LIFESTYLE: TOP TIPS FOR BUSINESS TRIPS

Travelling for work, whether you’re a career girl heading to client meetings or a blogger attending a conference, can be very stressful. There’s none of the fun of jetting off on holiday, but all the stress of airports, hotel booking and navigating somewhere new. Here are some top tips for making business trips easier. 
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Travel Packing
If you’re going to be flying for your work trip, try to pack into just a carry on bag. If you don’t have any luggage that needs to go in the hold, you can save a lot of time by not having to check it in and not having to hang around at the baggage carousel when you land. Instead, just get off the plane and set off. 

If you travel a lot for work, you could keep a bag of essentials pre-packed. Buy a set of travel toiletries and a spare toothbrush and keep a wash bag packed that you can just throw into your suitcase and not wonder if you’ve forgotten anything. You could also keep packed some things you’ll know you’ll need, like a spare phone charger, business cards or stationery. 

Pack shirts in plastic garment bags to stop them from getting wrinkled in your case. Remember to pack casual clothes for the evenings too! Leave your electronics and liquids easily accessible to make the security queue faster to get through. 

The Hotel
Booking a hotel for work means you’re probably looking for different things than if you were booking a hotel for a holiday. Many chain hotels offer loyalty schemes that are very useful for frequent business travellers. Look for hotels with offers that suit you, whether that’s better prices or faster WiFi. Look for somewhere used to business travellers, like Dorsett Hotel, Sheperds Bush

Check hotel amenities. If you’re there for work, it’s important that you have access to good WiFi. While WiFi is a standard in hotels now, it’s often not that great and can be slow. Look for high-speed internet, or somewhere that offers rooms with a wired connection for the internet. 

Is there a safe in the room large enough for things like your laptop? If you’re travelling for work, you want to be sure that you can lock away any company valuables before you head out for dinner in the evening. 

Is there a hotel concierge? They can suggest nearby laptop-friendly cafes if you want to get some work done before your meetings, as well as making suggestions for somewhere for dinner where you won’t feel out of place as a solo diner. 

A hotel with laundry facilities could be helpful if you need to freshen up work clothes after being crammed in your suitcase. If you need to be well-rested, see if the hotel offers different options for pillows, so you can choose the right ones to be comfortable to help you sleep well and arrive for meetings or conference refreshed. 

What sort of food options are on-site? As a lone diner, you might feel less out of place in a hotel restaurant, especially if the hotel welcomes a lot of business travellers. 

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