How to Make Your Long-Term Hotel Stay More Enjoyable

There’s quite a difference in staying at a hotel for one night compared to a long-term, extended stay. Whether you are there for work, travel, or are in between living situations, sometimes a long-term hotel stay is needed.

Here are some items you should bring with you – as well as some simple things you can do – to make your room feel more comfortable and your time more enjoyable while staying in a hotel for a longer period of time.

Items to Bring With You

1. Large Cooler or Portable Fridge

Hotel fridges are tiny and it can be easy to fill them up with food, condiments, and beverages. If you bring a large cooler or portable fridge with you, you’ll be able to store more items in your room and have them on hand when needed.

This way, you can purchase more items at the grocery store and eliminate any need to eat out at a restaurant or grab fast food.

Find yourself a large cooler with wheels to make things even easier for you throughout the entire process.

2. Your Own Blanket

Hotel blankets and comforters are usually high-quality, but they just aren’t the same as the blankets and comforters you have at home.

If you can bring your own blanket for the bed, you will make the room feel more comfortable and you should sleep much better. You can either throw the blanket on top of the hotel comforter or strip the bed completely – it’s up to you.

3. A Good Coffee Machine that’s Portable

I once stayed at a hotel for almost three weeks and the thing I longed for the most was a good coffee machine in my room. I don’t enjoy cheap coffee and I hate having to leave my room just to get my morning dose of caffeine.

If I ever have to stay at a hotel for an extended period of time, I’ll definitely take along my Nespresso machine so I can be in control of my own coffee schedule.

It’s the simple things that make this world go round and coffee is definitely included in that.

4. Personal Photos or Mementos

Nothing makes a room feel more like home than filling it with your personal things, like photos and other mementos that remind you of the people and things you enjoy most in life.

Grab a few of your most treasured items as you leave your home, put them in a bag, and set them up in your hotel room. It will bring a sense of comfort to the room and instantly make the space feel more like home.

Things to Do in Your Room

1. Put Your Clothes Away

Nothing says ‘I’m living in a hotel’ like living out of a suitcase. If your bag is on the ground and you have to root through it every time you need a new t-shirt, you’ll never feel comfortable.

When you arrive in your new ‘home-away-from-home’, you should take all the clothes out of your suitcase and put them in drawers so you can maintain some sort of order into your life.

2. Wipe Down Everything

By wiping down your room when you first arrive, you’ll instantly begin to feel more comfortable in the space. We all know that some hotel rooms can be dirty and they might need a good scrubbing.

Purchase a pack of Lysol wipes and take a few minutes to wipe down the surfaces, the TV remote control, the doorknobs, and more. The process and the fresh smell will provide peace of mind and will help as you ease into your new room.

3. Keep Things Neat & Tidy

Treat the hotel room like your home. Don’t let it get messy and put your garbage in the garbage can, not on the floor.

Find a laundry bag to put your dirty clothes in rather than having them spewed all over the place.

These simple things will make things easier when you pack up at the end of the stay; and also make your stay feel much more comfortable.

4. Decline room service

The first thing I do when arriving at a hotel is to decline any type of room service. I don’t enjoy having people in my personal space and I’m quite capable of making my bed and tidying up. I do it at home, so why can’t I in a hotel room?

By declining room service, you won’t get that eerie feeling that comes with knowing someone was in among your personal items. I appreciate the work that room service employees do, but if I’m staying at a hotel for more than a few days, I just need the room to myself.

Go ahead and enjoy your stay!

Staying at a hotel can be fun, comfortable, and easy – if you do it right. Do what is needed to make things feel like home and you’ll never want to leave!