About a week ago, I was almost knocked off of my feet by a terribly noxious smell of some sort as I stepped off of an elevator in Sao Paulo, Brazil. No, I was not touring a chemical factory. Unfortunately, I was heading to my hotel room after a very long day at work. Although the hotel had notified us days earlier that we could expect to hear drills and hammers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the final phase of their renovation, we could not have anticipated that unbearable paint-thinner-like smells were also included with their process. I put a towel under my door to try and stop the odor, and carried on best as I could with the work I had to do.
Before I left for this business trip, I looked up our hotel on the website TripAdvisor.com to see what types of comments people were recently leaving. I had been to this establishment a few years ago and I can remember it was old and outdated. Happily, the reviews were indicating that the hotel was being renovated. This gave me hope that a fresh new room would be waiting for me upon my arrival. There were a few complaints about the noise of drills, but that was the extent of the construction issues reported. How misleading.
If you are planning a holiday or business trip, please consider these tips and suggestions when making your hotel arrangements:
1. Do your homework: If a hotel is undergoing renovations, they should openly disclose this on their website. However, be careful about booking your trip using online travel websites that summarize hotel information and do not take you to the hotel’s own website. Time sensitive details such as hotel renovations may not be disclosed. I noticed that my hotel had a small disclaimer in Portuguese on their own website regarding the final phase of the “retro-fit,” but there was no immediate mention of this on Hotels.com. Always read reviews first before booking, and visit reliable websites like TripAdvisor to keep informed about the current state of affairs at a given property. If in doubt, call up the hotel and ask if any renovations are going on.
2. Pick another hotel: If you have other hotel options in the immediate area you need to stay in, take it. This is especially true if you are planning to do any work from your room. The sound of drills can and will make you crazy after a few hours, and will turn conference calls into a complete disaster. Avoid hotels undergoing renovations at all costs if possible.
3. Confirm affected floors: Usually a hotel will stagger their renovations into phases, so that the entire building is not in chaos at one time. If you know your hotel is under renovation, ask them to tell you which floors are affected during your stay immediately upon check-in (or preferably a day or so before arrival.) Then, request a room on an unaffected floor. Although you may still hear some sounds, it will be a little less disruptive. I did not even think to do this, but I will going forward.
4. Bring earplugs: I always keep an entire box of earplugs in my suitcase. These can be your saviors if you are faced with obnoxious construction noises head on and can’t move hotels or change rooms. Bring enough to share with your travel partners and not to mention any desperate floor mates you may run into at the elevator. You could end up being a hero.
As always, I wish you all the happiest of travels!
