Surviving International Business Hotels

What do you need to know to survive a business trip and a stay in an international business hotel? Literal survival is actually very simple - hotels, after all, exist to provide shelter, warmth and food - but if you are travelling alone (often the case if you travel for business) it is easy to become trapped in an anti-social and destructive work-eat-sleep-work cycle that you wouldn't dream of following at home. Here are a few tips for breaking the cycle and maintaining your work/life balance.

Get out of the hotel - your hotel, however luxurious, should be your starting point rather than a destination. Even the best hotels struggle to compete with the attractions of their host cities so spend time in the city itself exploring the tourist attractions, visiting the local parks or simply enjoying coffee and cakes in a local cafe.

Hit the fitness centre or swimming pool - hotel fitness centres are often small and poorly equipped but you should still be able to get away from work and reduce your stress levels by spending half-an-hour on their treadmills or cross trainers. Swimming pools are often not suitable for lane swimming or Olympic training but floating around in a rooftop pool is a great way to unwind, especially in tropical climates.

Turn off your laptop - outside normal work hours, do not let work occupy your time. You may be tempted to use your evenings to complete tasks that require time and concentration and thus lend themselves to a peaceful, interruption-free environment such as can be found in a remote hotel bedroom. This temptation should be resisted or, at the very least, the work should be tightly time-boxed so you don't find yourself working through the entire evening.

Location is important - company policy may be to book a hotel as close to your place of work as possible but if that leaves you stuck on an industrial estate miles from anywhere you should resist. Choose a hotel in a location that allows you to get away from work - being within walking distance of the office can be very bad, especially if your colleagues back home are intent on keeping you "in the loop", despite time zone differences.

Avoid the hotel restaurants and never use room service - the hotel restaurant is the easy option for my first night in a new city, especially if I've travelled a long way. After the first day I try try to eat in local restaurants so that I experience a little of the culture and enjoy a modicum of social contact. Room-service should be avoided.

I enjoy visiting new cities and sampling their wares but I don't really enjoy staying in the bland hotels of the international chains (and smaller, local hotels often don't have the facilities I need). These tips help to keep me sane (or, at least, prevent me from slipping further into insanity) when I travel and combat the inevitable loneliness; good luck.