The holidays are right around the corner and I’m pretty sure having a hotel staycation with your family is running around your mind lately. My family and I had our previous staycations within the Metro like our staycation in Dusit Hotel and in Raffles Makati. And from our experiences, allow me to share with you some things to consider to help you plan your staycation.
- List your goals. Is your family’s goal simply a staycation inside the hotel? Do you want to do some food trips around town or check the nearby scenery? Do you want a room or a suite where there’s a kitchen inside? These are some key factors you need to think about beforehand so you can select an appropriate hotel that can accommodate your needs. In our case, since we simply wanted to relax in the hotel and wanted to do some shopping, we selected Dusit Thani Manila in Makati City because it’s a 5-star hotel that offers great rooms and the hotel is right beside a mall. If you want to find cheap Makati hotels, then you can canvass the prices of Makati hotels online.
- Ask around. You can ask close relatives or friends if they have hotel memberships or discounts that you can use. After our staycation in a hotel, a family friend of ours told us, “Why didn’t you tell me you were staying there? I could have lent you my discount card!” Too bad that I didn’t ask around at first.
- Book early. Booking early has its benefits. Most hotels offer discounts if you book a room 14 days before or offer even bigger discounts if you book 20+ days before your booking date/s.
- Ask questions. Do not be shy to ask questions, even silly ones. The usual question we ask the front desk or reservations is if we can bring food to our room or if we can have our pizza delivered in our room and things like that. Another common question that the kids keep asking is if the room has a bathtub. Never hesitate to ask the hotel about their amenities and that includes if the room you’re getting has a bathtub. It is your right. I made a huge mistake of assuming that the room that I booked before has a bathtub without asking them so when we checked in our room, we were saddened that it has none. We called the front desk right away if we can transfer to another room that has a bathtub in it and thankfully our request was granted. The downside was we waited 2 hours before we were given a room so it was an inconvenience for us. We could have done a lot of things in those 2 hours.
- Bring extra cash. If you have a credit card, then that’s fine. Hotels love credit card users because they can simply swipe their cards for any pop-up expenses. But if you’re like us who don’t have credit cards and likes to pay in cash instead, then make sure to have some extra cash. One reason is that hotels require you to pay advance deposits upon check-in as insurance and this is what I forget sometimes. There are times that hotels don’t require you to pay, but they will take the snacks and drinks for the mini bar in your room, and that’s fine with us. But I cannot guarantee that all hotels will allow you to stay without an advance deposit so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
- Don’t forget your emergency kit, Paracetamol, and antihistamine. Aside from your clothes, make-up, baby's diapers, and the like, don't forget to bring a basic emergency kit and some medicines. You can never tell if someone from your family would be needing some Betadine or alcohol for a cut or bruise. There’s also an 80% chance that you’ll get a headache from the weather or other reasons so you better have some Paracetamol. It would be a hassle if you were to go out and buy some in a drugstore while you’re having your staycation. Lastly, you can never tell when someone will have an allergy attack. It could be from the dust, from the mattress, etc., so it’s best to have an antihistamine in your bag just in case.
That's it! These are all the things you should take note of while planning your staycation. If you have anything else to add, please feel free to leave a comment below this blog post so everyone can see. Good luck and may you have a hassle-free holiday!
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