May 20, 2012
It was a rough night at my hotel by LAX last night. A few different issues arose that could have been disastrous for the hotel. In the end, the hotel’s actions caused more alarm than I’m sure they intended and I ended up with almost no sleep.
First, the fire alarm got pulled and management made an announcement across the loud speaker that they were looking into this. This woke me out of a sound sleep when a deep voice came over the sound system in the hallway (though it might have been in my hotel room since the voice was very loud). “Looking into it,” they said. Should I be concerned and leave my room, or Read more of this article »
Posted by Carol Margolis under Hotel Living, Safety |
August 26, 2011
I like maid service … every day. I like clean towels, a bed that’s made up, empty garbage cans and plenty of coffee.
So why did I hang the “Make a Green Choice” card outside my door on this visit to the Westin? I’d like to say it’s for the sole reason of “being green” and reducing the number of towels and sheets that need to be laundered, but that wouldn’t be the truth.
Here’s why the Green Choice card is dangling on the outside of my hotel room door:
- I want to try something different, get out of my comfort zone, and see how long I can deal with an un-maid room, and
- I’d like to see my SPG reward points grow a bit faster.
How am I doing?
Well, the sign wasn’t hanging outside my door today. Two days without maid service and I’m waving the white flag. I need my room cleaned!
I’ve been out of my comfortable zone long enough. It’s time to get this room back in ship-shape order.
A messy person I’m not, though I am spreading my stuff around the room more than normal since I’m not doing my morning pre-maid straightening up. When I return to my room in the evening, I feel let down that the hotel took my seriously about my “green choice.” I half-way expected my room to be magically cleaned up anyway.
Instead, here’s what my room looks like: Full garbage cans, no coffee bags and 3-day old towels. (Yes, I could’ve asked for more coffee or clean towels to be brought to my room but I wanted to do the full experiment.)
What have this experiment told me?
I tried something new. I survived. And I did reduce the amount of laundry to be washed. I also learned my limit –2 days of maid-free. And I recognized that I need a respite. Give me one day of maid service and I think I’ll be ready to do it again. I’m part-way through a ten night stay, so this happy medium may work out well – more reward points and more conserving of water – all good things.
What about you? Do you “do green” for green reasons? For points or money? Or do you prefer to not “do green” at all?
To receive a free copy of our ebook, 70 Secrets to Safe Travel — Because Your Life Can Change in a Heartbeat, and for more travel savvy info to help you travel smarter, safer and with more enjoyment, visit SmartWomenTravelers.com and PearlsofTravelWisdom.com. Watch for my new book, Business Travel Success … How to Reduce Stress, Be More Productive and Travel with Confidence, being published by Morgan James in 2011.
Posted by Carol Margolis under Hotel Living, Travel |
June 28, 2011
If you’re like me and travel a lot, you could sometimes use a friendly reminder. Send out that report before 5 PM, get to the gym before dinner, join that conference call … all tasks that can easily get lost when on the road. The reminders on my phone can get lost in all of the other notifications I get throughout the day.
Wakerupper.com helps me get over these hurdles and keeps me on track, especially when I’m traveling. You can set up free phone call reminders for anything – so much more than just a wake-up call! You can even leave yourself a little note to be read back to you when the call comes in. My busy life just got a bit more manageable.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Carol Margolis under Hotel Living, Travel, Web/Tech |
April 29, 2011
One of the many challenges of travel is to figure out how things work in different environments. In a hotel room, we need to figure out how to turn on and off the lights, how to change the temperature, how to work the coffee pot, turn on the television and turn on the shower. Sometimes even figuring out how to flush the toilet can be interesting.
I am definitely challenged my hotel room this week, which happens to be in Oslo, Norway:
How to turn off the bedside lamps? Ah, reach behind the table and pull up a switch.
How to change Read more of this article »
Posted by Carol Margolis under Hotel Living, Travel |
