Making Special Requests for Hotel Stays

Sometimes, All It Takes is a Quick Message to Get What You Want During Your Stay

You might think that you need to take extreme measures to get upgrades, free goodies, and extra things during your hotel stay. However, you don’t always need to have some sort of super secret plan to get a little more from your stay.

In a time when bad reviews can doom the fortunes of a hotel, motel, or B&B, it’s easier than ever to ask for things that might not otherwise come with your room or seem particularly obvious that they would.

For example, you can always request the basics and not have to worry about extra charges or difficulties. If you want an extra blanket for your bed, just call the front desk or housekeeping.

Similarly, don’t be afraid to ask for a few extra bottles of shampoo if you know you’ll need a bottle every day and your hotel stay is multiple days. The hotel won’t go bankrupt just because you’re a shampoo hog.

However, getting free stuff, upgrades, and special treatment at a hotel can go well beyond some extra towels and a bottle of shampoo. Let’s discuss some of the cool upgrades you can score for free or for just a bit of extra cash after you book your hotel.

(note: some of the links here are to websites with which I am an affiliate, and your purchases help fund my website!)

The view of the Pacific Ocean from a hotel near the beach in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. — This was the view from my hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.

Getting Late Check-Out or Early Check-In

Just because a hotel posts that its check-in time is 3 PM and its check-out time is 11 AM doesn’t mean those times are set in stone. Furthermore, securing early check-in or check-out is a superb way to get around inconvenient flight times.

If the only time you can arrive by plane is at 7 AM (some transatlantic flights don’t give you much choice), that means you could be standing in front of your hotel by 9 AM once you’ve gotten through customs/immigration and gotten your transportation handled.

One option with such an early flight is to find a place to hold your luggage until you can check into your room. However, you might find it a minor hassle to deal with your luggage multiple times on the first day you’re in your new city.

It never hurts to ask your hotel’s proprietor whether you can check in early or snag a few extra hours and check out late. Even if they only give you a few hours, that time could mean the difference between the hassle of finding some place for your luggage and having a less stressful itinerary in front of you.

At the very least, many hotels will hold your luggage for you when they can’t otherwise accommodate your early check-in request. Even if you can only drop your luggage off and then can’t check in for several hours, at least you won’t find yourself having to keep up with a bunch of suitcases while trying to enjoy your first moments in a new place.

A luxury hotel in Cartagena, Colombia — I had an amazing stay when I visited Cartagena, Colombia, but the room was pricey!

Getting Late Check-Out or Early Check-In

An Airbnb in Northern California with a friendly cat. — One of the Airbnbs we stayed at in Northern California had a house cat friend.

Booking an Extra Day to Accommodate Your Travel Schedule

Now, stay with me here: yes, booking an extra day at your hotel will cost more money, but sometimes that extra day is actually worth it in the grand scheme of things, even if you’re trying to keep costs down.

One of the best things you can do when traveling to the other side of the planet is arrange for a light day of activities on your arrival day or the day after. When you’re pushing 10 to 15 hours on a flight and a wholly different time zone from your home, planning a full day of activities may make the start of your vacation feel quite exhausting.

If your itinerary has you arriving at least eight hours before your scheduled check-in time, you may want to consider booking the previous day before you arrive so you can immediately check into your room. When I traveled to Colombia, I booked an extra day at our hotel (well, it was more like a B&B) and arranged for the manager to meet us at about 7 AM for a room I’d booked for the previous day.

After a red-eye flight and a super early morning arrival, we were able to chill in the room for a good five or six hours before our walking tour of Bogota. The added night was quite affordable and cost just $60 US extra.

Obviously, booking a whole extra night in a hotel isn’t always going to be feasible, especially if you’re spending a few days in an expensive area. However, it’s always something to consider should your arrival get you into town many hours before your check-in time.

A hotel in Hoi An, Vietnam. — A hotel I stayed in while visiting Vietnam.

Getting a Room Upgrade for Free

You shouldn’t automatically assume that getting an upgraded room at your hotel requires a lot of loyalty points in a frequent buyer program or extra money. Sometimes, all you need to do to get a better room is ask for one when you check-in.

The reason you should wait until you check in to see if you can score a room upgrade is that the hotel is less likely to assume that additional guests may come to the property who aren’t already registered for a night, so they may offer you an upgrade at no cost.

When you ask for an upgrade, whether it’s right after you book or on the day of your arrival when you’re standing at the front desk, don’t immediately offer to pay for the upgrade. Just request it and see what they say.

If you immediately offer to pay, expecting to score a discount on the upgrade, you might pass up the opportunity to get the room upgrade entirely for free. Sometimes, a nice person at the front desk is all you need for a better experience at your hotel.

Remember, too, that room upgrades don’t necessarily mean a better class of room or a bigger room. Sometimes, a great upgrade for you will feature a switch from a courtyard view to a city view. Or, you might get a better bed situation when you weren’t able to get the “right” beds in your room (maybe you could only get two twin beds and you wanted a queen).

The view out of a bus window in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. — A bus I took in Puerto Vallarta.

Checking for Free Shuttles Before You Book Taxis

Many large hotels and chain hotels offer shuttles from the airport or train station, but you don’t always have to pay for these options. Sometimes, depending on the country you’re visiting, the hotel will pick you up for free in a car, or you can catch a shuttle when you exit the airport.

When planning your international itinerary, you’ll need to plan just about every second of your day, which will often include taxis or shuttles when you’re not otherwise renting a car for a road trip.

It’s probably not necessary to choose a hotel based on whether they offer a shuttle or car service, but it’s definitely a nice perk to have when the option is available. It’s almost always possible to get a taxi at the airport, wherever you might be traveling, so don’t worry if your small independent hotel doesn’t offer transportation.

However, don’t go booking a taxi in advance until you check with your hotel’s proprietor to see if they offer one. In some cases, you can travel more cheaply by using the free service from the hotel. In other cases, the hotel may charge a modest fee, but the cost may still be less than a traditional taxi.

Furthermore, getting picked up by a representative of the hotel can offer an added degree of safety for your journey, so you don’t need to worry about an unknown taxi driver taking you on some costly route since you don’t know the city.