Dwelty, though it's been possible to pre-pay your room charge and use it like a debit card in the past, they don't allow this anymore. If you want to use the room charge, you have to attach it to a credit card. I did what Chuck S. described. I paid my room charge with traveler's checks every night or every other night to avoid any possibility of them charging my card. It worked out very well. Not only did I not over-spend, I had $100 in traveler's checks left over for my next vacation. The front desk can also change traveler's checks to cash if the amount less than $100 per day.