Hotel room in 90 seconds: the arrival routine that senior crew do without thinking

Watching a new joiner on my last trip walk into her hotel room, put the bag down and sit on the bed for twenty minutes scrolling made me realise the arrival routine is something nobody teaches. It is a ninety second habit and it changes the layover. Here is mine after eight years, and please add or correct.

1. Bag on the luggage rack, not the bed, not the floor. Bed bugs are rare and one experience is enough.
2. Curtains: check they close fully. If not, clips or a hanger through the two curtain loops.
3. Thermostat: set it now, not at 3am when you wake up sweating or freezing.
4. Kettle or coffee machine: fill and boil once to clean, then use.
5. Check the alarm clock on the bedside table is not set to 5am by the previous guest. This has caught everyone once.
6. Uniform out of the bag and hung in the bathroom while you shower so the steam drops the creases.
7. Phone on charge, do not disturb set for the sleep window, wake up call booked as backup.
8. Shoes off, feet up against the wall for five minutes. This is not a joke, it is the single best thing for the ankles after a twelve hour sector.

Then the layover starts. Ninety seconds, and the room works for you instead of against you.

The version I see from year one crew: bag on the bed, curtains half open, phone at 4 percent, uniform in a ball, and a 3am panic about the wake up call. I did all of it. Nobody told me either.