What's needed to start a TB Hotel?

[spork3127]

My wife and I have recently started geocaching and have a few TB's on the way. Looking on a map, there aren't any TB Hotels within 100 miles of our location. I was thinking about starting one as there's a fairly large number of cachers in the area and it might be nice to add this feature to the area. I'm assuming the basics such as a dependable container, a safe/reliable place for it to be stored at, and of course a few TB's to get it started. What else would be required/needed?

[+Dr.MORO]

Domo!!!

 

Location, Location, Location!!!

 

Good Luck & Cache On!

[+BlueDeuce]

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

 

[+Walts Hunting]

One thing to keep in mind is that you cannot require a trade for TBs. Some Hotel owners put that in and threaten to delete logs if a trade isn't made. The froggie specifically prohibits that. The expression I use in my Stargate Hotel is treat it like a buffet. Take all you want, log all you take.

 

You have the requirements down pretty good.

[+CedarPointFreak]

One thing you can do is make your TB hotel a Letterbox hybrid type, so it stands out on the map with a different icon... just remember to include a rubber stamp and a good quality logbook if you do...

[+Walts Hunting]

One thing you can do is make your TB hotel a Letterbox hybrid type, so it stands out on the map with a different icon... just remember to include a rubber stamp and a good quality logbook if you do...

 

Not so sure I agree with that. A tb hotel should be a traditional so. Making it something else could cut down on traffic particularly for someone passing through.

[+BlueDeuce]

One thing you can do is make your TB hotel a Letterbox hybrid type, so it stands out on the map with a different icon... just remember to include a rubber stamp and a good quality logbook if you do...

 

Not so sure I agree with that. A tb hotel should be a traditional so. Making it something else could cut down on traffic particularly for someone passing through.

 

Didn't you know that the letterbox icons are just for getting attention? I mean pffft, who letterboxes?

 

 

 

bd

Edited March 21, 2012 by BlueDeuce

[violagang]

Cedarpointfreak, I disagree. As being only a geocacher, I think that is more of a deterant, than anything. I don't know anything about Letterboxes, and have only logged a few that were both letterboxes/geocaches. That being said, congrats on reaching 1k, thanks for pimping out my string doll TB, and thanks for adopting my cache , Lonesome Road.

[+Highpointer]

My opinion, which I have stated numerous times before, is that "travel bug hotels" should not approved. Such caches, because they are too easy to find and have a high risk of being muggled, present a great risk of travel bug losses.

[+The Blorenges]

I think a TB Hotel should...

 

be near to a busy travel route, or junction of travel routes,

 

have easy, convenient parking nearby...

 

but the hiding place should be a little further away (maybe 50 - 100 yards?)and it should be secluded so that cachers are not observed searching, finding, rummaging and logging,

 

be at least a 'regular', preferably a 'large', size,

 

and should not have any type of restrictions on dropping/retrieving the trackables - not even if they are very politely implied rather than specifically stated.

 

That's all I can think of at the moment! Good luck with your plans.

 

MrsB

[+Walts Hunting]

My opinion, which I have stated numerous times before, is that "travel bug hotels" should not approved. Such caches, because they are too easy to find and have a high risk of being muggled, present a great risk of travel bug losses.

On what study do you base those statements. I have never seen anything to back up what you say.

[+BlueDeuce]

My opinion, which I have stated numerous times before, is that "travel bug hotels" should not approved. Such caches, because they are too easy to find and have a high risk of being muggled, present a great risk of travel bug losses.

On what study do you base those statements. I have never seen anything to back up what you say.

 

Probably from personal experience and from feedback from people like me and Eartha and others.

[+ayrbrain]

We were in Sydney last November and we visited our first (and only ) TB hotel. It was within a building so it was great to walk in and ask the question stated in the cache description and be handed the large container, then sit on a comfy sofa to look through the goodies and sign the log.

[+Eartha]

Also keep in mind that there don't have to be hotels. TB's can sleep anywhere that is comfortable and they don't mind camping. One should not put all their eggs in one basket. We lose so many Trackables to poorly placed TB hotels. And any cache is a good cache for a trackable as long as the TB fits and the lid will still close tight. Yes, there are good hotels out there, but so many were placed in such a way that they were found by non cachers and had the contents stolen or destroyed. Search this forum for TB hotel and read the pinned threads for more trackable advice and information on this.

[+Eartha]

And disregard the letterbox suggestion. A true letterbox hybrid cache should be set up as a letterbox, and should be found as a letterbox. Just adding a stamp and ink pad does not make it a letterbox.

[+Eartha]

My opinion, which I have stated numerous times before, is that "travel bug hotels" should not approved. Such caches, because they are too easy to find and have a high risk of being muggled, present a great risk of travel bug losses.

On what study do you base those statements. I have never seen anything to back up what you say.

 

Probably from personal experience and from feedback from people like me and Eartha and others.

 

Yes, it's true. I am not a fan of the poorly placed TB hotel. I have had to mark more TBs missing than I care to think about because of them. And all I can think when I hit "yes" to confirm that I want to mark it missing, is that I have just disappointed a child, or killed all hope for the owner.

[nellc]

There is one near me that is great. It is near an airport and is in an ammo box and contains a double sided sistema container (like your L&L containers). It is a retangular container with 2 compartments. One side is arrivals (into the area) and the other is departures (out of the area). Each section has a logbook to write in where you want the TB or coin to go to. Newcastle Airport TB Hotel

Edited April 17, 2012 by nellc

[+BlueDeuce]

There is one near me that is great. It is near an airport and is in an ammo box and contains a double sided sistema container (like your L&L containers). It is a retangular container with 2 compartments. One side is arrivals (into the area) and the other is departures (out of the area). Each section has a logbook to write in where you want the TB or coin to go to. Newcastle Airport TB Hotel

 

That is a trade restriction cache. Hardly anywhere near great.

 

3. Don't take them all unless there is only one left.

 

If you want me to make a distinction between incoming and out-going bugs you are pretty much crossing the line in saying how my bug can travel. Stay out it and just place a cache.

Edited April 20, 2012 by BlueDeuce