Staying at a hotel can get expensive! Even if you’re just going for a night or two! You may say to yourself that since it’s only one night you could just eat out for every meal and try to find some entertainment in whatever town you’re staying in. But that adds up fast!!
Check out my hotel hacks to save you money on your next hotel stay.
Bring food
You can save SO much money if you can bring a number of simple snacks, especially breakfast type snacks. When everyone can wake up and eat something as they get hungry, it means that everyone can get ready at their own pace. There is no need to wrangle everyone out the door to get breakfast. If your hotel has a free breakfast, then go ahead and take advantage of that! If it doesn’t, bring some muffins, oatmeal (easily doable with boiling water or using the in room microwave), cereal, or even eggs!!
This little egg cooker came with us on our last hotel trip, and it was amazing to have eggs and precooked breakfast sausage right in our room! The other thing that is really easy to bring is cut up veggies and some humus, cheese, crackers and salami, and some fruit. It’s a great way to balance out those restaurant meals that might be lacking in the fruit and veg department. I will usually try to pack a special snacking treat for the evening or afternoon munchies. The vending machine or snack bar can add up in cost!
Bring drinks
Ok, so I am a bit of a coffee snob! I bring my own camping coffee maker with me when I am staying at a hotel. I also bring a little milk frother. There is nothing better than having an excellent coffee and not needing to spend a fortune on it! Another coffee tip is to hit up a grocery store and pick up some premade iced coffee. I particularly love the Starbucks caramel macchiato premixed espresso beverage. It also heats up nicely in my frother for a hot coffee! Aside from coffee, I usually bring some carbonated water drinks and some juice as a special treat. I will also toss in some tea bags and hot chocolate mixes. Usually, it is easy to make hot water in the hotel room with either the coffee machine or the microwave in the room.
Bring dishes
I know it might sound weird as something to bring with you, but having a plate or bowl for each person staying with you is really handy when you’re having a snack instead of pulling out a tissue to awkwardly use as a resting place for your food. It’s especially useful to have bowls if you pack some cereal! The other thing that has saved me a few times is packing my own cutlery. I have small sets of cutlery that I will pack for each of us staying. It has proven itself valuable a number of times if the ordered food doesn’t come with cutlery! The last thing I add to my dishes list is my Yeti cup to keep my drinks hot or cold.
Bring some chopping tools
As nice as it is to have my dishes, I bring a cutting board and a sharp knife, too. It’s nice sometimes just to be able to cut up the cheese or the meat, or to cut the veggies in the room instead of ahead of time depending on how long you are staying at the hotel. If you’re staying more than a couple nights, you may even go grocery shopping during your stay to pick up some food, and you save more money if you don’t splurge on the precut foods. At least, if you bring a knife and cutting board, you can manage whatever you get – even opening packages!
Bring some soap
So, since you brought the dishes, etc, you need some way of cleaning them! My new favourite hotel hack is to bring this Dawn power wash spray soap. It is so easy to use and smells great! Along with my soap is my little scrubber brush. It’s great for cleaning bowls or plates but it can also reach down to the bottom of my Yeti cup! Double purpose for extra efficient packing!
Bring entertainment
Bring games!!!! How many times, when you’re in a hotel with the kids, do they turn on the tv to scroll through a bunch of stuff they don’t want to watch, to find a single cartoon channel, then they watch things they have outgrown by years simply because it’s a cartoon!? Bring cards! Dice! Or any other small, easy to fit in a suitcase type game! You’re away from home and have limited responsibility and chores in a hotel room! Use it to encourage spending time hanging out together, not spending the time in front of a screen! Bring colouring stuff! Bring crafting stuff! There is so much that you can bring for small amounts of entertainment that don’t take up all the space in your suitcase. If the hotel has a pool, pack your bathing suits. Consider packing some sinking toys, some goggles, and even a beach ball for pool games. If the hotel has a field close by, pack a frisbee, baseball glove and ball, or soccer ball. Bring books!
I’m not saying you need to bring a whole other suitcase to hold all of the entertainment, but bringing at least a few items can help bust the boredom! Sometimes in the evening it’s nice to sit with each other and make some memories that don’t involve fighting over changing into pjs, getting the kids off their screens, or trying to get them to have a shower or bath. Everything somehow seems simpler when you’re away from home if you bring at least a couple of these luxuries.
Whether you’re sneaking out of town for a couple of nights to get away from the grind or you’re out of town for a sport event of some kind or you’re heading to a warmer locale at a drive-able distance away, use some of these hacks to help you have fun and save a bit of money! Make a packing list for yourself and encourage everyone to pack something for their own entertainment (preferably not another screen device!)
Let me know if you have any great hotel hacks in the comments below! What’s the first thing you would add to your hotel packing list?
Home Under Clutter 