Checking Out

BEFORE LEAVING YOUR DESTINATION, ensure that everything that you brought and bought is packed and ready to go home. I’ve made this mistake twice: once I left behind a necklace that I bought in Rome, and the second time I forgot my medication in the mini-bar of my Madrid hotel. From these two experiences, I’ve learned to make a checklist the night before of all the items I must not forget to pack, from the bathing suit drying outside in the sun, to medications, chargers, and my passport and other valuables locked in the safe. I love my checklists!

Here’s the proper etiquette for checking out of your accommodations.

HOTEL OR ALL-INCLUSIVE RESORT

• Don’t leave the room as if a tornado went through it. Yes, there is a housekeeping service, but it is disrespectful to the housekeepers, who now have extra work to clean up your mess.

• Always put your dirty towels in one pile on the bathroom floor.

• You don’t need to make the bed, but at least pull the sheets up over the mattress.

• Turn off the lights and television before you leave.

• Try to leave at the designated check-out time so the hotel staff have time to turn over the room for the next guest.

• If your hotel has a self-serve check-out counter, using it will likely streamline your departure.

B&B

• Generally, you don’t need to strip your bed, but it’s polite to at least pull up the sheets so that the bed doesn’t look like you just rolled out of it.

• Try to leave on time so that the host can turn over the room for the next guest.

• Leave a tip for the housekeepers (provided they are not related to the innkeeper).

VACATION RENTAL

• Respect the host’s home and put things back where they belong.

• Depending on the host’s terms, leave the accommodations in a clean and tidy state.

• Return the thermostat setting to the host’s requirements.

• Turn off the lights.

• Leave on time, and let the host know when you left.

• Be honest in your reviews of the accommodation.

FAMILY OR FRIEND’S HOME OR HOME EXCHANGE

• Always ask what you can do. Often family and friends are happy to have you strip the bed and put the dirty towels in the laundry room. If you have time and feel your host will appreciate it, do the laundry, remake the bed and fold the clean towels.

• Tidy up any other areas, such as the bathroom and kitchen.

• Leave a parting gift as a thank-you for their hospitality.

• Send a thank-you note once you are home.

CRUISE OR YACHT

• Generally, you don’t need to strip your bed, but it’s polite to at least pull up the sheets so that the bed doesn’t look like you just rolled out of it.

• Although you tip the ship’s crew on your final invoice, remember, it is always appropriate to recognize with a separate gratuity any particular employee who has gone above and beyond for you. Be sure to give this to them discreetly.