Keep These Three Tips In Mind When Asking For A Free Hotel Room Upgrade

If you like the idea of getting away for a night and staying at a hotel, you'll love knowing that it's possible to get a free room upgrade simply by asking. Of course, your ability to receive this complimentary travelers' perk depends on the hotel's vacancy on the night of your stay, but if the situation is right – and you take the right approach when you ask for the upgrade – your request can often be granted. To ask for this upgrade, focus on being direct; speak to an attendant at the front desk and politely make your wishes known. Here are three other tips that can help.

Check In At The Ideal Time

While there's no specific magical time in which staff members are more apt to grant guests' requests for free room upgrades, you'll tend to have more success if you check in – and make your request – a bit later in the day. If you arrive at the hotel in the afternoon, the hotel could still have vacant rooms that its management hopes will be filled before nightfall. As such, the staff might be directed not to grant any upgrade requests. However, if you arrive a little later – perhaps around the dinner hour – there will likely be fewer last-minute guests booking rooms, which means that your request can often be granted.

Discuss A Specific Room Feature

Even though the hotel staff member you approach will know that you're looking for a free upgrade once you begin to ask, it's useful to discuss a specific feature that you'd like in your new room. Instead of simply saying that you want a better room without paying extra, politely ask if you could get a room on an upper floor that has a view of the city, for example. Or, you could ask for a suite because it provides more room for you and your spouse after a long day cramped in the car.

Keep Your Voice Low

Asking for a room upgrade in a loud voice is a recipe for disaster; if other guests hear your words and decide that they'd like to try for an upgrade, too, the front desk will be flooded with requests. And, the simplest approach for the staff is to decline everyone who asks. To avoid attracting attention, keep your voice low when you speak to the desk clerk. You can even wait until the desk area is quiet or approach a clerk on the far end of the desk, away from other guests who are arriving. Contact a hotel, such as Mt. Laurel La Quinta Inn, for more information.   


Share