Recently I have been working away a lot with work and staying in various hotels. During the summer months this wasn’t a problem and didn’t affect my training, in fact I could get a lot more in due to not having the normal family commitments. Now though with the nights drawing in, getting outside isn’t very appealing, and I have been giving it some thought to bringing an indoor set up with me if the hotel room has space. I have a tacx neo 2 which is a bit of a lump, so am thinking of getting something lighter and easier to carry. Can use my works laptop to connect to, also thinking of picking up a small fan and maybe a mat to sit the trainer on to protect the hotel carpet. Anyone else do this? any pit falls or things I should give some thought to? Thanks in advance.
I’m assuming you are driving to these hotels and are not flying.
I do this all the time as I’m on the road in a hotel a couple times a month for work. I used to use a Feedback Sports Omnium as like you I was looking for a lightweight option. I did this for a while and it worked fine, but not the same experience as a legit smart trainer., Eventually I found myself wanting a better quality experience while I was on the road so I ended up switching and pack up my Kickr now. I use my work laptop as well, but also bring on old iphone I have where I can load up TR and then use Zwift on the laptop. Don’t always do it that way, but I like options.
This might not work if you have a smaller car, but I picked up a foldable wagon and after I check in I load up my Kickr, a fan, and a bag with my shoes, bottles, tools, and other items for the ride. I used to use the hotel luggage rack, but can’t always find one easily so I like having the wagon.
I try to get in a pretty legit session when I’m on the road as like you I figure I don’t have any family commitments while I’m in the hotel room so why not. For me at least having all my normal setup makes me far more motivated to get it in.
When I stay at my parents I take my Elite Suito as I’ve got a small car and its pretty compact.
Thanks for the thorough reply. Was thinking for trying to find a kickr cheap and taking that as I looks a bit easier to transport but is still a good unit. Yes I am travelling by car, so transporting stuff isn’t a problem, but the car is a small to mid size hatch back, so can get everything I need in it with the seats down.
Like you’ve your set up nailed down. 
Same here with my Suito. I even drag along my 2 Lasko fans.
If driving, I typically bring the Rollers and a road bike. A bit easier to transition to an outdoor ride if time/roads facilitate it.
Do you take a mat or do you drip sweat all over the hotel carpet?
Unlimited free towels and extra in the “gym”. Just put a towel underneath
I just use a hotel towel.
Just curious about the phone for TR and laptop for Zwift, now that TR workouts are natively integrated into Zwift, why do you still run them separately? I did a similar thing for years, but now I watch shows or races on my phone since I only need one device to run Zwift and TR.
Mostly just because I like to mix it up. If it’s a more intense workout I like having the workout on my bars in front of me kind of like a head unit. I also sometimes like doing a TR workout while doing a Zwift event and that only works by using them both separately. I like doing the big tours, but I also like sticking to my TR plan so it’s kind of a win-win.
If it’s just an endurance ride I use the integration sometimes, although I don’t really like the workout player in Zwift or the companion app all that much. I wish it showed the entire workout graphically along with your progress the way it does in TR.
wow!! that’s dedication! that’s awesome.
That compact fan is pretty key. I guess you could crank down the AC and sit in front of it as well.
I packed my trainer once for a trip and found it worth it, but only because I was gone for over a week and had a car. For short trips, I search for hotels with gyms or scout nearby options. The time I stayed at a singapore orchard road hotel, I skipped bringing the trainer and just used their gym bikes with some TrainerRoad workouts on my phone—it worked out fine.
I used to take my power pedals and spanners with me and use the (usually rubbish) exercise bike in the hotel gyms.
I would need a fan as well. I just can’t swim in my own sweat doing work above z2 when the air isn’t moving.
Wonder if anyone doing some travel like this has set up a cargo van or similar with their trainer. I’ll likely be traveling a couple hours away occasionally and during the winter might consider trying to set something up. May just use those days to find a gym and lift.
i just picked up a sprinter this week but it’s mostly built out for family camping, with a little organization could probably fit the bike and trainer. It had 400 ah lithium and a 3000 watt inverter so I’m sure power wouldn’t be a problem.
Yep, that used to be an issue. I tended to do short, high intensity stuff,