Have a Soft Luxe Stay Even in a Budget Hotel with These Hacks

 

Hi, everyone! I was out for a few days because my son and I went on a staycation. I didn't write yesterday because my country was being pummeled by a huge typhoon and it didn't feel right to write about happy, light things when a lot of my countrymen are struggling due to the weather. 

Today is a new day, though. The typhoon has left and the sun is shining. 

How are you, my dear readers?

Before I tell you about my Weekday Whimsies and Soft Saturdays, I'd like to share with you some hotel hacks I've learned during our back-to-back stay at a budget hotel. 

Bring an Insulated Lunch Bag

My son and I don't always eat breakfast right away. It takes a few hours for our stomach to be ready after waking up. However, I wouldn't know exactly how long before the food gets delivered to us, and usually, we're in a rush as we're going traveling,  so I brought this insulated lunch bag to keep our food warm until we're ready to eat. 

My son benefited most from this bag as he doesn't eat until he has brushed his teeth and taken a shower. His corned beef pandesal stayed warm until he was ready to eat. 

Snacks are a must especially if you have kids

Parents already know this, but if you're still single, I also recommend bringing snacks. Why? There will be times during your stay where you will be too lazy or too tired to go down to a convenience store or have food delivered (unless it's room service, but we're talking budget hotels here). Having something nearby to eat when you're peckish helps you relax and not stress about where to eat when you're mind and body are not ready to move. 

If you have kids, bringing your own snacks will allow you to get some peace and quiet or shut eye for a few minutes (or an hour) after unpacking, without anyone saying, "Mom, I'm hungry!"

Small cooler for ice or a bigger one if you're going places

Budget hotels usually don't have mini fridges. We love cold drinks. We always must have ice, so I brought my cooler, so we'll have a steady supply of ice. I wanted to bring the smaller one but 7-11 only sells big bags of ice and those won't fit. 

There's another reason why I brought this. We were supposed to go market shopping in the province, but we changed plans.

We did go to Tagaytay and I got some of our favorite leche flan. The ice box did its job of cooling the flans until we went home the next day. 

My husband also followed and of course, he needs his Coke. He was happy that he got to drink cold Coke for dinner. 

Resealable bags or Ziplocks in Two Different Sizes 

In the photo above with the leche flan, you'll see that they're enclosed in these Hello Kitty zip bags. I figured that if we needed to ice something, I needed to protect it from the water from the melting ice and these  were perfect. Light weight and easy to pack. I brought the whole box because mom and sis or our driver might need some, too. I will defnitely bring this when Kuya Fil is our driver and we're going out of town. Kuya Fil is a foodie like me and loves to cook. I learn a lot from him about native foods and ingredients. So, when we hit a market, a cooler and these zip bags are a must-have!

An insulated pitcher or thermos to keep drinks cold or warm and some water

Like I said above, we always need cold water. I can't drink warm drinks as I flare up. Cold water keeps my histamine calm. I brought this thermos to keep our water cold and to make pouring water easy. It's hard to pour water from that big bottle of water into a small cup.

Not all hotels provide you with water. Plus we stayed at a hotel where the dispenser was dirty, and that traumatized me 😆. Red Planet Timog offers hot and cold water, but I think it's alkaline, and I don't like that, so I bring our own. This 6.6L bottle lasts us 1-2 days, depending on how long we stay put in the hotel. If we travel around during the day, then we can extend it to 3 days. 

I became more relaxed during our first day stay when I started doing this. Once, when we went to Baguio and got there late, I was panicking because the grocery was closed and we didn't have water! You can't drink tap water here.  Good thing there was a 7-11 nearby and I was able to stock up on water. Plus, bringing a big jug avoids multiple trips to the grocery or convenience store like what my son and I did in Baguio. We went to the grocery daily. They didn't have big jugs, so we got several bottles at a time. They were too heavy to buy all at once! So we went there every morning, after breakfast. Having a big jug of water right from the start saves us time, energy, and money. 

Power bar or extension cord

We had a loose outlet on our first stay at Red Planet, so I went hunting for a power bar. Luckily, I found one at Robinson's UP. I got the one that can handle different kinds of appliances and gadgets.

It's very useful as my son and I can recharge our gadgets at the same time. We don't have to wait as there were only 2 outlets in our room and they both had loose connections. 

Another thing that I added to my list is an adapter. Not all hotels have a universal socket, especially the old ones. The one we stayed at in Vigan didn't. So, I bought one yesterday to put in my travel bag, so that I will never forget anymore. I actually forgot to bring one over the weekend. Not anymore. 

I hope my hacks will make your next budget hotel stay more soft luxe. Here are some  of the items I mentioned for your next trip:

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

🌟 Lady E Curates 🌟

🛒 Insulated lunch bag - Check this one out in different colors!

🛒 Ice box

🛒 Hot & Cold Water Bottle

🛒 Power Bar

🛒 Universal Adapter 

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'Til my next post,

Stay soft. Stay strong. Stay Glowing.

LET'S GLOW.

With elegance and quiet fire, 

Lady E

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