Staying in a hotel should be a relaxing experience. But when you are in a hotel that continues to surprise you with a lack of quality, your stay will quickly turn ugly. Considering the high costs of hotels, you want to get the most for your money. The advise below will help you do just that.

To save a little bit of money on the cost of your hotel room, whether you are booking over the phone or online, see if there is a discount for paying at the time of booking rather than waiting to pay at checkout. Often this can make the difference between queen and king beds, or between a room and a suite.

If you want to keep up your running regimen on the road, make sure that your packing list includes lots of running clothes and a GPS watch. For an early morning jog, get up and throw your gear on, and then head out the front door. Even jogging on pavement and alongside city avenues can provide you new perspective of any city that you visit.

It is often helpful to choose a hotel that includes a free breakfast. While many of the breakfasts are not elaborate, they offer you a way to start your day off right without having to search for a place to eat. Many hotels offer a continental breakfast that includes, coffee, tea and pastries while others offer cereal, eggs, pancakes, waffles and other breakfast foods.

To keep your physical fitness going when you are on the road, when you check into a hotel, check out the fitness center. Even in gyms where you only see a treadmill or two and a set of dumbbells, you can still get in a bodyweight workout and a cardio routine. It may not be ideal, but it gets you through until you are back on your home turf.

Do not assume all hotels allow pets. Some hotels allow pets of any size, some have certain restrictions, and some do not allow pets at all. If you have a pet and book a room at a hotel that has a no pet policy, you will not be allowed to stay there with your furry friend.

Sign on to Facebook and find the page of the hotel you are staying at. Write a little message on their page, and see if the staff responds. You never know, they may offer you a special perk! If nothing else, keep up with what is happening on the page in case any specials are announced.

Join the hotel’s membership program if you frequently stay there on business trips. That way, each time you stay, you accrue points that you can turn into vacation freebies when it’s time to take the family on an adventure.

Before booking a hotel room, ask the hotel about their return policy. You never know what could happen and you may end up having to cancel your reservation. If there is no return policy, you could be basically throwing your money down the drain. Don’t book with a hotel until you know this information.

Beware of the bottle of water beside your bed. Many hotels charge as much as 10 dollars for that bottle of water. Other items that you may not realize you will be charged for include: pool towels, newspapers and Internet access. To ensure you are not being charged for items you do not want read the fine print.

To avoid the unpleasant surprise of a costly pet deposit when you check into a hotel, ask about pet policies and fees when you book the room. That gives you the flexibility of choosing a hotel that is more pet-friendly and keeps you from having a huge fee that you pay just because it’s too inconvenient to switch hotels at the last minute.

Look around for hotels that are having grand openings. These grand openings often have big savings on hotel rooms. In fact, the savings can be very significant – 20% and often more. It’s a great way to get a top notch hotel stay and then pass on the word to others about the stay!

Do not give in to the temptation to run off with hotel towels or sheets. Keeping linens, a robe or some similar item will likely not go unnoticed. You will be issued a bill for the items taken. If you like the linens so much, you should ask about purchasing them.

As demonstrated above, there are many things you can do to make sure that you are not being overcharged for a substandard room in an undesirable part of town. It just takes a bit of research and using the advice in the hints above. So keep them in mind the next time you are booking a room and have a enjoyable stay.