Your room is not ready now!

[Bandit]

I have to admit that I once did go to check into a hotel at 9:30am.

Didn't have a problem as I had booked the room with the corporate credit card for the night before for 2 nights, and ended up pulling an all-nighter rebuilding the voice mail system at an office in Detroit.

Every now and again, I can surprise people that I *do* have an IQ above room temperature.

B

[BookstoreEscapee]

Actually, it's fairly easy. Underwear and socks compact way down. If you're travelling in the summer, you bring light clothing, which also compacts nicely. Most people skip the sweater, and bring a light jacket they can wear or carry. No hat (sunglasses) or they wear the hat. One sunscreen, one bug spray. Maybe a combination bottle. No doodads that can't go in a pocket. One or two books, depending on size and reading speed. You're on vacation, so really you can get away with only changing pants every 3 days (but cycle through, don't wear them straight), so you only need 4 pair (you're wearing one). One pair of shoes, one pair sandals if you're going to the beach. You don't need a pillow, that's what your jacket's for. You don't need the "something to do" that's what the pocket gadgets and books are for.

Wear whichever pair of shoes takes up the most space for the traveling part. Especially if you're flying. I wore my sneakers for the flight and slipped my sandals in the side of the bag.

[thehippie777]

I still find it annoying that some guests really expect the magic room cleaning fairy to make the exact room they want clean that very moment. That is EWism to its finest. I can't believe that explaining to them that the previous guests JUST checked out wasn't good enough for them. Fucking stupid. And this is how to tell if people nor their families have never worked in the service industry.

[taxguykarl]

Depends on the duration of the stay, I may only need my duffel bag.

If the stay is just overnight and not requiring formal wear (e.g. weddings or funerals), my wife and I can fit our things in a shopping bag--changes of socks and underwear and toiletries. If we are on the road and need to crash just for a night, we do exactly that.

I just had this issue this morning actually. Person came in at something like 10:30 wanting to check in, and I had to tell them that checkin time wasn't until 4pm. I mean, the housekeeper hadn't even come in yet, so there was no way on earth the room was clean, and we were sold out last night, so there wasn't a different room to put them in. They even protested that "I was told I can check in whenever." I replied "Any time after 4."

they were fairly nice about it though, not really sucky.

We travel enough to know that checking in before 2 is a crap shot.

[Hyndis]

I've had people actually book an extra night so they can check in when they get here, since our check-in time is 4 as well, and their flight is due in at 1:30, and heaven forbid they let the bell service take their stuff and go relax for a couple of hours before the room is ready. And this is an expensive resort sort of place; we're talking anywhere from a couple of hundred up depending on the time of year, just so they don't have to wait an hour or two. I think if I had that sort of money I would still have some common sense! But if they want to, fine, we just book it and put down that they are an EXTREMELY late arrival, and the room will be ready.

Why is it so complicated to understand that if housekeeping hasn't finished cleaning a room they can't get into it yet?

That sort of situation is ideal for going out to lunch and maybe a movie. Then after a heavy lunch and a movie or some other entertainment, you can check in to the hotel and relax and recover from the jet lag, ready to start the day fresh tomorrow.

I just don't understand people.

[Chromatix]

I can pack two weeks' worth of clothes into my computer bag and a small suitcase. (The suitcase is old and not very smart any more, but it's very distinctive when it comes out of baggage reclaim, so it's ideal for flying.) This total includes quite a lot of electronic gear, potentially including *two* laptops.

The trick is to consider your layers separately. You will need lots of underwear and socks, fewer shirts, and only a couple of spare sweaters and trouser pairs. That's unless you have very high hygiene standards, or are going somewhere hot without air-conditioning - in the latter case leave out the sweaters, pack more shirts instead, and swap the trousers for shorts.

I stuff one change of underwear, socks and my pyjamas into the computer bag, so that if my suitcase goes astray for some reason, I can stay overnight somewhere without any hassle. Sharp and wet things obviously have to go in the suitcase if flying, but can go anywhere if not.

Laundry is taken care of by including two plastic shopping bags - one for whites, one for the rest. These can easily be tied shut to stop them smelling, and will keep in the suitcase.

[thehippie777]

I stuff one change of underwear, socks and my pyjamas into the computer bag, so that if my suitcase goes astray for some reason, I can stay overnight somewhere without any hassle. Sharp and wet things obviously have to go in the suitcase if flying, but can go anywhere if not.

Could you let other guests in on this one so I don't have to hear about how they have to go without a change of cloths to their meeting because the "evil airlines" lost their luggage & won't be delivering it until after they are gone in the morning??? Most business people rarely have carry-on, but they usually have their lap tops. That could carry at least the underwear & stuff.

[AccountingDrone]

Could you let other guests in on this one so I don't have to hear about how they have to go without a change of cloths to their meeting because the "evil airlines" lost their luggage & won't be delivering it until after they are gone in the morning??? Most business people rarely have carry-on, but they usually have their lap tops. That could carry at least the underwear & stuff.

I got a fantastic computer hard rolly case off overstock a few months ago ... it holds my 17" HP dv9000, power brick and trackball on one side and can pack a lot of stuff on the other side.
http://www.overstock.com/Luggage-Bag...4/product.html
Was all of like $60 US, and I think I used some sort of online coupon for free delivery from a previous order.

[Hyndis]

I generally pack 1 pair of pants (I'm wearing the other pair), a shirt, underwear, and pair of socks for every day, up to 7. After 7 days, I'm assuming that I will have access to laundry somewhere. Laundromats are common and cheap, so its usually a very safe assumption.

Clothing then comes out to 7 shirts, 7 pairs of underwear, 7 pairs of socks, 1 pair of pants. Its easy to fit that in even a small bag. The rest doesn't take up much space at all. Toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, deodorant, and I'm good to go. I can fit all of the bathroom supplies in a standard clear sandwich bag, which then fits into the duffel bag that the clothes are in.

In addition to that bag I'll pack an extra bag of various entertainment items, such as books and whatnot. This bag is small enough that it fits inside the straps of the larger clothes bag, allowing me to hook the two bags together so they're easy to keep track of. While going through airports, I put the clothes bag in the overhead bin and keep the entertainment bag by my feet.

With this system I can stay indefinitely so long as I have access to laundry once a week, which isn't a very big demand.

I'll also alter the contents of the bag slightly depending on weather. For going to cold climates, I'll bring a jacket. Just a single jacket, but a flexible one, such that its both waterproof and keeps me warm. For hot climates it'll be one pair of shorts, one pair of pants (I'll be wearing one or the other on the plane) and no sandals. I've had bad experiences with going on vacation wearing sandals, just too much potential for injury or losing them. Shoes are just better.

[Chromatix]

Could you let other guests in on this one so I don't have to hear about how they have to go without a change of cloths to their meeting because the "evil airlines" lost their luggage & won't be delivering it until after they are gone in the morning??? Most business people rarely have carry-on, but they usually have their lap tops. That could carry at least the underwear & stuff.

I suspect that business people would tend to put papers and files in the pockets where I stuff my naughties. But even if you leave out the pyjamas, there should still be room for briefs and socks for one night in *some* pocket. I tend to use the same pocket for my travel documents too.