Hotel stays & CPAP - what to do with Darth Vader when away..

[JeffH]

I leave mine out and don't do anything other than make a sign with the hotel note pad that I leave on top of the machine saying "contains water, do not move or touch". So far in my over 13 years of traveling with CPAP, no problems.

JeffH

[xyz]

> looking to see what the people here in CpapTalk land
> do with their xPap units when they stay in hotels.

Mask: Put in ziplock bag. Put bag in your suitcase. Zip up/close/lock your suitcase. Put it in the closet.

Humidifier: same as mask.

Machine: Put in its carry bag, zip it up, put in the closet.

[joelrk35]

I travel about 3 months a year by ship plane and car. I always carry a surge protector, a 12 foot extension cord and a two prong to three prong adapter. I also call ahead to see if distilled water is available. Cruise ships provide distilled water and extension cords as needed. Most hotels usually do not offer either but will tell you where you can get it near by. If I am staying more than one day in a hotel I remove the mask from the hose, clean it and store in carry bag. I leave the hose attached and cover the open end with a Kleenex held in place with an elastic band and wrap it around the xpap. I cover the xpap with a clean hand towel and put a note on top saying Do Not Touch or move. So far no problems.

[JHZR2]

I travel about 3 months a year by ship plane and car. I always carry a surge protector, a 12 foot extension cord and a two prong to three prong adapter. I also call ahead to see if distilled water is available. Cruise ships provide distilled water and extension cords as needed. Most hotels usually do not offer either but will tell you where you can get it near by. If I am staying more than one day in a hotel I remove the mask from the hose, clean it and store in carry bag. I leave the hose attached and cover the open end with a Kleenex held in place with an elastic band and wrap it around the xpap. I cover the xpap with a clean hand towel and put a note on top saying Do Not Touch or move. So far no problems.

So how do you get the mask and its tube to dry completely before putting in a ziploc? Do you ever use hotel towels (though bleached and probably boiled, I dont consider them clean). Im going to need to bring mine for travel in a few days, but need to keep it clean and isolated from the dirt of the hotel room.

I always use the do not disturb sign so people do not come in. Im just a bit worried with who knows what chemicals and dirt in hotel rooms, if it is smart to even leave the end of the tube exposed, water in the reservoir over a few days, etc.

Thoughts?

[Muse-Inc]

Always stay in a Hyatt when I go to Dragon*Con. Take 6-ft power strip surge protector, plug APAP and power outage alarm into it. I take some distilled water as that's my water of choice. I check for bed bugs before I unpack anything.

In the morning, dump water, wash humidifier, dry with my own washcloth (I carry several clean ones), put in drawer. Disconnect hose & hang over hanger between clothes which I then squish together. Wash mask parts in 1-qt Tupperware-like tub (holds leakable stuff when I travel) per usual routine, dry the container and outside of mask parts, put mask parts in container and put in drawer with washcloth over the top. I turn the power strip off and if stormy unplug it. The APAP sits out on a non-slip pad on the nightstand. I take a small container of cleaner and wipe the shower rod before I hang my washcloths to dry.

Hotels know about our equipment and make accommodations; I've had staff have to move beds so I can plug in my power strip. I have never had a problem with regards to my equipment.

I'm cautious about cleaning and hotel cleanliness and the chemicals hotels use (I stay on no-smoking floors), I take my own pillows, pillow cases, and my favorite blanket and eye mask...I have trouble sleeping in new places hence the blankie & mask, what can I say.

[SleepingBearDoNtWake]

I haven't had to travel with my Cpap yet and leave it. My thoughts are like the others you can just remove the mask and put it in your suite case. The only other thing that I could think of would be to put the Cpap unit in a suite case and get a little lock to lock the two zippers together. That's what everyone did when we went on a pilgramage to Italy, as there had been reports of things being stolen, or more likley lost and missed placed, but the cheap little lock like for a dollar would let you know if any one opened it.
I might also bring some kind of aroma therapy or something, as some hotels can have a smell to them, and I might find that a little bothersome in the beginning.
Here is a little funny thing I just thought about.
My Uncle who travels for an Airline is always in a hotel. He told us that he always puts his toothbrush in his bag and locks it up. He says that housekeepers, who come into a messy room or are not left a tip, have been know on occasion to take your tooth brush and swirl it around in the toliet! UGH. I so don't know if that is true, but it is kinda funny.
But what if they took it one step futher and filled your cpap humidier with toliet water!

Hope that gave you a chuckle! It made me cringe thinking about it.

[JHZR2]

... Thus the use of a do not disturb sign. If they come in anyway, there is a greater problem than just a dirty toothbrush (though that is a nasty side-effect!). I cant say Ive ever had indication of them coming in, but Ive seen them doing their job in other rooms. These people, who generally cannot even speak English, and may well be illegal, come in and spray EVERYTHING with whatever disinfectant is in their little bottle. They take towels and sheets, bundle them and put them on the floor (gross), and drag them about.

Not good.

I like the idea of taking some washcloths/towels, a tupperware, etc. But it starts to get ridiculous too. How impractical to carry all that stuff to operate a cpap! It is what it is though I guess...

[RocketGirl]

I travel a lot too, and I put everything out of sight in its case in the closet when I leave the room. I hang the hose over the closet rod so it can dry a bit even if the closet is closed. I figure it's better to do that than to worry about overspray of cleaning solutions or whether they might knock the mask or even the whole machine off the bedside table onto the floor while they make the bed - accidents can always happen.

Good idea about using the do not disturb sign for short stays!

[NCHawk]

I've never had any concern, or problem, with housekeeping doing anything with my CPAP. I just curl the hose on top of the machine so it's out of the way (unlike at home, where it just lays on the bed next to my pillow during the day). There's never been any indication that it waas touched or moved while I was gone.

My biggest complaint with staying at a hotel is that there isn't always a convenient place to set up the CPAP next to the bed. If there's a lamp, radio, and phone on the nightstand it's hard to rearrange or move them to make room to set my CPAP on it. At times I've resorted to taking the folding luggage stand and setting it next to the bed on the side opposite the nightstand, but sometimes the bed is too close to the wall to do that, either. And there isn't always a convenient outlet by the bed, which is why I always carry an extension cord.

[xenablue]

I don't pack my machine away when away from home, but I do take a rubber mat to sit it on so it's not on the dubious surface of the nightstand. I do leave a note for staff to not touch the machine, even if the nightstand drawer is deep enough that I can stow it in there during the day.
My hose and mask go back in the CPAP bag for the day.
I always have CPAP wipes in the bag so can use these to wipe down anything considered not-so-clean.

You could get really paranoid about the germs, and I am bit of a clean freak - HOWEVER I ATE DIRT when I was a kid, and live garden snails - I'm still alive with most of my faculties, way on the wrong side of 50 and still kickin'. I'm not taking my own towels to a hotel, but I do inspect the bed to make sure it has clean linens.

Cheers,
xena