Whether you're heading out of town for vacation or attending a business seminar, whatever hotel you've chosen to stay in will become your temporary home away from home.

But how can you actually make it feel a little more like yours? Try these five tips the next time you travel to make your hotel room feel a little more, well, homey.

1. Let's face it. There's nothing more unlike home than living out of a suitcase. Even if you're only planning on staying away for a few days, first thing first - throw open that case and fill up the dresser drawers in that hotel room. Even the cheapest hotels include a few hangars in the closet. Feel free to fill up that space, too. When you're done, stash your travel bags in the closet and close the doors.

2. Suitcases have a finite amount of space and more than likely, with airline luggage restrictions, you're not likely to have room to bring all the comforts of home with you on a trip. Leave the furry slippers and down comforter behind and bring your own pillow's pillowcase. Before leaving home, you could even spray it down with your personal linen spritz. Squeeze it onto the hotel's pillow for a little reminder of your own bed.

3. Even though you're traveling, don't travel with travel-sized toiletries. If you have the space, bring along your full size toothpaste, shampoo and body cream. Grab your favorite shower loofah, too. Pack it inside a Ziplock bag and you'll be surprised how just that will make your hotel showers feel less like showering at a stranger's house.

4. Most hotels these days have in-room coffee makers, microwaves and small refrigerators. If you're a morning tea person, bring it with you and brew it through the coffee machine while you're getting ready for the day. If you like a little warm milk at night before bed, don't worry room service about it. Buy some milk at the corner store. Stash it in the fridge and heat it up before hitting the sack. I'm sure the kitchen will loan you a microwavable mug.

5. Concerned about the cleanliness of even a five-star room? Stash a few Lysol wipes in a Ziplock bag before leaving home. Wipe down all the room's surfaces when you settle in including the remote control and phone and get cozy. Just like home, you know for sure it's a clean place to be.

Learn more about this author, Stephanie Heinatz.
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