Travel Bug Hotel

[MB Cruiser]

I have a good place for a tb hotel, I think. Is there any guide lines for registering a tb hotel?

Thanks

MB Cruiser

[+joranda]

It's like any other cache. Go get permission to place it get the coords then submit it to be published.

[+BlueDeuce]

It's like any other cache. Go get permission to place it get the coords then submit it to be published.

 

Provided you don't have trade restrictions, otherwise yes there are cache type guidelines/restrictions.

 

Out of everything I can say about Hotels, please place one that assists every bug, and doesn't put them in undue jeopardy of being lost or stolen.

Edited April 2, 2008 by BlueDeuce

[+tiki-4]

Can you please clarify the below statement. It appears that you are saying there are type/guideline restictions.

 

I recently learned that the statement 'one in, one out' is no longer an enforceable condition (of course, one wonders how would it be enforced?)

 

 

Provided you don't have trade restrictions, otherwise yes there are cache type guidelines/restrictions.

 

Out of everything I can say about Hotels, please place one that assists every bug, and doesn't put them in undue jeopardy of being lost or stolen.

[+MountainRacer]

Heck, I don't think any 'rules' pertaining to TB hotels are enforceable, in so many words. You might get a snippy e-mail from a busybody CO for breaking one of their rules and, say, taking too many bugs and not leaving enough, but that's about it. Some folks even go as far as to make it their business to seek out that sort of cache -- they call them TB prisons -- and jailbreak all of the bugs so that they can go back to traveling... which, after all, is their intended purpose.

[+MountainRacer]

Bah, double-post. Make a wish.

Edited April 2, 2008 by MountainRacer

[+BlueDeuce]

Can you please clarify the below statement. It appears that you are saying there are type/guideline restictions.

 

I recently learned that the statement 'one in, one out' is no longer an enforceable condition (of course, one wonders how would it be enforced?)

 

 

Provided you don't have trade restrictions, otherwise yes there are cache type guidelines/restrictions.

 

Out of everything I can say about Hotels, please place one that assists every bug, and doesn't put them in undue jeopardy of being lost or stolen.

 

I guess my next question would be, don't travel bug cache's have to go through a reviewer? And if so, why don't the reviewers point out that their requests violate the rules?????

The "rules" for travel bugs are informal, and are distinct from the listing guidelines that reviewers use when looking over new cache submissions.

 

The only relevant guideline for a travel bug hotel with restrictive trading rules is the "Additional Logging Requirements" guideline. I ask the owner if they would delete a "found it" log if someone came and took every trackable in the cache without leaving any trackables. If the answer is "yes" then the cache cannot be listed as a traditional cache. It must be listed as a mystery/unknown cache, and if the owner is willing to do that, then they are free to delete non-conforming finds. If the answer is "no," then there isn't much I can do apart from education and encouragement.

 

Not all reviewers follow the same procedure, so your mileage may vary. Also, the guideline on this point did not get added until February 2007 so it only applies to travel bug prisons hidden after that date.

[+BlueDeuce]

Heck, I don't think any 'rules' pertaining to TB hotels are enforceable, in so many words. You might get a snippy e-mail from a busybody CO for breaking one of their rules and, say, taking too many bugs and not leaving enough, but that's about it. Some folks even go as far as to make it their business to seek out that sort of cache -- they call them TB prisons -- and jailbreak all of the bugs so that they can go back to traveling... which, after all, is their intended purpose.

 

While I and others encourage other to ignore trade restrictions, cachers need to know that they do run the risk of having their found it log deleted. It's up to each cacher to following the restriction requirements or not.

[+Belfrypotters]

Owning a TB hotel is a big responsibility.

I hope your location is safe - a muggled hotel can cause a lot of heartbreak if it's full of TBs when it goes missing. On the other hand, it should be easy to find by cachers, otherwise the bugs rot in jail forever. No multis, no puzzles, no devious hides, no rough terrain. You need a hide that is easy to find by cachers and impossible to find by others.

I think you should be willing to look after the bugs in your hotel. If a bug hasn't moved in a month or two, the bug's owner would appreciate it if the cache owner moved it. Some bugs seem to get passed over in hotels, while the cute ones come and go (of course, the cute ones often go away forever, but that's a different rant).

You should be willing to check the cache regularly to make sure the bugs listed are really there, and mark the "Missing" if they have disappeared. It's frustrating to go to a cache looking for a bug to take with you on vacation, and finding it long gone but still listed on the cache page.

You should be willing to accept that sometimes your hotel won't have a lot of bugs in it (i.e., no take-one, leave-one restriction). A good hotel will have bugs moving in and out regularly, and cachers will gladly leave TBs there if they know the bugs will keep traveling soon.

There is a TB hotel near us that is an example of what NOT to do. It has as many dnfs as finds, and some bugs have been there since September. I would never leave a TB there. Fortunately it has no restrictions, but even though the cache owner has done cache maintenance recently (after a string of dnfs), s/he didn't help out any of the stranded bugs. We're thinking of pulling a raid soon, but don't want to hurt the owner's feelings by taking all the bug, either.

[+MountainRacer]

While I and others encourage other to ignore trade restrictions, cachers need to know that they do run the risk of having their found it log deleted. It's up to each cacher to following the restriction requirements or not.

Though there will always be debate as to whether the game really is 'all about the numbers', I think that the right to watch your travel bug move freely can be universally agreed upon. That said, I'd easily be willing to take the hit of not counting one find in exchange for releasing TBs from a poorly run hotel/jail, because it's darn sure what I'd like other people to do if I had a TB in such a situation.

[+Eartha]

I've seen plenty of TBs and geocoins go missing because of a poorly placed "hotel". Make sure it is not in an area that would be found by muggles (GPS-less, non-caching citizens) but is readily accessible, ie: easy to get to, doesn't take long to do, etc. But I will say this every time: Any cache is a good cache for a TB as long as the TB fits and the lid will close.

Personally, I myself to not make it a habit to search out TB hotels, because the first one near me went missing with all the bugs in it, and I felt bad for the TB owners. I go caching for caches, the TBs go along for the ride. I also prefer a quality hike or view, or special area to see, so I'm not likely to stop at a rest area, but I am well aware that it's "to each their own". Some people like that kind of thing, and it is a good break on a long ride. I'm not going to condemn any cache, because there is a shoe for every foot.

You should not have trade restrictions. Asking people to trade one for one on bugs will not help the bugs. The bug goal supersedes a cache requirement, and you'll find people moving all of them at once when you place restrictions. A good hotel will be empty from time to time. Make sure your container has room for them. If you do a search of these forums, you'll probably find at least 10 threads on this subject with many opinions.

[+softball29]

And heck, if you're a good TB Hotel owner, seems like if the Hotel was empty here and there and you had a couple TBs in your hand, you could put them there, no?

 

No restriction would be the big thing, I think. It seems like people are more apt to trade TBs if there's no restriction. And, I would think, more others would stop and put them in there if they knew it wasn't a jail.

[+BlueDeuce]

And heck, if you're a good TB Hotel owner, seems like if the Hotel was empty here and there and you had a couple TBs in your hand, you could put them there, no?

 

No restriction would be the big thing, I think. It seems like people are more apt to trade TBs if there's no restriction. And, I would think, more others would stop and put them in there if they knew it wasn't a jail.

 

QUOTE(the hermit crabs @ Dec 2 2005, 02:10 PM) *

If a travel bug hotel is in a good spot for the quick and easy exchange of travel bugs, then an empty hotel won't stay empty long. People are always looking for a convenient place to drop bugs off. The owner of a well-placed hotel should actually be pleased if the hotel is occasionally empty, since it shows that the hotel is serving its purpose: to get bugs moving quickly. And if a hotel does stay empty for long periods of time without the cache owner continually raiding other caches to re-stock it, then it's not a good place for a travel bug hotel.

[southpawaz]

And heck, if you're a good TB Hotel owner, seems like if the Hotel was empty here and there and you had a couple TBs in your hand, you could put them there, no?

 

No restriction would be the big thing, I think. It seems like people are more apt to trade TBs if there's no restriction. And, I would think, more others would stop and put them in there if they knew it wasn't a jail.

 

What I've seen here in one instance is where the TB Hotel owner is going out to get bugs out of other caches to "restock" their poorly located cache in order to justify the TB Hotel name they gave it.

[+softball29]

Well, I wasn't really meaning for an owner to go raid other caches to restock the hotel. But, I'll assume the hotel owner is a cacher. If by chance he has a few bugs he needs to place and the hotel is empty, seems like it would be OK. I'm wouldn't think it was right if the hotel had been empty for a few days and he went to area caches, raided and brought them back to stock up.

[+BlueDeuce]

Well, I wasn't really meaning for an owner to go raid other caches to restock the hotel. But, I'll assume the hotel owner is a cacher. If by chance he has a few bugs he needs to place and the hotel is empty, seems like it would be OK. I'm wouldn't think it was right if the hotel had been empty for a few days and he went to area caches, raided and brought them back to stock up.

 

Shouldn't this owner be placing bugs there because it assists them towards their goal, not because the cache is empty and he has a few?

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

I have only seen 1 TB Hotel I liked.

It was indoors and guarded by lock.

Part of getting in was solving the clue.

 

I have seen many that are not well protected go missing and have raided a TB Prision myself along with many others here.

 

It should be just like any other cache as far as TB's and coins go though.

[+the hermit crabs]

Here is a link to my favorite "travel bug hotel": Robin Hill Cemetery Cache.

 

The things that make it perfect for bugs are:

1. It is not listed as a TB hotel. It's just listed as a regular cache, and has other trade items in it as well.
   
2. If you look at the yahoo map on the bug page, you can see that it is right near the intersection of two major interstate highways, so it is convenient for people who are traveling long distances and who want to take a short caching break. (Since it's so close to the two highways, it will appear on "Caches Along a Route" lists pretty frequently.)
   
3. Although it is very near these two highways, it is not directly accessible from either one; it's not in a rest area that hundreds of people pass through every day. You have to take an exit off of one of the highways and then drive away from the cache before coming back toward it on a side road. No one is likely to find this cache unless they are looking specifically for it.
   
4. It's in a wonderful location, back at the far edge of an almost-vacant cemetery from the 1800's. What few gravestones there are make for very interesting reading. A short walk from parking, and suddenly you feel like you're back in time, in the middle of nowhere, even though there are cars and buildings and highways just a short distance away.
   
5. It's an ammo can, so it has plenty of room for bugs, and it keeps them safe and dry.
   
6. Since it's just listed as a regular cache, there is never that big buildup of bugs that sometimes accumulate in "official" TB hotels. So the chance of multiple TBs getting lost at once is very low.
   
7. Since it's just listed as a regular cache, people feel free to pick up bugs or drop them there all the time without worrying about angering the cache owner for not trading. There's often a bug or two there, and they tend to move very regularly. When I have pick up a bug that wants to go somewhere far off, I'll often drop it in this cache, and more often than not, its next stop is in a new state.
   
8. Since it's just listed as a regular cache, no one ever gets bent out of shape when there happens to be no bugs in it. Finders don't complain about an "empty hotel". No one calls the previous cacher "greedy" for taking the last bug. And the cache owner never restocks the cache with more bugs. All of the bug throughput is natural, not forced.
   
9. This cache has been in existence for four years. It gets visited several times every month, all year long. It has had over 250 finders, and more than 100 bugs have passed through. Unlike other local caches at which visits drop off significantly after all of the locals have found it, this one continues to attract people at a steady pace. As far as I am aware, the cache has never been muggled or vandalized.
   

So, if you can manage to make a cache like this one, it'll be perfect

 

(edite to add point #8)

Edited April 3, 2008 by the hermit crabs

[+the hermit crabs]

My previous post reminded me of something totally unrelated, but similar (in a way).

 

I read once about a new college campus that was being built. After all the buildings and parking lots and roads were designed, the architects purposely did not add any walking paths to the campus layout. They reasoned that in every campus they'd ever seen, the official walkways were often ignored, as students chose the most efficient or desirable routes to their destinations, and walked along those routes, whether they were official, paved paths or not. This was a waste of pavement for the unused paths, and it annoyed the landscapers, since students were walking through their carefully arranged shrubs and flowers.

 

So, they left the grounds mostly bare (except for grass) for the first year of the school's existence. After the year was up, they could easily see by the worn and downtrodden tracks in the grass where the best places to put the pathways would be. Once they knew where the natural, convenient walkways were, only then did they pave them and call them walkways. Students continued using them, since these paths had been chosen by the students themselves, and the landscapers were free to plant shrubs in other places without fear that they'd be destroyed as part of a shortcut.

 

Back to being on-topic: wouldn't it be great if "TB Hotels" came about in this same sort of "organic" way... if people would just put out caches as caches, and only if they "naturally" become good places for the quick and regular flow of bugs would they earn the "TB Hotel" designation.

 

I know, I know, I'm living in a dream world...

[stonewood]

Can you please clarify the below statement. It appears that you are saying there are type/guideline restictions.

 

I recently learned that the statement 'one in, one out' is no longer an enforceable condition (of course, one wonders how would it be enforced?)

 

TBs and Coins are not considered 'trade items'. So no, there's nothing like 'one out, one in' for trackables. And the 'trading rules' of some TB hotels are just nonsense, better call them 'TB Jails'.

[+Highpointer]

I have a good place for a tb hotel, I think. Is there any guide lines for registering a tb hotel?

Thanks

MB Cruiser

I do not recommend "travel bug hotels," since most such caches become lost, stolen, or ransacked, resulting in the loss of many travel bugs. I have explained in numerous previous posts why I feel that "travel bug hotels" are a bad idea and should not be approved. Most "travel bug hotels" that I have tracked near my home have become lost and archived.

 

Do not make a cache and call it a "travel bug hotel. Please do make a high-quality cache with a durable container such as an ammo can. Make sure that the cache is well-hidden and not too easy to find, because caches that are too accessible and too easy to find tend to have a short life expectancy. If you want to encourage travel bug placements, secure the cache with such features as a lock and chain so a non-geocacher cannot easily steal it or remove its contents. Also, make it a "Members-Only" cache to encourage only serious geocachers to visit it and to discourage visits from non-geocachers.

 

It is important to have no restrictions whatsoever on the number of travel bugs that a geocacher can remove from the cache at one time. As long as geocachers move every travel bug that they take to another cache, then there is a one-to-one exchange of travel bugs in the geocaching world overall.

 

Although it is not called a "travel bug hotel," a good example of a cache which should have the features that should be mandatory for a "travel bug hotel" is PRGCGC in Phoenix.

[MB Cruiser]

Thanks for the replies, I have decided against the travel bug hotel. I will just make it a regular cache. It is on a major highway and is very easy to get to but I am afraid there might be to many muggles. I have a bug and I will put it there and see what happens.

 

Thanks

[+Eartha]

All you have to do is call it a geocache, even by another name, and it is a good place for a travel bug. And I always add: If the bug fits and the lid will close. Gotta keep them dry!

[+webscouter.]

My previous post reminded me of something totally unrelated, but similar (in a way).

 

I read once about a new college campus that was being built. After all the buildings and parking lots and roads were designed, the architects purposely did not add any walking paths to the campus layout. They reasoned that in every campus they'd ever seen, the official walkways were often ignored, as students chose the most efficient or desirable routes to their destinations, and walked along those routes, whether they were official, paved paths or not. This was a waste of pavement for the unused paths, and it annoyed the landscapers, since students were walking through their carefully arranged shrubs and flowers.

 

So, they left the grounds mostly bare (except for grass) for the first year of the school's existence. After the year was up, they could easily see by the worn and downtrodden tracks in the grass where the best places to put the pathways would be. Once they knew where the natural, convenient walkways were, only then did they pave them and call them walkways. Students continued using them, since these paths had been chosen by the students themselves, and the landscapers were free to plant shrubs in other places without fear that they'd be destroyed as part of a shortcut.

 

Back to being on-topic: wouldn't it be great if "TB Hotels" came about in this same sort of "organic" way... if people would just put out caches as caches, and only if they "naturally" become good places for the quick and regular flow of bugs would they earn the "TB Hotel" designation.

 

I know, I know, I'm living in a dream world...

 

This would be Wichita State University's Aeronautics and Engineering buildings on the north side of campus. I remember walking in the dirt one year and sidewalks the next. They did make the sidewalks "mostly" straight along the dirt trails.

 

As an interesting side note they also put artificial snow mats on the ramps in the stadium so that you could ski down them.

 

As another interesting side note the original Pizza Hut is on the campus property. The building is still there and is a virtual cache

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...bb708&log=y

Edited April 11, 2008 by webscouter.

[+the hermit crabs]

This would be Wichita State University's Aeronautics and Engineering buildings on the north side of campus. I remember walking in the dirt one year and sidewalks the next. They did make the sidewalks "mostly" straight along the dirt trails.

 

Thanks! It's always nice to have confirmation that a memory is real, and that I'm not just making stuff up and thinking that it's true

[+WRASTRO]

We have what has been an active travel bug hotel. We have truly enjoyed all of the activity our little spot has experienced for over three years. A new home being built nearby has caused our trading post to be disabled for a few weeks but we should be up and running again soon. We think a good TB hotel is one that is active and has a good number of TBs moving through it. Sometimes we put the TBs there and sometimes other cachers stop by.