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According to Javier Sobrino, founder of Spanish travel platform Descubriendo Viajes, the right hotel room could make your holiday, while opting for the number door number could break it

Choosing the wrong hotel room number could set you up for a restless holiday.

You’ve been dreaming about your holiday for months. After a long day of travelling, you finally arrive at your hotel, ready to kick off your shoes and relax. But as you settle into your room, the peaceful atmosphere you hoped for is shattered by constant noise from the corridor, slamming doors, and the unmistakable rumble of the nearby elevator.

According to Javier Sobrino, founder of Spanish travel platform Descubriendo Viajes, this common hotel gripe can be avoided with one simple booking strategy.

“After spending over a decade travelling across Spain and staying in hundreds of hotels, I’ve learned that the room number on your booking can make or break your entire stay,” says Sobrino. “Never book a room ending in ‘01’. In most hotels, rooms ending in ‘01’ are typically located right next to elevators, stairwells, and service areas – essentially, the noisiest spots on the floor.”

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This room placement isn’t random. Hotels are typically designed with rooms ending in ‘01’ positioned near elevators and service areas for efficiency. While this layout makes sense for hotel operations, it creates a less-than-ideal experience for guests in these rooms.

“These rooms catch all the foot traffic from other guests coming and going at all hours. You’ll also hear the housekeeping staff starting their rounds early in the morning, with carts being rolled past your door first, and supplies being restocked in nearby service areas,” Sobrino went on.

The noise isn’t just limited to daytime hours. “Late-night revellers returning to their rooms, early risers heading out for breakfast, and the constant ping of elevator doors will become the soundtrack to your stay,” he added.

Hotels rarely highlight which rooms might be noisier than others when you’re making a booking online. After all, every room needs to be filled, including those next to high-traffic areas. This is why being an informed traveller matters. Knowing which room numbers typically indicate proximity to noisy areas can help you avoid a potentially frustrating stay.

While rooms ending in ‘01’ are the primary culprits, Sobrino notes there are other potential problem areas to be aware of:

“Rooms directly above or below hotel restaurants or bars can be noisy well into the night,” he warns. “The same goes for rooms facing busy streets or located near loading docks where deliveries arrive early in the morning.”

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For family travellers, Sobrino has additional advice: “Avoid rooms near stairwells if you’re travelling with young children. These areas tend to have heavy metal doors that slam loudly when people use them, potentially waking little ones during nap time or early bedtimes.

“You don’t need to make demands to get a better room – it’s all about smart requests. Call the hotel directly after booking online and be friendly. Mention any special occasion, even if it’s just that you’ve been looking forward to this break for months. A simple ‘I’d prefer a quiet room away from elevators’ works wonders. Front desk staff want you to enjoy your stay and will note your reservation. If you’re in their loyalty program, mention it – this often improves your room assignment priority.

“Hotels want happy guests who leave good reviews and return. Being polite but specific about your preferences means you’re helping them give you the experience you’re hoping for. In my decade of travelling across Spain, I’ve found that how you ask matters just as much as what you ask for.”

On May 21, as they left the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were fatally shot, and because they were employees of the Israeli Embassy and the suspect was associated with pro-Palestinian politics, the story was reported in the familiar mode of Middle East politics.

The questions that reporters and pundits have been asking are: “Was this antisemitic?” “Was this killing a direct result of Israel’s starving of Palestinians in Gaza?” “Was this another act of pro-Palestinian terrorism?” “Is this the direct result of ‘globalizing the intifada’?” While these are valid questions, they miss a central part of the story.

Only in the eighth paragraph of the New York Times report are we told that the night before the shooting, according to officials, the suspect “had checked a gun with his baggage when he flew from Chicago to the Washington area for a work conference” and, further, that officials said “The gun used in the killings had been purchased legally in Illinois.” (The Los Angeles Times article does not mention these facts.) This tragic shooting, however, is not unique.

In November 2023, a Burlington, Vt., man was arrested and charged with shooting three Palestinian college students without saying a word to them. (He has pleaded not guilty.)

In October 2018, a gunman entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and shot and killed 11 Jews at prayer.

In 2015, three Muslim students were shot and killed by their neighbor in Chapel Hill, N.C.

This brief and very incomplete list of the literally hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed by guns in the U.S. in the last decade does not include the racist mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.; the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.; or the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, at a music festival in Las Vegas in 2017. This macabre list also leaves out the thousands of people who have been shot and killed by law enforcement.

The elephant in the room — so fundamentally accepted that it largely goes unmentioned — is the deeply ingrained culture of violence in the United States. Gun ownership, police violence and abuse, and mass shootings are symptoms of that culture. However, the militaristic approach to international conflict (from Vietnam to Ukraine) and the disdain for nonviolent solutions are also grounded in this culture, as are the manosphere and the cruelty of predatory capitalism. Now we have a presidential administration that embodies this culture.

Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, personifies this ethos of cruelty and violence when she is photographed in front of a cage full of humans in a Salvadoran jail known for torturous treatment of inmates or writing casually about killing her dog. Noem is a key player in the theater of cruelty, but she is not the only one, and the unparalleled star is of course President Trump.

Trump’s policy agenda is based on vengeance. He revels in the theatricality of violence of the world of mixed martial arts, and he signs executive orders that aim to destroy individuals, law firms and universities that have not bent the knee, and the economics of his “Big Beautiful” budget moves money from those in need to those who need for naught.

Now, the president wants a military parade on his birthday that will include tanks, helicopters and soldiers. Although Trump himself evaded the draft, and he reportedly called American soldiers who were killed in war suckers and losers, he likes the strongman aesthetic of an army that is at his beck and call. He exulted in the fact that “we train our boys to be killing machines.”

Although some want to draw a dubious line from pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations to the killings of Lischinsky and Milgrim, the direct line that should be drawn is the one that everyone seems to have agreed to ignore: a culture of violence coupled with the widespread availability and ownership of guns inevitably leads to more death.

The only way we get out of this cycle of violence is by addressing the elephant in the room.

Aryeh Cohen is a rabbi and a professor at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. @irmiklat.bsky.social

A flight attendant has shared an unusual hotel room safety tip that everyone should follow when they are on holiday – and all you need is a bottle of water to do it

Veteran flight attendant Esther Sturrus, who has graced the skies for many a year, shared a clever trick on her TikTok channel to keep safe in hotel rooms while away on holiday. During one of her latest video posts, she advised travellers to always come prepared with a water bottle, advising them to toss it beneath the bed as soon as they step into their room.

Esther claimed that by using this simple method to “check that no one is hiding under the bed, without having to look”, peace of mind could be easily attained upon arrival.

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She explained that when you lob a bottle under the bed, it should “come out on the other side,”; failure of this indicates the potential presence of an unwanted stranger lurking beneath.

The safety-conscious cabin crew member pointed out that if no water bottle is at hand, guests can improvise with any standard issue hotel amenities, even including a fizzy drink from the minibar, reports the Express.

Ramping up their commitment to travelling security, Popalock’s security maestros have chimed in with their sage advice for ensuring one’s hotel habitat remains inviolate.

They said: “Once you are safely in your hotel room, it is time to do a security sweep of the space. There are a few things you should check, and a few extra precautions you might want to take.”

In their words, the opening move for holidaymakers upon room entry should be to investigate potential hideaways – all the while keeping the door ajar. These covert corners include “showers, closets, and behind curtains”.

The experts stressed: “Once you are certain that nobody else is in the room with you, close and lock the door.”

Secondly, hotel guests are urged to check all locks for proper function. “This includes the deadbolt on the hotel room door, the safe, and any lockable cabinets or drawers that you may want to use during your stay.”

Finally, it’s crucial to inspect all doors and windows. Security experts recommend: “Check any door that connects to another room and make sure that it is locked. Check all windows and make sure they are locked.

“If you want to keep a window open, see if there is any way for someone to get inside the room using that window. If your room has a balcony, can somebody get onto your balcony from the balcony of a neighbouring room?”

Flight attendant Nassim previously shared with Express.co.uk her own safety tip: she always places her suitcase by the door before going to bed as a clever alert in case someone tries to enter.

She further advised: “I would always check the bathroom, under the bed, inside the wardrobes, under the table and behind the curtains to make sure that no one was in there. I would never ever enter a room without doing that.”

“Vacation” and “sex” were once my two favorite words. Put them together and you’ve got the mecca of pleasure: a romp in Egyptian cotton sheets followed by a juicy room service cheeseburger. Can you say sex in Italian? I can — “sesso” — because my husband and I copulated our way across the country early in our relationship. On our honeymoon in Hawaii two decades ago, we barely left our room and nearly missed the luau. Every getaway back then offered foreplay with a view.

And then we had a kid.

Still, the lure of vacation sex beckons. And not just for me and my husband. According to a survey conducted for the book “Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life,” 90% of people fantasized about sex in a hotel.

“All couples put ‘vacation sex’ on a pedestal because we’re more relaxed and playful when we get out of our daily routines,” says sex therapist Emily Morse, author of “Smart Sex: How to Boost Your Sex IQ and Own Your Pleasure” and host of the podcast “Sex With Emily.” “But we shouldn’t lose that intimacy because we travel with kids.”

So when my husband and I decided to celebrate 20 years of marriage by returning to Maui with our mercurial teen daughter Tess in tow, we vowed to get it on at least once on our trip. We started with a rough strategy: booking a 640-square-foot room with two queen beds. If you’re in the mood to get frisky during your family vacation, here are some tips to consider.

Plan like a pro

If you want to engage in some intimate time, add it to your itinerary before you take off. “You have to schedule sex like you schedule snorkeling or any excursion,” says Morse. “If you wait around for it to happen, it won’t happen.”

Sophie Pierce, a mom to three daughters ages 8, 9 and 14, doesn’t take chances when she and her husband ex-Navy SEAL Neil Mahoney travel. They think — and act — ahead, so they’re not completely disappointed if it doesn’t happen during the trip. “We always have sex the night before we leave for a family vacation, just in case,” says Pierce, the founder of three dance studios in Los Angeles. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t try.”

My husband and I didn’t have a strategy before we left L.A., but I did sneak sensual incidentals like lacy lingerie and a discreet bottle of lubricant into my suitcase. “Pack a sex toy too,” advises Morse, who says we’re more likely to be open to experimentation away from home. We agreed not to bring any work responsibilities on our trip. We’re both screenwriters, so we’re constantly polishing a script or crafting a pitch. I figured that by eliminating the stress of meeting deadlines, we upped the chances of having sex.

Lean into the hotel’s kid activities

Hotels and resorts see you, exhausted parents. Properties are upping their game for young guests with more exciting programming and cooler kids clubs. At the Ojai Valley Inn’s “night camp,” for instance, you can sign the children up for a scavenger hunt followed by dinner, a movie and s’mores. (Surely, that buys you enough time for a romp.) La Quinta Resort & Club in the desert offers junior pickleball clinics, along with massages and facials for tweens and teens up to age 15. At Alisal Ranch in Solvang, kids can hang out at the bar and paint horseshoes or take a riding lesson. Got littler ones? Some clubs, like Kidtopia at the Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, cater to infants (6 months and older) with nurseries on-site. Many hotels also offer babysitting services.

Note that clubs typically cater to the toddler-through-12 set. But there are exceptions, like the teen club at Grand Velas in Los Cabos that programs TikTok challenges, dance-offs at a dedicated nightclub with a DJ and karaoke events. At the Grand Wailea where we stayed, however, teens like my daughter Tess just side-eyed each other in the lobby. There was a family lounge on the property with darts and virtual reality, but it wasn’t a magnet for adolescents during our stay.

“We’re not comfortable getting sitters we don’t know on vacation,” says Pierce, who, instead, might pretend to leave the sunscreen in the room and put her teen daughter in charge to duck away from the hotel pool for a quickie with her husband. Or put the younger girls in a shared tub, but take the bath towels and mat so they can’t interrupt mom and dad in the bedroom. (Clearly, Pierce’s kids are way into self-care.)

For middle school teacher Vanessa Orellana — mom to a daughter, 6, and 1-year-old twins — the windows of opportunity for adult time on vacation call for quiet. “Between hotel beds that squeak and the in-laws’ walls, we’ve identified two golden windows for potential action: nap time and post-bedtime,” she says. “But even then, success is a coin toss. Our 8-year-old could pop up like a ninja, asking for water.”

Be flexible

Life happens, even on vacation. Prepare to pivot to plan B. My husband and I sent our daughter on an errand one morning at the 40-acre Maui resort, but she came back to fetch her AirPods and interrupted our marathon kiss. We shrugged it off and then held hands by the pool. Morse advises: “With kids, you may have to redefine intimacy on your trip. It could be flirting or even just making out after they go to bed.”

Pierce and her husband know their sex will be quick, if it happens at all. One dad of a toddler told me he and his husband have a ritual in which they text erotic messages to each other when they’re on vacation — and then promptly delete them. Just be sure to manage your expectations and laugh at any aborted attempts at intimacy.

“We’ve got an unspoken agreement: no guilt, no grumbling. Just a ‘to be continued’ knowing glance,” says Orellana. “It’s about connection, trust and keeping the spark alive through the sheer chaos of life with little humans.”

In the end, my husband and I did not get lucky. On our final night in Maui, we hit nearby award-winning restaurant Ko, where kids eat for 50% off. Unfortunately, a huge dinner of fresh crudo, lobster tempura, octopus and kobe beef — along with multiple desserts — made us shudder at the idea of any activity. So we had failed at our grand plan. But was our vacation ruined? Not at all. Ultimately, my family bonded in a way that doesn’t come easy with a teen. We swam with turtles, thrift-shopped around upcountry and held hands (for three whole seconds) while watching a sunset.

And on our first night back at home, my husband and I finally had sex. No fancy sheets or room service, but I did shout, “Aloooha!”

CHELSEA goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli has kicked off a row with neighbours after chopping down huge 40ft trees at his Surrey mansion.

The Blues’ stopper was given the go-ahead to extend his luxury pad near the club’s Cobham training ground – complete with a cinema and games room.

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Planners at the local council told him he could chop down two trees to make way for the proposed development but neighbours say he has razed more to the ground – without permission.

They claim the 30-40ft trees are decades old, although not protected by a Tree Preservation Order, and help prevent overlooking on the leafy estate.

The former Fulham goalkeeper was initially granted planning permission for a front and rear extension including a ground floor family room, kitchen and breakfast room and cinema.

He also wants to demolish a porch and chimney stack and add dormer windows for a fourth bedroom and games room on the second floor.

Documents filed at Elmbridge Borough Council state that building work started last year but has not yet been completed.

Bettinelli, 32, has now submitted amended plans for tree planting and landscaping to allow for the removal of trees.

In a letter of objection, one resident wrote: “The initial proposal for ‘bush and hedge pruning’ turned into the felling of multiple 30ft trees, decades old.

“This has significantly affected local wildlife (there were documented owls nesting) and privacy/light shading of multiple properties around.

“The new proposal to replace four trees is well short of any remedial measure in my view and should be significantly enhanced.”

Another neighbour wrote: “More hedging has been removed to erect the fence.

“This was not done by the neighbouring property.

“And versus the previous plan, there is now less commitment to hedging than before.

“As a reminder, 30-40ft trees were cut down without permission.

“There should be no reduction in commitment shown on the plan versus the one before.”

Bettinelli joined Chelsea in 2021 to boost the Blues’ goalkeeping ranks following the departure of Willy Caballero, having been out of contract at Fulham.

He spent a decade at Craven Cottage, making 120 appearances for the Whites and also represented England‘s under-21 team earlier in his career.

The 6ft,4in stopper bought his Cobham pad for £1.5million in September, 2023, before applying for a Grand Designs-style makeover.

In another objection, the local residents’ association said it was “saddened and deeply concerned that the developer, architect and builder have breached the conditions imposed on the allowed application”.

They added: “Mature trees provide benefits to humans and wildlife alike, trees also provide wildlife corridors to and from the surrounding green spaces, woods, commons and heathland of Cobham.

“Trees also provide screening to neighbours’ properties and garden amenity spaces which they should be able to continue the enjoyment of using for everyday activity without the perception of overlooking.”

Council officials are expected to make a decision on the trees later this month.

Bettinelli’s planning agent was approached for comment.

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Denise McKinney says she has probably somewhere close to half a million matchbooks tucked away inside her Riverside home.

She’s been collecting for years and will typically pick up whatever strikes her fancy, no pun intended. She has specialties now, like matchbooks with animals on them or matchbooks that advertise radio and TV stations, but she says her biggest collection by far is books from Southern California, including vintage motel matchbooks.

The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens — and the coolest stops along the way.

The president of the Angelus Matchcover Club says she likes matchbooks because of how they reflect a region’s history. She’s grabbed books that tout Route 66 attractions or places from her Orange County hometown.

Matchbook collectors Olivia Frescura, Robert Donnelson, Denise McKinney and Cheryl Crill.

(Amanda Villegas / For The Times)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the motel, a concept that originated with the Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo (later renamed the Motel Inn). Though it didn’t become widely known until after World War II, “motel” is essentially a portmanteau for “motor hotel,” or a lodging place where the rooms could be entered through the parking lot rather than through a central lobby.

To get travelers in the door, motels used gimmicks to stand out among the stiff competition, like neon signs and themed decor, but also promotional materials like free postcards and pocket-sized matchbooks. With the 100th anniversary in mind, we wanted to look back at some of Southern California’s motel history as seen through collectors’ matchbooks. These books represent just a small fraction of the thousands of motels that have operated in the region but are a great place to start.