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I just covered planning a trip in the last post. Now it’s time to talk about what you might do when you arrive at your new accommodations.

Photograph the Room

When we check into a hotel, the first thing you might do is to take a photo of the room number; just so you can remember which room we stayed in. For instance, there is a room at the Panama City Embassy Suites that we really like. Trying to remember the room number when visiting the hotel 2 years later isn’t likely. So I can go back to Photos and see the room number. That way, I can request this room when I make my next reservation.

Another option is to photograph the room before you put all your suitcases and food items away. Maybe you rearrange the furniture to make the room more functional to your needs, and you want to leave the room just like you found it when you checked in. Or you see some defects and you want to have proof that the defect was there when you arrived. Some people just like to remember the room, so they photograph it.

Mini Fridge

Next thing to do is to unpack any food items and put them into the mini fridge. We check to see if the refrigerator is cold. If it isn’t, we may adjust the thermostat. Sometimes the thermostat is behind the fridge, and you have to pull the unit out to adjust it. Which we’ve done. We carry a suitcase-like cooler with us and put ice packs in it to keep the food cool. If there is a freezer section in the refrigerator, we put those ice packs in that section so they’ll be ready for the next leg of our journey.

Hotel Wi-Fi and Travel Routers

Hotel Wi-Fi can be quite annoying at times, having to check into the Wi-Fi every time you open your phone or tablet. That’s why we take a travel router with us on trips. A travel router is just like your router at home, only it’s small and portable. I won’t go into all the details of setting one up, but there is one important note worth mentioning. Our travel router shares the same name (SSID) as our home router. This means that when we set it up at the hotel, all our devices can easily recognize it and connect to it because the SSID is the same as on our home router.

Once set up, we can choose the home Wi-Fi name, and all our devices (laptops, iPads, iPhones) stay connected to the travel router.
Another real advantage of using the same SSID comes into play when you connect your Apple TV to the hotel TV. We always carry our Apple TV with us on trips. Once it is connected to the hotel TV, the Apple TV “sees” our home SSID and connects to it. Now we have all the apps we use on the TV at home on the hotel TV. Plus we can listen to Apple Music, or look at our photos on the TV.
Older version Travel Router which we own.
Newer version Travel Router.

Security

There is also the increased security of using a travel router. Hotel Wi-Fi is unsecured, meaning there is no secure password to log into it. Having our own Wi-Fi is much safer. In addition to the router, we use a VPN app on all our devices, which I highly recommend you use.

Exploration

One other thing we do is to check the ice machine. More times than not we have been on a floor with a malfunctioning ice machine. In that case, I have to go to another floor to get ice.
When all the above items are done, we like to explore the hotel. We locate the pool, the fitness room, laundry if they have one, restaurant and bar, and in the case of Embassy Suites, the breakfast area, since Embassy Suites serves made-to-order breakfasts. Because I journal every morning, I look for a quiet place to write about yesterday’s adventures. Embassy Suites also has an evening reception each night with snacks and adult and children’s drinks.

Thanks for reading these tips. Let me know some of your ideas and tips when you travel. What do you bring? Where do you like to stay? Leave a comment. Our readers will thank you. Ciao.