Traveler reveals how to get free hotel snacks with ‘genius’ hack

Mother knows best.

A woman shared a sly life hack to avoid paying for overpriced snacks while staying at a hotel — with a little help from her mom.

TikToker Julia Baird says her mom always calls the hotel ahead of her arrival to “do something special” for her daughter, regardless of whether it’s a “special occasion” or not, she shared in a viral video.

Upon arriving at her hotel in Vancouver, Canada, for work, Baird got to her room to see a gift basket filled with a variety of snacks, sparkling water, and a handwritten card.

“Literally from my mom, for free,” she said while showing off the welcome package.

“If you or your mom isn’t calling the hotel every single time you travel, you’re doing something wrong,” she added.

Her video, which has garnered over 125,000 views and more than 6,000 likes, caught the interest of many who wanted to know the script for what her mother says to land her daughter the free goodies.

In a follow-up video, Baird asks her mom to share her secret.

She explains off camera that she kicks off her phone call by building a friendly “rapport” with whichever employee answers.

“[I] tell them a little bit about myself and who I would like to send a little gift to,” Bardi’s mother explains.
She then sees “if there is anything that they can do to help make the stay a little more special for the person.”

The big takeaway to pull off getting free snacks is to not “ask for anything specific” or outright ask for a gift basket or free snacks.

“I’ll just say, ‘Oh, there’s an anniversary, or, for example, Valentine’s Day, and I’m not there, and I kind of miss my loved one,’ ‘if they can do something,’” according to the mom.

But, most importantly, her mother said the key is to “just ask.”

“You don’t get it if you don’t ask,” her mother explained.

Providing further proof of the clever life hack, Baird showed what “just ask[ing]” got her and her mother while staying in a hotel.

“We’re at a hotel right now, and they left us a bottle of Prosecco and some really adorable chocolates. What did you say to get this?” Baird asked her mother.

“I said we were going to a candlelight concert, and we’re celebrating your engagement,” her mother replied.

The follow-up video, which received over 150,000 views, had users in a frenzy over the innovative but simple way to land free snacks at hotels.

“I used to work at a hotel and would give out the free snacks/waters to whoever asked for one or whoever was nice to me so this def works lol,” one user shared.

“I worked at a hotel and we picked each day someone to build a VIP gift basket for. it was usually someone celebrating an event or being kind to staff,” another former hotel employee wrote.

“I work in a hotel and she’s so right. building rapport and being kind deff gets u free snacks,” commented another.

While, to many, it may seem like a new trick to add to one’s arsenal while staying in a hotel, others commented that they’ve always made sure to let the hotel know “something special” was happening during their stay.

“My husband and I have an anniversary every time we’re at a hotel, multiple times a year (Never birthday! They have your ID!),” one user shared.

“Whenever I book, I always tell them why we’re booking (anniversary, birthday, etc) and they have always left us something too, usually chocolate or cake, one time souvenir champagne glasses,” shared another.

“yup learned this working in nice restaurants, i just message them ahead of time and say i don’t mind an extra charge but if they could do something special for my friend/bf/family for their occasion,” another explained.