6.Essential Hotel Room Hacks You’ve Been Missing Out On
6.Essential Hotel Room Hacks You’ve Been Missing Out On
When it comes to enjoying a relaxing vacation in the picturesque town of Lake Placid, New York, finding the right hotel can make all the difference. But, once you’ve checked in and are ready to settle into your temporary home away from home, some hotel hacks can save you time and money during your stay. Whether you’re traveling with family, and friends, or on a solo adventure, these clever tricks can enhance your hotel experience in Lake Placid.
1. Make a Toothbrush Holder
For many travelers, the toothbrush holder dilemma is all too familiar. Placing your toothbrush on the bathroom counter can be less than ideal. It exposes your toothbrush to various germs and bacteria that might be present on the surface. Additionally, there’s always the risk of your toothbrush rolling off the counter and onto the floor, which is unsanitary and inconvenient.
To solve this predicament, all you need is a simple plastic cup or a disposable cup – items that are often readily available in rooms. Creating a makeshift toothbrush holder is a quick and effective solution that can greatly enhance your hotel experience. Here’s how to do it:
Gathering Your Materials
A simple yet effective hack you can employ is crafting your toothbrush holder. Start by gathering your materials. In a typical room, you’ll find plastic cups or disposable cups provided for various purposes, such as drinking or rinsing. These readily available cups make for an ideal choice for your DIY toothbrush holder.
Cleaning the Cup
Before using the cup as a toothbrush holder, it’s essential to ensure it meets your cleanliness standards. Inspect the cup carefully to ensure it’s free from residue or particles. Although hotels maintain high cleanliness standards, it’s always prudent to double-check for peace of mind. If necessary, rinse the cup with water and pat it dry using a towel or a tissue. This meticulous attention to cleanliness ensures your toothbrush is placed in a spotless and sanitary environment.
Preparing Your Toothbrush
Before inserting your toothbrush into the cup, ensure it’s clean and dry. Give it a gentle shake to remove excess water, and inspect the bristles to ensure they are in good condition. By taking these steps, you’re safeguarding your oral health and ensuring that your toothbrush remains clean and ready for use throughout your stay.
Inserting Your Toothbrush
Now that your cup is clean, and your toothbrush is prepped, it’s time to assemble your makeshift toothbrush holder. Simply insert the toothbrush into the cup, with the bristles facing upward. This placement keeps your toothbrush clean and prevents it from contacting any potentially contaminated surfaces in the bathroom. This small yet practical hack enhances your convenience and hygiene during your stay, ensuring you can focus on enjoying your visit to Lake Placid without worrying about toothbrush cleanliness.
2. Use a Shoe as a Reminder to Pack Essential Items
The excitement of traveling can sometimes lead to forgetfulness, and few things can compare to the anxiety of leaving behind essential items in a hotel room. To help you avoid this traveler’s worst nightmare, here’s a simple yet highly effective hotel hack: use one of your shoes as a visual reminder to retrieve your essential travel documents and belongings before checking out.
Here’s how you can do it:
Gather Your Essentials
Before you even think about packing, gather all the essential items you’ve used or stored during your stay in your room. This typically includes your passport, travel itinerary, wallet, keys, phone charger, and other valuable documents or accessories.
Choose the Right Shoe
Next, select one of your shoes for this clever reminder. Ideally, pick a shoe you’re less likely to forget about—a shoe you frequently wear or one that stands out in your luggage.
Place Your Essentials in the Shoe
Open the chosen shoe and carefully place all your essential items inside it. Ensure they fit comfortably and nothing is sticking out. This step ensures that all your important belongings are in one easily accessible place.
Position the Shoe Strategically
Now comes the crucial part. Place the shoe where you’ll encounter it just before leaving your room. Consider putting it near the door, on top of your packed luggage, or any spot that’s impossible to miss as you prepare to depart.
The Double-Check Routine
Before you leave your vacation room, make it a habit to check inside the shoe. This final check ensures that all your essential items are accounted for and ready to go. It provides peace of mind and helps you avoid the panic of realizing you’ve left something behind once you’ve left the hotel.
Retrieve Your Essentials and Remove the Reminder
Once you’ve confirmed that everything you need is inside the shoe, retrieve your belongings, and remove the shoe from its strategic location. You’re now fully prepared to check out of your hotel and confidently continue your travels, knowing that you have all your crucial travel items in hand.
This simple yet ingenious trick can save you from the stress and inconvenience of leaving essential belongings behind in your room. It transforms a potentially disastrous situation into a smooth and worry-free departure, allowing you to focus on enjoying your travel experiences to the fullest.
3. Travel with a Soapy Sponge
Maintaining cleanliness while traveling is essential for a comfortable and hygienic experience. Whether you’re exploring Lake Placid, New York, or any other destination, cleanliness is paramount. However, keeping reusable containers like water bottles and lunch boxes clean during your travels can be challenging. Thankfully, a clever hack can help you stay on top of cleanliness effortlessly: traveling with a soapy sponge.
Here’s how you do this clever hack:
Prepare Your Soapy Sponge Before Your Trip
Before embarking on your journey, you’ll want to prepare your soapy sponge. Start by selecting a clean and unused sponge. Opt for a dish sponge designed to hold soap effectively.
Soak the Sponge in Dish Soap
Dish soap is your secret weapon for this hotel hack. Submerge the sponge in a bowl of dish soap, ensuring it absorbs a generous amount of soap. Allow the sponge to soak for a few minutes, allowing the soap to penetrate its pores thoroughly.
Let the Sponge Dry
Once the sponge has soaked up the dish soap, remove it from the bowl and let it air dry completely. This drying process is crucial because it allows the soap to solidify within the sponge, turning it into a portable cleaning tool you can use during your trip.
Cut the Dried Sponge into Smaller Pieces
With your fully dried, soapy sponge in hand, it’s time to prepare it for travel. Carefully cut the sponge into smaller, more manageable pieces. These smaller sections are easier to pack and will be sufficient for cleaning your containers multiple times.
Store the Sponge in a Plastic Bag
To keep your soapy sponge pieces organized and prevent any potential mess, place them in a resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag tightly to ensure the sponge pieces stay moist and ready for use when needed.
Utilize the Soapy Sponge as Needed
During your trip, whenever you need to clean reusable containers like water bottles, lunch boxes, or even utensils, simply wet one of the small sponge pieces. The moisture will reactivate the soap stored within the sponge, creating a soapy cleaning solution. Use the sponge to scrub and clean your items thoroughly, removing any dirt, stains, or residue. The soap’s cleaning power and the sponge’s scrubbing texture make it a highly effective cleaning tool.
Rinse and Air Dry
After cleaning your items with the soapy sponge, rinse them thoroughly with clean water to remove any soap residue. Ensure that you’ve cleaned all surfaces and corners. After rinsing, let your cleaned items air dry before using them again. This final step ensures your containers are clean and free from soap taste or residue.
4. Childproof Your Room with Duct Tape
Traveling with young children can be both exciting and challenging. Ensuring their safety and comfort in an unfamiliar environment, like a hotel room, is a top priority for parents. While hotels typically strive to provide a safe environment, there may still be potential hazards for curious little ones. To quickly and effectively childproof your hotel room, you can employ one of the best hotel hacks: using duct tape. This temporary solution can provide peace of mind during your stay, ensuring your child’s safety.
Cover Electrical Outlets
Electrical outlets are often located at toddler eye level, making them tempting targets for curious little fingers. To childproof them, cut a small piece of duct tape and fold it in half, sticky side out. Place this tape over the outlet, ensuring it covers all the openings. This will deter children from inserting objects into the outlets and minimize the risk of electrical accidents.
Secure Cords Out of Reach
Electrical cords and cables can pose tripping hazards for children and adults. Use duct tape to secure cords along the baseboards or against the wall, keeping them out of your child’s reach. Be sure to leave some slack in the cord to prevent any tension that could pull appliances or chargers down.
Tape Sharp Corners or Edges
Furniture in hotel rooms can have sharp corners or edges that may pose a risk to young children. Use duct tape to cover these potential hazards. Cut small pieces of duct tape and wrap them around the corners or edges, ensuring they are securely covered. This will provide a protective barrier and reduce the risk of bumps and bruises.
Check Your Childproofing Work
Once you’ve completed childproofing the room, conduct a thorough check to ensure that all potential hazards have been addressed. Test the effectiveness of the duct tape covers and secure cords to ensure they are out of reach.
Remove the Duct Tape Before Departure
Before checking out of your hotel room, remove all the duct tape you’ve applied. Duct tape is known for its strong adhesive properties, but it should peel off easily without leaving residue on furniture or walls. If any residue remains, you can use a damp cloth to clean it off.
Childproofing your hotel room with duct tape is a temporary yet effective solution that can provide peace of mind during your stay. It allows you to create a safer environment for your young children without bulky or permanent safety equipment. By following these steps, you can enjoy your Lake Placid vacation with the assurance that your child is protected from potential hazards in your hotel room.
5. Convenient Uses of a Coffee Maker
When you check into a hotel room, a coffee maker is one of the standard amenities you’ll often find. While it’s a welcome sight for coffee enthusiasts craving their morning brew, this versatile appliance can do much more than just make a cup of joe.
Let’s explore how to use your hotel’s coffee maker to boil water for instant meals:
Gather Your Essentials
Before you start using your hotel’s coffee maker for boiling water, make sure you have the essentials on hand. You’ll need:
- Your hotel’s coffee maker: Typically, hotel rooms provide a standard drip coffee maker with a carafe or pot.
- A coffee filter: While not always required, using a coffee filter can help ensure the purity of your boiling water.
- A clean coffee pot or carafe: Ensure it’s free from any coffee residues or stains.
- Instant meal of your choice: Instant oatmeal, instant noodles, or any other meal that requires hot water for preparation.
- A cup or bowl: For mixing or serving your instant meal.
Prepare the Coffee Maker
Start by ensuring the coffee maker is clean and free from coffee grounds. If there are coffee residues, run a quick rinse cycle to clean it thoroughly. This ensures that your boiling water remains uncontaminated by coffee flavors.
Place a Coffee Filter (Optional)
Although this step is optional, using a coffee filter can help ensure that your boiling water is as pure as possible. Simply place a clean coffee filter in the coffee maker’s filter basket, just as you would for brewing coffee.
Add Water
Next, fill the coffee maker’s water reservoir with the water you need for your instant meal. Remember that you may need slightly more water than the meal’s packaging suggests, as some water may evaporate during the boiling process. Consult the meal’s instructions for the precise water measurement.
Start the Coffee Maker
Turn on the coffee maker and allow it to run through a brewing cycle without any coffee grounds. This process will heat the water to the perfect temperature for your instant meal.
Pour Hot Water Over Your Instant Meal
While the coffee maker is running, place your instant meal in a cup or bowl. When the water in the coffee maker reaches the desired temperature, carefully pour it over your meal, completely submerging it. Ensure the cup or bowl is large enough to accommodate the hot water without overflowing.
Cover and Wait
Cover your cup or bowl with a lid, plate, or any available cover to trap the heat and facilitate the cooking process. Follow your instant meal’s packaging instructions regarding the required waiting time. This is typically just a few minutes.
Stir and Enjoy
After the designated waiting period, carefully remove the cover, give your instant meal a good stir, and it’s ready to enjoy! Whether it’s a hearty bowl of oatmeal or a quick serving of noodles, your hotel’s coffee maker has efficiently provided the hot water you need for a satisfying meal.
6. Ward Off Intruders with a Curtain Hanger
While security in hotels such as Snowshoe Lodge in Lake Placid, NY is robust, it never hurts to add an extra layer of protection to your room. Most hotels have curtain hangers or clips in the closet, and you can use them to create a secondary lock on your door.
Here’s how you do it:
Locate the Curtain Hanger
Begin by identifying the curtain hanger or clip in your hotel room. These are often found in the closet and used to hold curtains or drapes in place. Most hotel rooms provide them for guests’ convenience.
Assess the Placement
Before proceeding, evaluate the placement of the curtain hanger with your room’s door. You want to ensure that the hanger can be positioned to create a secure lock without causing any damage to the door or the hanger itself. Typically, the hanger should be within reach of the door handle and latch.
Position the Hanger for Security
Now, it’s time to position the curtain hanger for security. If the hanger is appropriately placed, slide it over the door handle and the latch. The idea is to secure both the handle and latch within the center of the hanger, preventing the door from easily opening. This creates a secondary lock that adds extra protection to your room.
Test the Security
After securing the hanger in place, test the security by attempting to open the door from the outside. The hanger should prevent the door from opening fully, providing a heightened sense of security while you sleep or rest in your room.
Link Two Hangers if Needed
In some cases, the curtain hanger may not span the distance between the door handle and the latch. If this is the case, you can use two hangers to bridge the gap. Link them together by putting the hook of one hanger into the corner of the other and placing the free hook over the latch and the opposite corner of the other over the door handle. This effectively extends the reach of the hangers, providing the same added security.
Remove the Hanger Before Departure
Before checking out of your hotel room, removing the curtain hanger from the door is essential. Simply slide it off the door handle and latch, and return it to its original position in the closet or wherever you find it. This ensures you leave the room in the same condition you found it.
Book Your Stay at the Best Hotel in Lake Placid, NY!
These best hotel hacks can help you maximize your stay in Lake Placid, NY. Whether you want to keep things organized, save time and money, or enhance your security, these simple tricks can be invaluable during your vacation. If you’re looking for the best hotel to spend the night in Lake Placid, NY, reach out to us at Snowshoe Lodge! Our cozy accommodations and top-notch amenities ensure a comfortable and memorable stay in this picturesque town.
2795 Wilmington Rd, Lake Placid, NY 12946, USA