Article: The “Idiot Check” I Do Before Leaving Any Hotel Room

[AFF Editor]

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https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/?p=113340

The “Idiot Check” I Do Before Leaving Any Hotel Room is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

The "Idiot Check" I Do Before Leaving Any Hotel Room

Leaving something behind in a hotel room makes me feel like an idiot. So before checking out, I always do a final "idiot check". What are your hotel habits?

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You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[kpc]

I'm paranoid about leaving something behind in the room when I checkout of a hotel room. I do multiple checks!

I once left my favourite work jacket in a hotel in Abu Dhabi. I only realised a few days later back in Sydney when I was looking for the jacket for work!

Thinking back, I then remembered hanging it in the hotel cupboard as the weather was too hot to wear. Rang the hotel, and housekeeping confirmed they had found it!

Put a post on a FB forum and a fellow traveller picked it up for me a month or 2 later!

Thanks again @Mickeyc747

 

[flyingfan]

I sometimes use the shoe in the safe trick and it did save me once.

Before leaving I specifically check among other places the:

• minibar
• hook behind the bathroom door and any other hooks in the bathroom
• closet
• sockets especially near the desk
• bedsheets especially for any white-coloured clothes of ours

We've left things in these places - well +1 did, but then it becomes a 'we' problem

 

[RooFlyer]

To avoid leaving cords behind …. The good old flagging tape still has some uses. Also helps on planes.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I just avoid spreading things out:

• Keep as many things in my suitcase/bag,
• Use the wardrobe only for hanging clothes.
• All toiletries are kept in a wash bag next to the sink and I ensure to put everything back in there when using (mine has loop on the outside to slide in wet things like toothbrushes, razors etc to let them dry)
• Avoid using drawers, especially deep ones where things can slide to the back
• Never put anything under the bed.
• I generally only take out one set of cables/chargers so I know to take them out when I leave the room

That's just me, but when the family comes around, my OCD kicks in!

 

[kimstephens2]

I am bigger idiot. I do the check twice.

 

[Mocha]

Many years ago my dad, whose name is Walter, left his dressing gown behind. He ended up getting it back, but since then he would open every drawer, cupboard, etc before leaving the room. I ended up doing the same, even if I was convinced I hadn’t used that drawer. I have found many items (my own and those of friends) and this process is now affectionately called ‘Waltering’. Many of my friends have now adopted this and will tell me that they have ‘Waltered’ the bathroom, but not yet the bedroom. It is a wonderful way of remembering my dad, who passed 5 years ago

 

[jveevers]

I once left my favourite jacket in a hotel in St Moritz but didnt realise until the next day when I was 300km away in Italy.
I called the hotel and they had found it.
As I was due to return to Australia in 2 days they offered to mail it to me which they did. I did offer to pay but they declined to accept any money and jacket arrived within a week.

Another time I left a small video camera at a restaurant in Cancun.
I was on a cruise and didnt notice until we had left port.
I emailed them and yes they had found it.
The owner had a brother living in Australia who would be visiting them in a couple of weeks and they would get him to bring it back to Sydney and then mail it to me in Perth.
I had it within 6 weeks. Awesome.

 

[downundermm]

Never leave in rush is a good rule. I do my “final check” before leaving my accommodation I pack up everything and I place all my items at the door, then I do a final check through every room/area and hanging space. I never use draws in any accommodation. It’s just piece of mind that I have all my belongings.

 

[outthere1000]

Recently I left not one but two sun hats hanging on hooks by the room door at a Premier Inn at LHR. Because it was dark when I left the room very early, I walked straight past them. I didn't see them when I packed the night before because the hooks were obscured by a very small clothes rack that stuck out into the room. I wrote the hats off because they'd cost very little, though one had some sentimental value. Definitely a failure to do a proper check, which is definitely idiot behaviour.

 

[Flying Fox]

Our family calls it the 'once over'.

Generally once we are all packed, I yell out - 'let's do a once over' and everyone starts going through every room and every drawer, cupboard, powerpoint and under beds etc etc etc. Generally we assign people specific rooms of responsibility to search.

We have saved a few things from getting left behind this way.

This is SOP for us

 

[2APlease]

I now use a flash light when checking the room safe as my credit card holder was hiding in the dark and got missed when I left. That was in Japan and I only realised on landing in Melbourne.

 

[group-of-5]

We do some variation on all of the above, plus a few others that help without any extra effort.

1. On waking up on the last day in the room, I pull up the sheet and bedspread or the combination sheet/doona cover that seems to be standard these days (what a terrible idea - you can't just have a sheet when spouse wants the doona) so you have a smooth surface and nothing can disappear in any folds. Also, given that most are now white or a single colour, you have a clear field for any sorting while doing that final pack. Anything left out is easy to spot.
2. In our suitcase we include two small cardboard boxes. One box is for all the electronic bits, chargers, cables, adaptors, bottle opener/corkscrew, pen knife etc. The other is for medications and any small personal items that you use on a daily basis. When we get to the room, the two boxes are removed and put on the desk or bench. As the boxes are readily accessible, you can find what you need without touching the rest of the suitcase and when finished using an item, it is easy to just throw it back in the box. When leaving, the usual question is "why is this box so easy to close?" and you then find that charger still plugged in behind the bedside table. We size the boxes so they fit in between those rails at the bottom of the suitcase. It's a good way of maximising the use of that space that might be wasted otherwise. We tend to travel with a single suitcase between the two of us, so we have one set of boxes for the 68cm case and another set that fits in the rail gap of the 78cm case. The ones we use fit on top of each other, so they sit in the corner of the case taking up less space than a pair of hiking shoes. When the cardboard starts to disintegrate, we just replace them with a new set. They get handled a lot, but we tend to get maybe 8 weeks of travel out of a box.

 

[lovestotravel]

We do some variation on all of the above, plus a few others that help without any extra effort.

1. On waking up on the last day in the room, I pull up the sheet and bedspread or the combination sheet/doona cover that seems to be standard these days (what a terrible idea - you can't just have a sheet when spouse wants the doona) so you have a smooth surface and nothing can disappear in any folds. Also, given that most are now white or a single colour, you have a clear field for any sorting while doing that final pack. Anything left out is easy to spot.

Recent Air B&B type stay - I started to do this in the kids room, before I had finished I got sidetracked to one of the kids and then came back to a mostly made bed. We normally pull back sheets/doona/duvet/blankets and then remake the bed mostly neat once we have checked the bed.

We checkout/leave the house, about 2 hours away, I ask, did we pack the 2 kids teddies.. Car goes silent, one of the kids starts screaming and we knew they were in-between the sheets.

Call to the rental agency, who said the cleaner would call once they get there.. A very quiet time in the car as these teddies were given to us by my Mother for my child, and she passed away a few year back..

Hour later, call from the cleaner, 2 teddies found and posted back to us free of charge.

Wifey and I agreed that we do the beds ourselves and don't remake them unless checked first

 

[VPS]

We do some variation on all of the above, plus a few others that help without any extra effort.

1. On waking up on the last day in the room, I pull up the sheet and bedspread or the combination sheet/doona cover that seems to be standard these days (what a terrible idea - you can't just have a sheet when spouse wants the doona) so you have a smooth surface and nothing can disappear in any folds.

OT but the sheet as a doona cover should be banned

 

[VPS]

I have mainly just left behind toiletries (because of allergies I always carry my own) and don't worry but once I left my international drivers licence and another kind AFFer collected it for me

 

[itchy feet]

Some years ago I returned to Australia from London and found I'd left behind the bag of dirty laundry I'd packed to wash when home.. It included several expensive-to-replace items. When I contacted the airport hotel, I was told the bag had been found, was with housekeeping and yes, the hotel would post the bag to me. Very generously at their expense (maybe hotel loyalty program status helped?). What a delightful surprise when I received the parcel to find my clothes had been laundered!

 

[bookworm]

Once on a US trip (Yellowstone) we bought a tray of cake slices to have with coffee, & put these in the freezer section, to have the next day after a long day of driving.
We always do the Idiot check, my husband checks first & asks me to do a second check just as we are about to leave the room.
As we never usually use the freezer section of the refrigerator, somehow this slipped both our checks.

How we missed this when we poured our coffee after a long day & were just looking forward to some cake & coffee.

Needless to say, the freezer is always double checked now.

 

[Denali]

I do an idiot check and talk to myself while doing it.... "nothing on the bed, nothing on the table..."

BUT. Ive left many a plug in night light in the bathroom, which is bloody annoying because I now have to travel with two of them

 

[SYD]

When travelling together, we literally say “disarm doors and cross check” before leaving

ie nothing in the safe, cupboards, bathroom etc.