What’s the key to getting a good hotel room?How do you do that?Let me tell you !

　　If you like to travel, as I do, you’ve probably collected a long list of gripes about some hotels you’ve stayed in: Slow check-in, dirty bathrooms, grungy bedspreads, surly employees, noisy air conditioning, hidden fees …

　　But your future hotel stays could be superb, with better rooms and service than in the past, if you heed the advice of Jacob Tomsky, author of the new memoir Heads in Beds, about his 10 years in the hospitality business.

　　Tomsky, 34, worked his way up from being a New Orleans hotel valet parker to manning the front desk of an upscale Manhattan hotel, learning the tricks of the trade (and some dirty little secrets, literally, about hotels) along the way.

　　How Older Guests Treat Hotel Employees

　　I caught up with Tomsky to get him to elaborate on his best tips for hotel travelers over 50. Since much of his book deals with the ways customers have treatedhim, I first asked Tomsky if older guests treat hotel employees differently than younger ones.

　　“That’s an interesting question,” he said, pausing to think. “I would say the boomer generation is probably a lot more understanding and polite. I always appreciated some of the more seasoned and older travelers. They understand the difficulties of our job, while it’s the youth who are going to start screaming.”

　　Here is an edited version of the rest of our conversation:

　　You write that customers who make hotel reservations through Expedia and other discount sites may get the worst rooms. Why?

　　If you’re going to book a room through an Internet travel site, you may be saving a lot of money, but your reservation will have a lot less priority than someone who booked directly at that hotel, choosing it on their own volition.

　　And a lot of times, any specific requests [like two king size beds or a large bathroom] you may have made through a discount site may not get transferred to the hotel.

　　　So if you book through Internet discount sites, I recommend you call ahead two to three days before you’re scheduled to arrive to establish contact with the front desk. Ask to speak to a front desk agent, introduce yourself, and say, “I’ll be arriving in a couple of days and want to know what you have booked for me.”

　　What’s the key to getting a good hotel room?

　　When you arrive at the hotel and check in, you should remember that the power of the front desk cannot be undervalued. We know the rooms next to the ice machine, the rooms where the TVs are always breaking down, the ones with tiny bathrooms.

　　Sometimes, the choice is made based on the price you paid. But sometimes, you may get those rooms if you’re rude. We’ll save the better rooms for the kind travelers, the ones that treat people nicely, like human beings. So getting in good with the front desk is critical.

　　How do you do that?

　　Sometimes a well-placed gratuity with the front desk can be very helpful. I know that’s not a standard practice and not everyone is comfortable doing it. But it is a kind gesture that helps differentiate you. The front-desk clerk will think, “This person is generous; I’ll find them what I think is the best room and upgrade them.”

　　You say in your book that giving $20 to a front desk clerk goes a long way in getting a good room.

　　That’s a nice amount, but even $5 will do, especially if you’re only there for a night.