Get Premium Hotel Service By Asking These Questions

If you travel often, you could probably use a little VIP service every once in a while. A perpetual parade of coach flights, cabs, and economy-class hotel rooms will make you feel like George Babbit with a low pulse. You have two choices: you can exist in mediocrity and hope that something special lands in your lap, or you can read on and learn how to get some VIP treatment for yourself.

If you’re proactive, and possibly a little nervy, you can root out great amenities that aren’t generally advertised to John Q Hotel Guest. The trick is that you have to ask – you have to know what to ask FOR. It’s not intuitive questioning, either. Pardon the existentialism, but it’s a valid question: how do you know what to ask for when you don’t even know what exists? What are these hotels hiding, and why are they hiding it? Best advice: don’t get lost in this! Don’t rationalize, just take!

What to Ask

Often, if you use the same hotel on a regular basis, you can cozy up to the staff and get top flight care. If not, to get unadvertised VIP amenities, you want to ask the following questions… but remember, don’t ask within earshot of other guests. If the hotel suddenly has to grant your request to everyone, they’re much more likely to say no.

1. If you book through an online site such as Priceline or Expedia, take the quote and call the hotel directly. Reference the quote and ask if you can pay 20% less. With the 30% commission taken by the online booker, they’ll actually make more from you.
2. Ask for a corner or a handicapped room to get a more spacious room for the same price.
3. If you want privacy, ask the front desk to tell callers you aren’t registered at the hotel. There’s no better way to keep it all under the hat short of checking in under a stage name!
4. Further on the privacy front, ask the front desk where to park so your car can’t be seen from the road or interstate. This way, your legions of adoring fans won’t know when you’re in town.
5. Specifically request clean linens. Sometimes the bedspreads go more than a month without being laundered, and worse, the blankets can go up to a week in some cases.
6. Ask for a free breakfast. If there’s a buffet, ask that it be included in your room charge. This is an easy request as breakfast buffets are generally cheap.
7. It’s easier for the front desk to remove WiFi charges from your bill at checkout than it is for them to authorize free WiFi services in advance at check-in. Ask that WiFi charges be removed form you bill at that time.

One more thing… and this is very important: never call with a special request between 9am and 1pm. This is every hotel’s busy time, and there’s a stronger likelihood that your request will be denied by a stressed out and irritated front desk attendant.