Blow dryer?

Most hotels have hair dryers. You can look at the amenities that a hotel has online. I have found that most hotel hair dryers are pretty weak. I always bring my own from home because I have thick hair. Be sure to bring a plug adapter.

I always cut my hair short - life is too short to be drying hair when travelling. Plus your 110V hairdryer is unlikely to work in Europe

Most hotels have them available. If not in the room ask at the front desk if they have one you can borrow.

If you bring one from home, check to see if you need to manually change the voltage or if it does it automatically when it is plugged in to the outlet. If you have to switch it manually, do it before you leave home as you may forget when you are jet-lagged. I use both a dual voltage hair dryer and a flatiron for my unruly locks in Europe and elsewhere in the world otherwise I would literally look like Medusa. I have never had an issue with either appliances working abroad.

Look on Booking.com at the hotels you are interested in. They have fairly comprehensive lists of what each hotel offers. In my travels in Europe, every hotel (and even apartment rentals) had a hair dryer. Sometimes I would have to request it at the reception desk, but probably 95% of the time, they are already in the hotel room.

I’m bringing my own. I like having a nozzle and the blow dryer lightweight. Once there was there was this vacuum type blow dryer that hardly blew air. I’ve ordered a travel baby bliss from Amazon.

If you bring one from home, check to see if you need to manually change the voltage or if it does it automatically when it is plugged in to the outlet.

Or if it does it at all ! Not all blow dryers are dual-voltage.

@kierkenn

Asked the women in my family about this. Hotels are odds on to have them as standard. They tell me that they do not take any and if necessary, would buy one at a local department store. No worries about voltage, plugs etc. Their favourite Italian department store is Upim. For no other reason than the name.

Not too sure what they buy. When it comes to spending money, they keep me in the dark and feed me on the bills. Leave any purchases with a relative when we leave or donate to a charity shop.

Regards Ron

“Or if it does it at all ! Not all blow dryers are dual-voltage.”

That is correct, Kim. It will say dual voltage on the box it comes in or on the appliance itself. It is always good to check and not assume this.

Though many places have hairdryers, they're highly variable in quality (sometimes way too powerful, other times it could take a week to dry my curly hair). I have not regretted using up some of my space and weight limit to take this dual voltage hairdryer (11 ounces) with a hot sock diffuser.

I have a dual voltage small size but powerful hair dryer from Magellan. However all hotels and rentals have always had one.

Every hotel or apartment we've stayed at in the reasonably recent past, say 10 years, has had one. Some better, some worse, but these days very few of the short vacuum cleaner hose type - mostly standard ones you'll see in any department store or supermarket.

If you find it is too strong or too weak you may need to play with the switches until you get the amount of blow and amount of heat you want. Many have a button near the trigger for cool air. If you didn't expect it you may find it takes too long in that setting.

If you don't find the dryer have a look in the cupboard (closet), on the back of the door, in a little mesh bag, on top of the ironing board, or often in the drawer under the desk/dressing table mirror.... it's there somewhere....

Many have the plug non-detachable to prevent them from taking a walk.

We no longer pack a blow dryer when we travel. Just about every place we stay has'em.

We're into traveling lighter these days. Gotta start somewhere.

I bring my own and have never regretted it. I We stay at a mix of hotels and "other" (bnb's apartments,etc) The hair dryer in all of these are more common then they used to be and you would probably be alright. We just got back from Spain. I packed mine and used it. Every place but one had one available. I just like mine. (I tried a couple in the apartments we stayed in and preferred my own) We did carry on only with an 18 pound limit (lufthansa). I've never had any problem getting it included. (I do carry an additional backpack as my personal item. I always figure if I am worried about going over the weight, I could put the blow dryer in there. I have never had to do it. What I do put in there are "heavy items" like toiletries, chargers, kindle, guidebooks, etc.) I think when packing light, we all make choices about what we are willing to make room for and what we will worry about there. I would buy toothpaste, lotion, sunscreen, etc. all there before I'd leave my small travel blow driver at home. (for the record, I didn't leave any of those at home either) I also bring my Starbucks commuter cup. (I love making a big cup of tea in our room and hate using the little cups or mugs they make available in the room) To thy own self be true and you decide how much you think you want your blow dryer there versus what you might have to leave out.

I don't pack one, since most hotels have them, but I do bring my collapsible hair diffuser. Otherwise, my wavy/curly hair ends up making me look like Roseanne Roseannadanna from the old SNL skits. This is the one I have. It fits on almost every blow dryer I've tried, and the one time it didn't, I just put my hair in a ponytail.

I have the BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Travel Dryer. It's small and light. I also bring a collapsible silicone universal diffuser.

I also bring my Starbucks commuter cup.

Connie, good idea! I have a Pinkah thermal mug that's very light that I can bring. I could also use it on the plane to keep coffee hot longer. Thanks!

My travel blowdryer says 125/250 volts, but days dual voltage. I always thought it was 110/240

I have brought a blow dryer along for over 20 years. Every place we have stayed has one, so no need. We don't just stay in hotels, but do a good mix of those along with Airbnb, pensions, etc.

My travel blowdryer says 125/250 volts, but days dual voltage. I always thought it was 110/240

Lulu, I think that is the maximum, but it works for 110 (use 125) and 220-240 (use 250).

Thanks Mardee.