Sometimes the best travel tip isn't about flights, hotels, or points. It's about speaking up when something goes wrong.

Three nights. Three rooms. Zero hours of normal sleep. Welcome to my stay at the InterContinental Cartagena.

I booked the hotel because it checked every box. Great reviews. Ocean views. Beachfront location. Walking distance to restaurants. Safe neighborhood. The kind of hotel you feel pretty confident booking after spending way too much time reading online reviews.

I landed in Cartagena exhausted. Up at 5 a.m. in Tampa, through Miami, through an immigration line that tested my will to live, and finally into my ocean-view king room. All I wanted was a shower and eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Around midnight, the room lights had other plans. On. Off. On. Off. Not a flicker either—the entire room would suddenly light up. Just as I'd start drifting off, boom, daylight again. A few minutes later, it happened again. As someone who's already a very light sleeper, this wasn't a minor inconvenience. It felt personal.

The next morning, I went to the front desk. They apologized and moved me to a different room. Problem solved. Or so I thought.

At exactly 5 a.m. the following morning, something directly above me started testing the building's structural integrity. Boom. Pause. Boom again. After several sleepy minutes trying to figure out what was happening, I made a discovery: my new room was directly underneath the hotel gym. Apparently, some people enjoy beginning their mornings before sunrise by attempting personal deadlift records.

Back to the front desk I went. To their credit, they apologized and moved me again. Room number three.

Third time's the charm, I thought. Again, like a fool.

That night, every time I rolled over in bed, the box spring underneath the mattress let out a loud cracking sound. Roll left: crack. Roll right: crack. Move an inch: crack. By this point, I'd stopped being annoyed and started being weirdly impressed. Three nights. Three rooms. Three completely different sleep-related disasters. It was almost impressive how creative the hotel had become.

Before checkout, I asked if I could speak with the manager. Not to yell. Not to demand a refund. Just to explain, like an adult who had experienced three terrible nights and wanted someone to know.

A few minutes later, she walked over with a smile, introduced herself, offered me a seat, and asked if I wanted coffee. That simple interaction changed everything.

She already knew about the situation because every room change had been logged in the system. But she listened anyway. No interrupting. No excuses. No corporate deflection. No "I'm sorry you feel that way." Just a genuine apology and one simple question: "What can we do to make this right?"

Because I had booked through Expedia, a refund wasn't really an option. Instead, she immediately waived all three days of breakfast charges, arranged complimentary transportation to the airport, and personally introduced me to a member of the breakfast team.

That breakfast happened to be my last morning in Cartagena. And honestly, it ended up being one of my favorite moments of the stay. The server greeted me warmly, brought me specialty coffees and lattes, recommended menu favorites, and made me feel like a valued guest rather than someone who had spent the last three nights playing hotel-room roulette.

Funny thing is, when I think back on Cartagena now, I don't picture the flickering lights, the gym overhead, or the world's most opinionated box spring. I think about that manager and her coffee offer.

Travel isn't perfect. Flights get delayed. Bags get lost. Hotel rooms occasionally decide they're part-time nightclubs. What separates a bad travel experience from a memorable one isn't whether something goes wrong. It's how people respond when it does.

Most travelers either stay quiet or head straight to a one-star review. Sometimes the better move is much simpler: talk to someone. Not angrily. Not aggressively. Just honestly. Give people a chance to make things right.

Because a bad room can ruin a trip. But a great manager can save one. And that's exactly what happened in Cartagena.

— ALI EL HOUARI | FOUNDER, BOARDING SOON

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