You’ve been planning this trip for weeks, months, or even a year. You’ve driven a few hours and finally have reached your destination. It’s getting late, but you easily find your hotel and you have a fantastic check-in experience. The front desk agent gives you your keys.

Exhausted, you find your way to your room. You open the door to find out that the room is dirty. What do you do? This can be an infuriating experience for any traveler, but in this moment you have a very important decision to make. Do you march back down to the front desk and scream at the agent that just checked you in? Or do you take another approach?

If you stop to think a moment about it, you will realize that the person you are about to yell at had nothing to do with the room being dirty. Clearly there has been a mistake along the way that has told the front desk that this room was clean. The front desk agent didn’t clean the room nor did they dirty it. Furthermore, how many times have they been yelled at this month, this week, or even today?

Take another approach and appeal to their empathetic side. The vast majority of staff you encounter sincerely want to take care of you and want to fix the problems you have experienced. Let them. Don’t make a bad situation even worse with anger. Heck, if you are nice enough about it, you might even get more for your troubles.

If you are traveling soon and have questions, please feel free to reach out to Practical Insider Travelers Tips at info@pinpointpennsylvania.com. Until next time, be safe and happy traveling!

Jason Krysinski is a lifelong resident of Pennsylvania. He’s been in hotel management for 18 years. He’s passionate about writing, food, history, and travel. Writing for Pinpoint unifies all of his passions. He’s always looking to discover new and off the beaten path locations throughout the state. If you have any suggestions, email him at jason@pinpointpennsylvania.com