Pet Hates/What annoys you about hotels?

[markis10]

Having had a busy year this year with almost 80 nights in hotels so far, I thought I might start a thread on what annoys you about hotels, their rooms and equipment.

No 1 on the list for me is $20 irons in 5 star suites, you know the type, the ones where they even give you a water bottle because it does not use steam.
No 2 is enough milk for two cups of tea/coffee only.
No 3 is rubbish coffee, I now carry a plunger!
No 4 slow lifts that cannot handle normal traffic.
And finally the last gripe, poor water pressure in the shower.

 

[meloz]

Top of the list for me is mood lighting. Great for dirty weekends but a nightmare to work or read to.

Meloz

 

[tuapekastar]

Where internet provision is a revenue (profit) stream rather than a service. Though it may in some cases be the ISP making the bulk of the profit rather than the hotel, it seems plenty of hotels/motels can provide internet for free, or at just a moderate charge. Some OTOH have prices way OTT. :evil:

Any property where you report a problem and it goes unrectified. Chief among these (and the details are now hazy given it was long ago) was the non-flushing dunny at the Lerwick Hotel in Shetland. We had friends in adjoining room so we managed, but it was reported in the morning, and it took at least until the next day to fix. The desk staff were uninterested (and hopeless) - the one at checkout copped a good blast from my roommate (personally, I reckon we should have dumped the 'problem' on her desk, but that may have got us arrested :shock.

Hotels that leave envelopes by the bed exhorting you to leave money for the housekeepers because they're nice people and work hard. Admittedly this only happened to me once, but it was like being approached by a beggar.

Any that does not have basic amenities, including tea/coffee/sugar (often not enough sugar), milk, shampoo, soap etc. and any that does not replenish these on a daily basis.

Edit: Just saw meloz's post and that reminded me: cough lighting is all too common.

 

[Danger]

Bedside clock radios: (i) wrong time; (ii) no time at all (ie. not set); alarm left on.

Curtains that let in just that little hint of sunshine, enough to annoy you to tears.

 

[kpc]

1) room keys that suddenly don't work midstay
2) lack of (easily) accessible powerpoints
3) agree - poor lighting issues
4) slow lifts

 

[markis10]

Poor lighting and power points are good ones. Had a suite at DRW HI earlier in the week and it did not have a desk, asked for a room change, no can do, room service delivered a desk 20 minutes later, not sure where it had been.......

 

[Mwenenzi]

1) chairs too low for desk/table/bench
2) lack of (easily) accessible powerpoints (to desk)
3) poor lighting issues

 

[Hvr]

Have I got a list for you:

Poor lighting, most of my work stays require I work at night but I can't see a thing.

And a cough desk or table compounds the problem. Power points are a perennial problem.

Being required to pay a deposit after I have paid in full before hand through the work booking agency which they know very well. Then taking weeks to refund the deposit.

Incredible internet fees, I only want to use some megabytes not buy the ISP you use.

Parking fees not clearly labelled or findable until you check in.

No hot beverage other than tea or coffee. I don't drink either.

Fridges full of amazingly priced cough that I don't want but no room to put my small carton of milk, I bring a small container of cereal and milo and want to use my milk.

Why do I bring my own cereal? Well your breakfast is amazingly priced at my breakfast allowance and your food is all fat filled unpalatable rubbish I don't want.

Pillows that are either flat or big bricks. Have a look at the JR Inn in Sapporo where there is a pillow wall and you select your pillow and then it is put in a clean case. Works amazingly well.

Clock radios that require a physics degree to operate and they don't have any instructions. I asked how to work one amazing contraption and was told it was a standard facility at most hotels now. The inference being that I should know how to use it.

My retort was that I hadn't worked out how to work it anywhere yet and his attitude ensured that I wouldn't bother with his hotel again either. I haven't.

Heaps of other stuff as well.

 

[thewinchester]

Incredible internet fees, I only want to use some megabytes not buy the ISP you use.

Agreed. The price of internt access, specially in Australia is a complete joke.

Yes, I understand that for most properties this is a complete money spinner for most of them - but their prices are on the wrong side of the supply/demand curve for my liking.

 

[PaulC83]

Fully agree with everything posted here, such basic things but still done so horribly wrong even with the bigger/higher rated properties!

One that gets me but probably isn't too much of an issue with most of you is dealing with smaller motels/hotels in remote areas. I do a lot of remote work around the territory and there are towns here with motels that are 99% full all of the time from government workers, contractors, miners and tourists. They are real money spinners, but some of them are just awful, haven't been updated in 30 years, still have wall rattler aircons, coughpy carpets, doors that don't open, moth eaten curtains, and we are still paying upto $300 dollars a night (I am glad I am not the one paying, but sadly your tax dollars are).

With the money they are pulling in they could do with a face lift. I can't really name a remote town other than maybe Daly Waters that actually has decent (modern) accommodation for a half reasonable price.

 

[zig]

Bedside clock radios: (i) wrong time; (ii) no time at all (ie. not set); alarm left on.

Curtains that let in just that little hint of sunshine, enough to annoy you to tears.

These 2 are top of my list as well. Also
- nasty little individual serve containers of UHT milk
- noisy housekeeping staff
- little signs telling me to show how much I care for the environment by re-using my towel
- lack of powerpoints
- high internet charges

I have more, but had better stop whinging now

 

[Blackswan]

Arriving to a hotel an hour or two after the advertised check-in time, only to be told the room isn't ready. Normally I'll let it slide for a while (and go for a walk to stretch my legs/grab a drink from the bar/grab something to eat).

Any longer than that, it starts to annoy me - especially if I've just flown in from somewhere and I want a shower and rest.

 

[farawaymum]

Call me fussy but here goes...
Room layouts that only allow you to watch tv from the bed, rooms without a decent comfortable chair (not just a desk chair),thin walls,interconnecting room doors (noise spill),tiny cupboards with just a couple of hangers.Fake upgrades announced at checkin by clueless staff who don't know anything about the room categories.

 

[cosi]

Mirror on the wall above the desk is the most annoying feature, after working out how to use the TV remote and room lights,

 

[MiLK_MaN]

Fabric shower curtains! :evil:

 

[GT351]

Detest UHT milk
Anything else i can deal with but like free internet if possible.


GT

 

[Geoff Whitehorn]

:idea: Alot annoys me about hotels, next time I book into a 5 star hotel I will
pitch a tent next to the desk and ask, is the room better than this, haha.

 

[GT351]

Call me fussy but here goes...
Room layouts that only allow you to watch tv from the bed, /QUOTE]

Any excuse for me i guess

I like this
GT

 

[SamR]

Yes, the whole internet thing. Still, nobody makes phone calls from hotel room phones anymore. I guess this makes up for it. Shocking prices though, and usually poor and slow service. I wouldn't begrudge paying so much if it was a good, stable, fast connection, but it never is

The thing that really gets my goat lately though - those stupid hotel coathangers. Dude, I'm not going to steal your damn hangers. I can buy nice ones at Ikea for about a buck each. I just want to be able to hang up my shirts without having to thread the head of a nail through a stupid little hole on a moving target that I can't quite see.

 

[blackcat20]

• Fitted sheets that are too small for the matress, so your feet are on bare mattress at the end of the bed.
• When they ask you to hang your towel if you are happy to re-use it, then swap it for fresh towels anyway.
• Like others, overpriced internet. I'd rather go for a hot chocolate at Starbucks and use their internet than pay $20 or so.
• Weird shower systems where you have to turn on the cold tap before the hot in order to get hot water, but it still never warms up enough anyway...
• US hotels that provide tea bags, but only a coffee pot...no kettle to boil coffee-free water for those of us that dont drink it...