Practice Etiquette in Your Hotel

There are ways to make sure you are a wonderful hotel guest who will be welcomed back any time. While you may want to make yourself at home, it's important to practice proper etiquette.

Understanding and following these general etiquette tips will ensure you have an enjoyable, and trouble-free, break from your home environment.

Throw out your own trash. When you eat or even open toiletries, throw whatever you don't want into the garbage can. While the housekeeping staff will come into the room to tidy things up, you can still clean up after yourself.

Be a Gracious Guest

It is customary to tip the porter who delivers your luggage to your hotel room. It is also courteous to tip other members of staff who tend to your requests. A tip shows appreciation for the service you have received so it is recommended that you show gratitude. However, as a verbal thank you can also sometimes be sufficient, it is important to make sure you offer a tip to a staff member who has run more than one errand for you, or who has been especially helpful.

Give adequate tips to the employees at the hotel. People you should tip include the bellboy, room service and the valet. Pay them what they deserve and thank them for their service.Tipping cheaply may result in mediocre service for the rest of your stay at the hotel, as not many people want to make a massive effort for very little money.

Tips for Tips

Just because you are paying to stay at the hotel it does not mean you have to make demands. Unless your room is dirty, untidy or unsuitable for your needs being a gracious guest means you can enjoy your break without getting stressed. If you ask for room service or additional pillows etc. do allow staff sufficient time to fulfill your request before making further demands.

Be kind to the hotel employees and say "please" and "thank you." Whether you are staying one night or several, you should be polite and genuinely nice to those who work at the hotel--not only just for the sake of doing it, but also because you may be treated better. The employees may be more willing to be extra accommodating to you if they know they're helping someone who is respectful and pleasant.

Sort your own dirty clothes from the hotel's dirty linens and towels. Housekeeping shouldn't have to sort through your dirty underwear and shirts to get to the towels and pillowcases they need to take to be laundered. When you finish using the towels and linens, put them in a single pile so they are easily accessible, and put your dirty laundry elsewhere.

Avoid being demanding. Whether you are calling for extra pillows or ordering room service, give them enough time to fulfill your request. While you may want things done sooner rather than later, there are other people staying at the hotel, and some of them are making the same requests you are.

Whilst it is not obligatory to tip the person who changes your towels and makes your bed, a tip is always welcome. Do not however, wait to leave a tip on the last day of your stay, as you may well end up tipping a maid who hasn’t actually been in your room before – as staff will probably work on a shift pattern basis. It is therefore best to leave a small tip each day.

Community

A hotel is a mini-community. We don't usually seek out those around us (that might be a little creepy), but they are still there. Remember that excessive noise in the hallway and the room can usually be heard through the walls and will probably be disturbing to other guests, especially late at night. Also, children don't usually understand this concept so it's our job to let them know they need to control their volume as much as possible. Even moderately loud television volume or conversation might be audible in the next room. Listen around you when you get to your room to see what kind precautions you might take to improve the quality of someone else's stay.

And if someone else is being loud, you might knock on their door and let them know. "Hi," you might say. "I think the walls are very thin here, and I wanted to let you know I can hear much of your conversation. Please feel free to step next door and let me know if I'm being too loud."

Kindness in that situation usually throws people off guard since the usual response is passive-aggressive loudness or an old-fashioned shouting match.

Throwing in the Towel

Bed linen, bath towels and any other kind of frequently used item will quite likely be replaced on a daily basis. Staff will be on hand to clean up after you. However, do not be tempted to take advantage of this. Place all rubbish in the bin and aim to treat your hotel room like it is your own home. This includes keeping your own dirty laundry separate from the hotel’s linen. Some hotels provide a clothes cleaning service and will list the appropriate action to take, in the guest handbook, if you wish to use this facility.

Leaving the towels in a pile, putting trash in the bin and generally putting things back where they belong is helpful to the cleaning service, but it also can ensure that you don't forget something on your way out.