Hotel living is sweet, especially if you leave room in your luggage for all the mini-shampoos and towels that come with it. Too bad that taking a break from your apartment for a night is so expensive you'd be better off just buying expensive shampoos and towels. That is, unless you can learn to scam your way into a free home away from home in a way that's totally legal.

Over the past two years, two of my close friends have gone on three one to two-week vacations to Italy. At first glance, their multiple European vacations made it look like they must have suddenly come into piles cash. As it turns out, the key was when they were travelling: during the off-season.

If you're looking to use some holiday days, but you're not sure where you want to go, travel booking site Wander lets you search based on your overall travel budget.

As Hotels.com's regional director for Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, Katherine Cole knows a thing or two about the hotel industry. Travelling on a fortnightly basis to all corners of the globe, she's stayed at hundreds of hotels and has learned a few tricks along the way. We asked Cole to share her top hotel hacks with Lifehacker readers, from the best time to book your hotel to the hidden costs you need to watch out for.

"Real question: does anyone I know clean their underwear in a kettle when travelling?"

Scrolling through social media this morning, these 14 words, in one foul (pun intended) swoop, ruined every relaxing cup of tea I've ever had in a hotel room.

My mind was racing. Who would do this? Why?

The first thing I did on my 18th birthday was go play a few hands of blackjack, and I've been playing ever since. I'm no high roller, but I know my way around a casino. If you're not sure where to begin, let me help.

Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now put their points towards exclusive discounts at 144,000 hotels around the world. The Classic Hotel Rewards scheme provides member-only rates and deals for international hotels including Accor, Marriott, Hyatt and Shangri La. We explain how to get started.

When it comes to last-minute travel, Hotel Tonight can be a lifesaver. The app allows you to get same-day hotel rooms at a fraction of the cost you might pay had you booked the room earlier. This week it added another feature: the option to upgrade that last-minute booking to a suite.

When choosing a hotel, it's good to consider amenities, hospitality and quality in addition to price. These brands and chains are the American hotels with the highest customer satisfaction marks for 2017.

If you're a frequent work traveller who likes to keep fit, finding suitable facilities can be a real pain in the bum. Whenever a hotel isn't equipped with a gym (a frequent occurrence when work is paying) you're essentially forced between heading to an outside fitness centre or putting your exercise on hold. But there's also another way -- with a little ingenuity it's possible to get a full workout inside your hotel room. This infographic explains how it's done.

Bed bugs are crafty little things. Not only will they make even a nice hotel room their home, but they will cling to your clothes and climb in your bag to go home with you. These tips can help you avoid such unwanted guests.

If you're visiting Europe for a while, it's fun to visit several cities in one trip. Eightydays helps you plan a multi-city trip quickly by picking a route and finding travel for you.

Lodging makes up a large portion of your travel budget. If you're willing to be flexible, there are some creative solutions to cut the cost of lodging. For example, you may be able to save money by booking multiple hotels, and Nightly makes it easy to search accordingly.

Let's say you're planning an interstate holiday and you found an incredible deal on a flight. The only problem? It arrives at 8am and that's too early to check into most hotels. No need to nap at the gate, though - you have options.

iOS/Android: Most hotels have standard check-in and check-out times. These hours can be frustrating to work around if you're on a red-eye and you get to a city really early. As You Stay is a free app that works with hotels so that you can book for hours at a time.

Planning a trip to the USA? Assuming they actually let you into the country, you can save a ton of money on accommodation by visiting your destination in an off-peak season. This chart from Hipmunk is a cheat sheet for seasonal hotel rates at popular US cities.

Lodging eats up a big portion of your travel budget, so if you can find an affordable place to stay, you'll significantly cut the cost of your trip. And for summer and weekend travel, business hotels are typically a cheaper option.

Google Flights is already awesome for searching and tracking flight prices. However, they just updated the tool to make it even more useful: It will now tell you when to book to get the best deal.

There are plenty of options for saving money on lodging. If you want top notch service, though, you can often get it at an affordable price by staying at a newly launched hotel.