De-Clutter Your Hotel Room As Soon As You Check In

Photo by William Warby

A hotel room, however well appointed, is an alienating dream-space. You’re supposed to do all your most intimate things in this place designed and furnished and filled by someone else. You need to make it your own. Listen to designer and international traveller Karim Rashid:

If I’m going to spend three days in there, I need to be really free and able to think. I take every piece of paper, every note or book, and put it in drawers to hide them. I don’t like visual clutter. And in the bathroom, too — there’s a crazy amount of stuff they shove in there.

Rashid even moves the furniture around, turning the bed to face the window so he can wake to the light. That sounds like a lot of work, but it also sounds… weirdly reasonable, if you can physically manage it? Like, of course you want to customise the room a bit. It’s yours right now, you rented it, get the most out of it. It’s not a museum, you’re already using the towels and maybe the shampoo.

Obviously clean up after yourself. Take some reference photos before you move anything. Leave a note to the housekeeping staff, asking them to leave things as-is and promising to move everything back. Move everything back. Tip a couple bucks extra for their trouble. Still worth it.

Rashid also recommends putting all your stuff in one cabinet or closet, rather than spreading it around the hotel, but that really depends on your style. Would you rather feel like you can pack up in 60 seconds, or feel like you’re not living out of your suitcase?

Point is, for the duration of your stay, this room is yours. Make it feel like home, and you’ll feel better every day of your trip.

The First Thing to Do When You Enter a Hotel Room, and Other Travel Tips [Bloomberg]