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Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

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Any Tips For Making a Cheap Hotel More Bearable?

Dear Rolf,

I like the idea of traveling independently and booking cheap hotels and hostels as I go. The only problem is that sometimes the only affordable hotels available in a given place are a tad seedy—i.e. they’re noisy or they smell bad or they aren’t very clean. Do you have any tips for making the occasional dive hotel more bearable?

-- Alan, Bristol, UK

Dear Alan,

Interestingly enough, I dealt with a similar question on my blog a few years ago, and it attracted a lot of reader input. On a general level, I advised preparing a “flophouse hotel survival” kit that included earplugs (since many flophouses are near noisy areas like discos or bus stations or mosques), a lightweight cable and padlock (to secure possessions against opportunist crime) and your own towel, soap and toilet paper (since many cheap guesthouses don’t provide these).

That said, everyone’s cheap hotel strategy is slightly different, and my readers also suggested the following:

* A bag liner or light sleep-sack. Bedding might not always be clean.

* DEET or mosquito netting. In tropical areas, or anyplace, mosquitoes might be a nuisance.

* Eye-shades. If a room is too bright, or if you want to sleep during daylight hours.

* Some kind of simple door wedge. Just in case the lock on hotel room door is flimsy or broken.

* Ambien, or a similar sleep aid. This should be used wisely and sparingly, but sometimes a sleeping pill can spell the difference between fitful semi-sleep and a full night’s rest.

* Tiger Balm or Bengay-style cream. In addition to muscle aches, a dab under the nostrils can ward off all manner of bad smells.

* Some friendly bonding with the owner or clerk at the front desk, and some other guests. Just to make sure someone is looking out for you, and treats you like a person instead of just some random body occupying a room.

On a final note, I might add some rooms in flophouse hotels are better than others—and it’s worth asking the front desk clerk to let you look at several rooms before you settle on one. In addition to cleanliness and security, choose rooms that are away from street noise. And check the toilets and shower facilities to make sure they work properly.

Columnist Rolf Potts is the author of Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel.

Send your questions to . If you want to know whether Rolf has already answered your questions, see the Ask Rolf archive.

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I always travel with a small headlamp. It’s ideal for cheap hotels that don’t provide a bedside light or for navigating dark hallways. My Petzl takes 3 AAA batteries and has 2 LED bulbs which last forever - I think I paid about $25 at REI.

This will sound like overkill, but ever since I brought bedbugs back from Croatia last summer, I have pledged to carry a plastic container of diatom dust (which you can order online from Tallman Scientific) with me to sprinkle in sketchy rooms. Its effect is probably half placebo, but so be it. Bedbugs be damned!

My husband and I and our three young children are looking for a cheap vacation in the Caribbean.  We are looking at Punta Cana, what do you think?

Never put your luggage on the floor or near the bed.  That is a very good way to bring home bed bugs!

I travel frequently in East Africa- I started with medical aid trips and then I became hooked! 
I have found two simple items to be absolutely essential if you are going to take on the challenge of inexpensive lodging…
1. A lightweight sleep sack is a reassurance when encountering less than fresh linens or- no linens.
2. Small high quality flashlight.  When electricity is not dependable, it’s a reassurance and a convenience.
Safari sana!

When there aren’t any outlets in your cheap room, try using a current tap. This device creates a pair of outlets by screwing between a light bulb and the socket.

Might I also suggest:

Backpacking With Mood Lighting

Always ask to see the room before you commit, do not make assumptions based on the lobby, especially in France and Eastern Europe. Open all the curtains as wide as possible if the view is tolerable. If you’re not feeling well, splurge and get a better room; I once left a squalid hotel in the Latin Quarter in Paris which was normally adequate because I did not want to die in such surroundings.

melissa Mahaffey

you read my mind with this post. I was gonna ask someone for a list of recommended links, but you beat me to the punch.