Hotel rooms are the frequent traveler's refuge. But they're not home. How do you get the most out of your stay? Piper and Gail discuss baby bricks, silk, & more.

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

0:05 – Intro (Steampunk Girl by John Anealio)

0:31 - Host Introduction; Gail Carriger and Piper J Drake

0:56 - Where have the ladies traveled to this week?

0:59 - Piper regrettably stayed at a swanky hotel in Princeton, New Jersey that she last stayed at in college (Trenton State). But this time... under construction.

3:45 - Predators, a SyFy movie; and how that applies to Piper's travel whammy

4:43 - "Lobby-Talk" the podcast within the podcast

6:29 - Gail gives a great tip to find out about construction; sort Yelp reviews by date!

7:18 - Discussion of other great pre-trip research resources (TripAdvisor, etc); you can sort by "business"

8:23 - Main Topic -> HACKING HOTEL ROOMS

8:41 - Gail is an unpacker - if she's staying for more than one night

9:26 - This is where "kits" come into play (go back and listen to Episode 5 for more info on them) - they go into their own specific zones that will be common to nearly all hotel rooms regardless of owning/operating company

10:05 - Gail's number one hotel room hack: ironing boards

11:06 - Steam can get wrinkles out of clothes; best to bring them in to the shower area while you shower?

13:01 - Dupione dresses

13:32 - Thai silk suits

14:45 - Iron use tips; don't trust them the way you trust your iron at home (iron a wet hotel washcloth as a test)

15:56 - Piper's bloomers and 'splodin her bag

16:20 - Bring your clothes on cheap metal hangers

17:06 - Create separate areas for dayjob and other work - the physical locations being different help with putting yourself in the right mindset to do that specific kind of work despite being away from your more familiar home setup

19:15 - Designate a "business zone" that will not be contaminated with your other things; itinirary for event, envelope for business expense reciepts, notepad, etc

19:41 - To room service, or not to room service?  Sometimes if you order food for "more than one person" they'll bring you an extra table on wheels

21:42 - "Heads in Beds" and a baby brick

22:56 - At checkin slide your credit card across the counter... followed by your baby brick - and watch it make magic happen

23:41 - The real magic words: "Anything you can do for me would be great."

24:57 - concierge suite access (free bottled water, snacks, and weekday breakfasts which makes life better in general)

25:48 - tipping style and ettiquette is important with the baby brick - don't be obnoxious about it

28:14 - take advantage of social media (particularly regionaly) to compliment good service at chain hotels

29:23 - story-time from Piper - she was booked into a hotel by dayjob and in the middle of the night a strange man started pouding on her door demanding to be let in.  The front desk took the random strangers side... this eventually led to chocolate strawberries - at a different hotel

31:08 - fill out the reiew cards with the positive things that happened to/for you during your stay

33:04 - don't forget, every big hotel chain has a record on you

33:35 - Gadgets!    Gail: "Heads In Beds" by Jacob Tomsky                 "A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality"    Piper: Silk pajamas = protection for your delicate bits from bedbugs

36:45 - bonus gadget -> sleep sacks (they can serve dual purpose as shaws or scarfs)

37:42 - you can check the "bed bug registry" to double check your hotel before your stay

38:11 – Outro and thanks to: Producer Matt &             John Anealio for his song Steampunk Girl

 

 Thanks for listening and safe travels!