Picture this: Youve just checked in to your hotel room, whether thats for a weekend business conference or a week-long vacation. You likely greeted the front desk employee, showed your ID, put down a card for incidentals and headed to your accommodations after a long day of travel.

If that sounds familiar, youre probably like most guests and dont give much thought to your overall stay beyond the basics. That said, there are some mistakes youre probably making when staying at a hotel.

We spoke to front desk employees and managers at hotels across the United States and internationally to see what errors guests make most often. Heres what you may want to do differently on your next hotel stay:

Not booking directly through the hotel.

It can be enticing to book through third-party travel websites to save money. However, there are a few downsides.

Booking through third parties takes away more than half of the actions we can do to assist you, said Chase Christian, director of rooms at 106 Jefferson in Huntsville, Alabama. Often, we arent able to refund a nights stay if your trip was unexpectedly canceled, you may not receive your loyalty benefits, or the third party charges late fees for last-minute changes.

These issues are all usually avoidable when booking directly through the property.

To help put it into perspective, heres how Rhiannon Reynolds, vice president of operations at Innisfree Hotels , explained it: If a front desk agent has one king view room left and has two guests standing there waiting for their room, one of whom is a loyal hotel brand rewards member who booked direct and the other who booked through Expedia costing the hotel a high commission ... who do you think has a better chance of getting the king view room that they booked?

Not doing research ahead of your stay.

According to Ivanna Gonzalez, director of rooms at Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel in Miami, many guests dont inquire about the amenities and services available to them until after their stay is over.

We frequently hear from guests about items they wished they had known were provided, whether its extra pillows or even recommendations for local attractions, Gonzales said.

Rachel Mylett, assistant rooms division manager at The Lodge at St. Edward in Kenmore, Washington, said that her property offers amenities that a typical guest wouldnt think of without browsing their website.

Pickleball courts and weekly meetups, game nights, specialty happy hours, self-guided historic tours, and free yoga on Saturdays are some offerings guests may miss if they dont do the research ahead of time, Mylett said.