need to be taken before getting comfortable.
While many would assume hotel rooms come freshly prepared and ready to use, the notion has been up for debate in an 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 checking-in routines.
And, it turns out, there are multiple areas people inspect before settling in.
Checking for bed bugs and tweaking the room temperature were popular responses to the question: ‘What’s the first thing you do when you get to your hotel room?’
Checking for bed bugs proved a hugely popular measure in the thread, with many users quick to agree with ‘bugman8704’, who wrote: ‘Inspect for bed bugs.’
User ‘in-a-microbus’ responded: ‘First thing… sometimes last thing, too’.
Others concurred. ‘Chemical_Reality4606’ wrote: ‘Immediately see if they have a bed-bug cover on the mattress and inspect the mattress as well.’
The user said that their roommate had brought home bed bugs on a previous trip.
They added: ‘It was an absolute nightmare and I had to pay out of pocket for treatment. So, I inspect the ever-loving s*** out of that mattress.’
Taking an even more extreme measure, user ‘1_2NV’ said: ‘Put on my disposable gloves and check for bed bugs.’
‘Realtomato’ prioritises hygiene, too, commenting: ‘Wipe down TV remote, door handles, light switches and toilet seat with antibacterial wipes.’
‘ParlayKingTut’ contributed to the discussion by revealing that they ‘always check the water pressure of the shower first’, adding: ‘That will quickly determine if I would stay in that hotel again.’
Meanwhile, others issued longer lists.
‘Fearedfurnacefighter’ said: ‘Put my bag on the luggage rack; make sure the alarm on the alarm clock isn’t set; look for the USB outlets; look out the window; use the bathroom and unpack.’
The final step to the almost-military routine was to ‘make sure I have my key card and go check out the bar’.
Responding to the user’s precise regime, Redditor ‘lostandfound1’ said: ‘Unpack? I never unpack. Probably would for a three-week stay, but otherwise my suitcase is my wardrobe.’
Revealing another specific routine, ‘iconix_common’ said: ‘Drop bags; check out the view; inspect bathroom; check for surveillance cameras in the room; check if the fridge can be unplugged as I despise the noise; check TV works; and adjust the air-conditioning to a reasonable temp.’
Tweaking the room temperature is another common habit, it seems, with another user revealing that the first thing they did was ‘mess around with the temperature’.
According to user ‘LycaonKing421’, who claimed to work at the front desk at a hotel, these room-checking routines are not lost on staff members.
Redditor ‘lostandfound1’ said: ‘Unpack? I never unpack. Probably would for a three-week stay, but otherwise my suitcase is my wardrobe’
The user revealed: ‘The faster we learn that there’s an issue with the room, the more likely we can help with it.’
Urging hotel guests to inform staff of any problems as soon as they notice it, the user continued: ‘If you spent the night and go to the front desk demanding compensation for an issue you knew about 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.’
While it seems from the thread that most guests have their own hotel room routines, some are quick to simply crash out.
