There are many rules and regulations that guests have to follow at hotels! The rules and regulations vary between the different hotels and the countries where the hotels are based. Each hotel has penalties charges if the guests are not following the rules and regulations! Here are some examples where penalties apply:
In most parts of the world, smoking in the rooms and common areas of the hotels is banned by law, and special signs ‘’No Smoking’’ are indicated around the hotel to showing that!
Some hotels have rooms that allow smoking, or areas allowing smoking like balconies, terraces, verandas, and separate zones outside depending on the policy of the hotel!
If you are a smoker it is always best to check whit the hotel reception the smoking policy of the hotel when you are checking in! If the rules of smoking are break, you will have to pay the penalty by local legislation, for example the penalty fines in Germany and Belgium vary from 150 EUR to 1700 EUR.
It is very common the misbehavior by guests at the buffet tables of the hotels! You have probably come across a situation when guests grab everything they can from buffet tables and then leave half of it on their plates after they are finish with the meal.
Some countries like Turkey and China are planning to introduce a low of “clean plate’’, if the guest has not eaten everything that he took from the buffet, they have to pay the penalty of “clean plate’’. Currently only few hotels have introduce this penalty, but the number is expected to grow until the end of year 2020.
Each guest can familiarize itself with the rules of hotel found at the hotel booklets! The hotel booklets can be normally found at the reception desk, in the room, or on information stands!
Violating the internal rules
The hotel has the right and most hotel do, to set a quite periods – when you cannot make a noise or disturb other guests! The quite period usually starts at around 22:00 and 08:00, and it is best not to make a noise in the hotel!
Almost all of the hotels are poorly sound proofed, and there is a risk of disturbing your neighbors or them to disturb you.
A very important concern is the doors of the hotel rooms, usually they are very heavy and if you don’t hold the door when closing, the sound of the slam will be audible throughout the floor.
Most of the hotels these days provide a magnetic cards to use as keys! This makes it easier to handle lost keys: the staff member takes another card and recodes it.
However, there are still many hotels that are using the ordinary keys and everything is a little but more complicated! If you lose the key the hoteliers will have to fork out to make a duplicate of the lost key or even change the lock! We always recommend to our clients to leave the keys at the reception as they will be kept save there!
In some hotel rooms, there are folders with information, including a full list of the property contained in the room and a price is shown next to each item! If any of the items get broken, the guest has to pay the fine equivalent to its value!
It is recommended that once you have entered into the room, to check whether everything is in order! For example: check if there are no cracks in the mirrors, is the furniture in good state, and does everything in the bathrooms works? If something isn’t right, immediately report it to the reception or a member of staff! Otherwise, the hotel will blame you for the problems and will issue you a penalty!
The reservation of the booked room always contains information of how many people the room is booked for! It is always best to inform the hotel if additional guests will be using the reserved room! Failing to inform the hotel, may result at a risk of being fined!
The dress code depends on the hotel and it can vary: in more expensive hotels, men needs to show up for dinner in a shirt, trousers and closed shoes, while ladies should wear dresses! In less fancy hotels, it is enough to avoid turning up in flip-flops and shorts but this is also very common in many hotels! You can always check with the hotel reception the dress code of the hotel. If there is any dress code of the hotel, most common you will find it in the booklets that are handed out in envelops together with the room key cards or are placed on the bedside tables!
For the hotels which have spa services, there are nuances: most of the hotels have several lifts, some of which will take you to the spa center and others to reception and walking around the hotel in your dressing grown without knowing which lift to use will look a bit odd. Nevertheless, the rules vary from hotel to hotel and it is best to ask the reception of the hotel.
If the provided room by the hotel, does not suites you (no windows, too close to the lift, facing the road ext.), it is best to inform the hotel reception before you unpack your suitcase. And they will gladly relocate you in other room of the same category if available!
Tips
Tips are always the best you to show your respect and appreciation to the staff’s work. If the concierge recommends you a good restaurant or a bar, or the porter carries your bags, then is decent reason for some financial inducement!