Hotel Room Hacks: Making the Most of Your Stay Away from Home
It’s time to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Traveling means hotels, which can sometimes feel a bit impersonal. Here’s a list of hotel room “hacks” that will transform your temporary abode into a cozy and efficient space, ensuring your stay is nothing short of delightful.
Aromatherapy
- Hotels usually smell fresh and clean, but sometimes a familiar scent from home is what you need after a long day. By bringing a travel-sized essential oil diffuser, you can elevate and personalize your temporary space with comforting scents. Lavender can be particularly soothing after a long day of travel.
Turn Standard into Stylish
- One way to make a standard hotel room more comfortable is by bringing your favorite blanket, pillow, or night light. It’s a simple way to personalize your space and make it feel more like home. Never underestimate the power of a few cozy touches!
Create a Charging Station
- Running out of outlets for your devices? Plug a power strip into one outlet and transform it into a charging station for all your gadgets. No more difficult choices between charging your phone or laptop!
DIY Blackout Curtains
- If you need complete darkness to sleep, here’s a hack for you. Not all hotels have blackout curtains available for guests, but all you really need is a pant hanger. Use the clips to pinch the curtains together, ensuring no light can peep through the gaps. If you still need it darker in the room, you can always ask for an extra blanket. Just clip it to the curtains for an extra layer of coverage and enjoy your full nights sleep!
Self-Care Spa
- Turn your hotel bathroom into a make-shift spa by packing a skincare mask, your favorite bath bomb or shower steamer, and anything else that makes you feel fully relaxed! Dim the lights, run a warm bath, and let the stress melt away. After, you can utilize the complimentary robes (or bring your own!), grab some fuzzy socks, and treat yourself to a well-deserved night in.
Be Resourceful
- Hotel rooms often have limited living space, so be sure make the most of it. Use the ironing board as an extra desk, nightstand, or elevated luggage rack. Pull the desk chair over to the window for a cozy reading nook with a view. You may have to pack lightly while traveling, but you don’t need to worry! Use complimentary items to DIY the items you didn’t pack. For example, you can use the provided paper cups to create a toothbrush holder; simply flip the cup, stick your toothbrush through the bottom, and you’re all set! There are endless possibilities in utilizing your hotel room’s space, so think outside the box and have fun with it.
Your hotel room is more than just a place to rest your head, so make it work for you! With these simple hacks, you can transform any hotel room into a home away from home. Happy travels!
First, we’ll begin with understanding the difference between communication and effective communication. Communication can easily be described or broken down as the 
Being that I am now 42 years old and have worked in Telecom and AV for the better part of 2 decades, I have 12+ trips to Las Vegas completed and feel like I know what to expect each time I fly into Harry Reid International Airport. First, it was the annual DIRECTV Revolution Conference, then it was Channel Partners, followed by InfoComm in alternating years. As I have explained to my wife (who has never been), I feel like the mystique of Las Vegas wears off after the first or second trip out there. However, when I was approached back in 2019 with the chance to attend my first ever JBL Fest, I felt the type of excitement as if I had never been there and was eager to experience a new list of firsts. Unfortunately, a family health scare cancelled my trip that year and 2 years-worth of a Pandemic further delayed my first JBL Fest until 2022. Having enjoyed last year as much as I did, I still felt a certain sense of the “exciting unknown” when I was invited to attend again this year. Along with our Exertis Almo Incentive Winners – Josh Taylor, Kyle Smith, Randy Robinovitch, and Ray Farler, I headed out to Las Vegas and made sure to document JBL Fest 2023 for all of you!
Landing Las Vegas, you are almost immediately greeted by hosts holding “JBL Fest” signage at the baggage claim area and are ushered to a waiting shuttle (aka a rather swanky party bus) which took us to the Park MGM where we would be staying for the next 2 days. Surprise #1 on this trip was while I was checking in and I lift my head to notice Kevin Humphrey, Harman Distribution Manager (and close friend), standing next to me. I have always said that I am only as successful as those around me, so to be able to share this experience with someone deserving like Kevin made the event that much more rewarding. We then walked to the Hospitality Suite where I received a welcome packet and the “infamous” JBL Fest Swag Bag. This year, the bag contained several JBL branded items such as water bottles and hand sanitizer, but the highlight was the customized pair of JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds. If you are not familiar with these, they are JBL’s newest noise cancelling earbuds which were featured in WIRED’s Best of CES 2023. Spatial Audio, wireless charging, and a first of its kind touch display on the charging case make these anything but your typical earbuds. I had to open and pair them with my phone the second I got to my room! Once we got to the complimentary lunch, I was able to meet with our team as well as with Frank Joseph and Whitney Bosch from the Harman marketing team as we game-planned the day and discussed all that was happening.
Next stop was a VIP-access tour of Allegiant Stadium which is where the Las Vegas Raiders play their home games. Seeing as how I just recently took my daughter on a tour of Citizens Bank Park as well as Lincoln Financial Field, this was right up my alley! Aside from going down to the field level and experiencing this newer facility up close, we received some behind the scenes sneak peaks into the A/V which included their control/IT room which housed an impressive 50+ Crown DCI4x1250N amplifiers and multiple BSS Processors amongst other items. Simply standing next to the rack of amps was eye-opening as you realize how much it takes to truly power that type of operation. While we didn’t get up close to the speakers, we did learn it was the JBL VLA Series of Line Array Speakers which are typically found in stadium-type applications. Following the tour we had a little downtime before meeting up for the evening welcoming reception at the Hotel, which we were greeted by a team photo opportunity and another swag bag complete with a custom JBL Fest Masterclass Bluetooth speaker. This opening event was followed by an even bigger party at the onsite club. Mingling with a diverse group of worldwide influencers and Harman executives is always fun but I was fortunate enough to make my way to the Harman VIP lounge which then led to a once in a lifetime opportunity! Kyle Smith and I were invited into a back room where we met and had a photo opportunity with Lenny Kravitz! To finish things off was a rather surprise appearance from Grammy winning artist Bruno Mars who sang along with some of his biggest hits. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night!
Waking up on Friday I knew we were in for a long but rewarding day. First off was breakfast which came complete with a Johnny Fly Sunglasses gifting station! You essentially walk up and try on several pairs of high-end sunglasses and then say “ok ill take these”. The wrap them up in a custom JBL case and you are on your way! We then made our way to the Installed Audio Masterclass presented by 
We immediately went to the JBL Stage with VIP access where we all met up for drinks, food, and music. I ventured off while Bebe Rexha was performing and found myself with perfect view of the main stage where an EDM DJ was getting the crowd fired up for the next act. After looking through the street vendors and other areas, I called it a night as I listened to Bebe Rexha perform with special guest Tyler Hubbard (from Florida Georgia Line). The Killers were the headliner of Friday night and through videos I saw from Josh Taylor, it seemed our entire team left the trip on a high note!
