Being stuck in a bad hotel room can be an extremely inconvenient, uncomfortable and aggravating experience. However, there are some smart tips that could help you manage such a situation to your benefit. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 smart things to do when stuck in a bad hotel room.

Immediately Place a Complaint and Ask That The Hotel Makes Amends

If the reason why the hotel is not conducive for your stay is something that can be easily changed – maybe it’s a hard mattress, dirty linen etc. – then you can complain at the front desk and ask that the hotel immediately fix the issue. Chances are the hotel will quickly respond and make amends to make your stay pleasant.

Immediately Ask For a Change or an Upgrade

Don’t be shy about this, as you didn’t pay so much money to be stuck in a crappy hotel. Once you see that the hotel room is nothing to write home about, immediately request for a change of room or a free upgrade, if there is no other room in the same price range. If the hotel refuses your request for a free upgrade and you have some extra money to spare, you can insist on a reasonable discount on the upgrade to make up for the inconvenience caused. There isn’t a decent hotel that would refuse such a request because of the concern of a bad review from a paying customer.

Immediately Check Out

If the hotel either has none or refuses to provide a change of room or upgrade, you can decide to immediately check out of the hotel and ask for a refund if you have prepaid for your stay. This might however be a more stressful option, but if you absolutely can’t stand the environment or service of the hotel, you just might have to deal with this option. To make it a bit more convenient for you, you can immediately make use of a hotel booking portal like Jumia Travel, and select another hotel in the area within the same or similar price range and with good reviews (to avoid having the same experience again).

Consider Hotel Reviews

First of all, the best thing to do to avoid being stuck in a bad hotel room is to read reviews about the hotel you intend to lodge in. If the reviews are mostly bad, then it is best to avoid such hotels. If they are mostly good or excellent, then that is probably a hotel to consider. You can use hotel booking portals to get this review information. For example, the Jumia Travel hotel booking portal is one that has a detailed list of reviews for each hotel and an overall score given to each hotel based on these reviews.