I found an easy Travelodge hack to get the best room for just £3.50 extra

Aside from choosing your room category when booking a hotel, you never quite know what room you'll be given. However, I discovered a clever hack that can get you a bigger hotel room, and it costs just £3.50.

Booking a hotel for any occasion, whether that's a city break with pals or a romantic weekend away, can be a daunting task, with a lengthy list of establishments to choose from. Yet, even when you've chosen your desired hotel, you then need to select your room category, although the price often determines which one we book (in an ideal world, we'd all book the premium suites if we could afford them).

However, what if I told you that you could get a bigger room when booking through Travelodge, without having to hope that the booking system gods have been kind? I found this out during a trip to London with my friends earlier this year.

We were spending the night after watching an evening show, so I found us a Travelodge in London, Central City Road, to book for the night. As there were three of us, I booked a triple family room - the most affordable option I could find for a Saturday night in the capital.

A few days before our stay, I discovered an option in my booking that allowed me to 'choose my room' before arrival. I was a little sceptical at first, but I'm so glad I investigated further.

For an additional £3.50, I found that I could choose the exact room my friends and I would stay in during our trip. In the name of research and curiosity, I paid the mere £3.50 and was taken to a site map of all the rooms available in my category, which allowed me to choose our room.

What surprised me was that, although the rooms shown were all in the specific category I had booked, a few were noticeably larger as shown on the floor plan. So naturally, I selected the biggest room available.

Even at this stage, I was questioning whether I'd get this room at check-in, considering I had paid less than £5 and it was noticeably larger than the others. So when I checked in on Saturday afternoon, I was delighted when they handed me the keys to the exact room I had chosen, and it was well worth the extra £3.50.

We were treated to a sprawling room with a double bed and two twin beds, despite never changing the room category. Plus, it gave us vital extra space when getting ready for a night out without having to fork out for a pricey upgrade.

This handy hack can be used at more than 575 Travelodge hotels, and it's not just for extra space. You can select to 'choose your room' to ensure you're staying near family or friends, have a specific view, ensure you have a top or ground floor room, or that you're near a lift.

Not only can it provide an additional perk of a bigger room, as I found out, but it also avoids the uncertainty at check-in. However, it's essential to note that using this hack is contingent upon the hotel's availability and layout.

Some Travelodge hotels may not have a larger room available in the category that you've booked, but it's certainly worth checking. Additionally, the price can vary by hotel, room type and length of stay, but it's available for a selection of Travelodge room categories.

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