Booking With Third-Party Travel Sites Might Ruin Your Vacation, According to a Hotel Employee

When you're planning your next trip, knowing a few insider secrets about your hotel could make all the difference. While you might already have some tried-and-true tips, there's always room to learn more — especially when avoiding costly mistakes and saving money on travel.

One crucial piece of advice: Avoid booking your stay through third-party websites. One hotel front desk worker recently went viral on TikTok, sharing her firsthand experiences on why this is a bad idea.

According to her, if something goes wrong with your reservation, the hotel often can’t help you directly, leaving you to navigate the issue with the booking site instead. This can lead to unnecessary frustration and potentially lost money. 

(Another pro-tip: Don’t ignore your confirmation email — showing up on the wrong day for your reservation is a major bummer.)

With that in mind, here are some hotel secrets — including what to know about hotel safes and why you shouldn’t drink out of those hotel water glasses.

Things like couches or desk chairs aren’t easy to clean, and you may want to think about what’s been on them before sitting down.

One option instead is to cover those pieces of furniture with blankets or other linens that are more likely to be cleaned regularly, compared to more cumbersome items in the room that take more work.

You may have chosen a particular hotel for its great restaurant with a buffet breakfast or a snack bar with little things you can grab throughout the day. But there’s plenty of food that gets made in the morning and may not be eaten.

For things like buffets, know that staff will likely take any leftovers home even though you’re paying for the food as part of your stay.

Sometimes, you can get dinged with additional fees if you cancel your room and it’s too close to your arrival date.

Instead, try calling the hotel and rebooking your room for a later date well outside the cancellation window. You can then go back in and cancel that reservation to avoid the extra charges.

Some hotels may have bed bugs, which can be difficult to get out of a hotel room.

Check the bed for bugs (underneath the mattress) before you even put any personal items on the bed or sit down on it. That step could save you a lot of hassle and an expensive terminator bill if you transfer them back home.

You may accidentally leave a phone charger or a t-shirt behind. It happens to the best of us.

Those items go in the hotel’s lost and found, and you can call to see if the hotel has found your item. The hotel may even try to be accommodating and send the item back to you.

But if it stays in the lost and found and isn’t claimed after a certain amount of time, some hotels have a policy to allow employees to take the item for themselves.

Like other retail workers, hotel workers see their share of bad behavior from guests who may disrespect staff or treat the hotel poorly.

But good behavior can get you extra points with staff members who appreciate the respect. Consider putting on your best behavior if you want a room upgrade, for example, or a particular view to enjoy.

Another way to get an upgrade is to mention a celebration or other event that could be the reason you’re visiting. Perhaps you’re spending a romantic night away for your anniversary or celebrating a birthday.

Hotel staff may have special treats or upgrades for these celebrations to make your stay more memorable. Mention them when you book your reservation to enjoy an upgrade.

The hotel safe is a great option to toss in valuable items like laptops or iPads when you leave the room.

But remember that hotel personnel need to have a way to get into the safes if a guest accidentally forgets the code. While security personnel are considered trustworthy, it’s possible for someone to crack your hotel safe while you’re gone and take valuables out.

Try not to bring extremely valuable items with you or find another option, such as carrying them with you.

You may be surprised to find your hotel cancels your room or downgrades you without pause, particularly for popular locations in areas frequented by A-listers.

Remember that hotels can change plans at their discretion, so be prepared to potentially find an alternate option if you’re heading somewhere to rub shoulders with the elite if you're not elite.

You may look at the glasses on the dresser next to the ice bucket and assume they’re clean. After all, they look clean, and they’ve been left there by housekeeping.

But sometimes, housekeeping may leave the glassware alone if it looks like the previous guests haven’t touched it.

Give the glassware a rinse before you start using it, or consider calling guest services to get new glasses if you want something to drink.

Minibars can get expensive, especially if you're not the one who actually opened the bottle.

Things can get missed sometimes by housekeeping. Check the minibar in your room when you check in to avoid wasting money. 

If you notice any opened bottles or broken seals, call the front desk immediately to let them know of the oversight so you don’t get charged.

Hotels can be a great option when you’re traveling as long as you know the secrets to watch out for.

Another great hotel secret for you is to make sure you have the best travel credit cards in your wallet so you can earn extra perks and points when you travel.

Also, keep track of your spending if you’re trying to stay on budget for your trip or need receipts for business expenses.