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Jan 8, 2018

 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!