Pet Hates/What annoys you about hotels?

[jb747]

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

Interestingly, the internet prices haven't been trending down over the past years as one might have hoped. In Singapore, the price at the hotel at which we stay has been constant for what must be the best part of a decade...and in that time the quality of the connection has gone from excellent, to just about unusable. Right now, there's only one hotel that I stay in, in which the net connection is fast enough to support a Skype video call.

But, ignoring the hotel side of the equation for a while...the biggest problems that I have in hotels are mostly with other guests. The corridor is not for loud conversations in the middle of the night. The doors to most rooms close quietly if you turn the handle as you close them, and don't just let them go, or slam them...

On the hotel side...what is it with hotels that makes them install wide screen tvs , and then set them up for the wrong signal type. They are invariably locked so that I can't fix it. Short fat people seems to be the norm.....even when I know they aren't really.

 

[BadgerBoi]

Tables in the room that aren't big enough to fit a breakfast tray on.

A hotel I stayed at in Amsterdam required a deposit for the phone to be connected in my room, and another deposit for the tv remote control. Budget hotel, but all the same...

Poor soundproofing: being able to hear neighbours talking in the hallway outside the room.

Being given a room that is lower standard that I've paid for and having to deal with reception to get the correct room.

Only instant coffee available in room.

Useless mini-bars that are too small to put my own bottle of wine in, even laying the bottle on its side.

Being charged for things that I didn't use, eg phantom breakfasts.

10am checkout times.

 

[Mal]

Just a few from me:

• "double beds" that are made out of two single beds with a horrible split down the middle.
• "Resorts" with resort fee add-ons that aren't properly disclosed.
• $1/night added to your bill for the "charity of the month"
• Advertised feature (eg Gym or Laundry) not being operative.
• Airconditioning that allows smells from a next door room to enter your room.
• Bathroom basins / baths without a plug (and no other way of retaining water in them).
• Bathrooms that make you contort to use the toilet or hop into the shower.
• Bathrooms that smell of mould.
• Bathrooms with poor ventilation.
• Beds that creak.
• Being called by the hotel advising "Checkout time is X", 10 mins before check-out time.
• Being put in a smoking room (in Asia particularly), where you asked for a non-smoking room. Of course this tends to happen straight after a cigar smoker has been staying.
• coughroaches, bed bugs and other vermin.
• Courtesy calls from reception after you've checked in (and asleep) asking how things are.
• Credit card surcharges.
• Doors that don't safety latch correctly.
• Early check-outs at a hotel (eg 10am), but that time isn't reflected in allowing earlier check-ins (eg 4pm check-in).
• Elevator noise all night long.
• Expired electricity test tags.
• Extortionate internet costs.
• Guest Information books that aren't up to date.
• Having billing for restaurant meals/bar incorrectly charged to your room. (How hard is it to enforce checking???).
• Having to chase up for a receipt rather than being given one.
• Having to follow up on frequent stay points that haven't posted.
• Hotels not being able to find your booking when you check in.
• Hotels that photocopy your ID.
• Housekeepers ignoring "DND" signs.
• Housekeeping (or other hotel staff) who steals items from your room.
• Housekeeping calling to advise you have a DND sign on the door, and asking when would you want your room serviced.
• Housekeeping leaving your door (or balcony door) ajar after room service
• Housekeeping not checking again later in the day if there was a DND sign on the door.
• Housekeeping not cleaning room until 4pm or later [or before 10/11am]
• Housekeeping that forgets to replace towels or similar (ie takes one but doesn't replace it).
• Inconsistent water temperature in shower / no pressure.
• Lack of powerpoints that are accessible. A room needs them spread around so that no matter where you are you can get power.
• Laundries that charge strange amounts (eg $2.30 - 2x$1. 1x20c, 1x10c) for a wash.
• Metal chairs on balconies above scraping as they move over tiles.
• Minibars with motion sensors.
• Mysterious charges added to your credit card after your stay.
• Mysterious incorrect mini-bar charges.
• No security peephole on room door.
• Other guests stealing your DND sign.
• Paying $12 for a beer at a hotel bar.
• Poor internet speed.
• Pump pack soap/shampoo.
• Reception staff that gawk when you walk past.
• Room keys that aren't coded right, or expire early.
• Rooms not ready at check-in time.
• Rooms that don't have a desk.
• Rooms that have brilliant views of ... a brick wall.
• Saggy beds.
• Signs that advise how much you're going to be charged if you steal the kettle.
• Slow lifts.
• Small European hotels where even one piece of luggage is hard to fit.
• Toilets that don't flush properly.
• TV Remotes which are very crusty.
• TVs which aren't much bigger than my laptop screen.
• Tvs with poor reception / poor range of channels.

 

[garee]

1.Poorly set up TV's. I have not stayed in a hotel that has decent TV reception. I'm always tying to tune them, sometimes I'm successful. I love ABC News 24 and haven't found a hotel that has it tuned in.
I find it funny that they advertise large flat screen TV's and the picture/reception is cough.

2. Poor air-conditioning. The two vents over the passage way does not cut it, especially in summer.

3. Internet charges.

4. Key cards that stop working during your stay. I always ensure they are not in my wallet. At the Hilton in Melbourne it happened. Had to have my card re-reprogrammed and somehow they started my stay from the re-programming. I said nothing.

My biggest gripe is returning to my room late afternoon and it has not been serviced.

 

[pauly7]

What annoys you about hotels?

1.Poorly set up TV's. I have not stayed in a hotel that has decent TV reception. I'm always tying to tune them, sometimes I'm successful. I love ABC News 24 and haven't found a hotel that has it tuned in.
I find it funny that they advertise large flat screen TV's and the picture/reception is cough..

Try the Crown Hotels in Melbourne. They have crystal clear reception AND all the digital channels including ABC24 (my fave as well)

 

[Awesom Andy]

Some hotels in some Asian countries have now started a silly trend of having a clear glass in the bathroom. This is fine if I'm the only person in the room, and that I have some magnificant water views where it's virtually guaranteed that nobody will be outside, and that it's a hot summer day where my cold showers won't get that glass fogged up. However, when there are 2 people in the room, and we aren't married to each other...

 

[Fifa]

• Lots of the above plus...
• Only one luggage rack when most rooms accommodate 2 people (do they think you share one suitcase?)
• Thin ironing board covers & rickety ironing boards
• Dirty irons
• Feather pillows
• Showers over baths
• No newspaper delivery when you have requested one

 

[rwatts]

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.

I'm somewhat compulsive about clocks and watches and always end up correcting the clocks in just about every hotel I stay in.

Most of the older digital clock radios are based around the same integrated circuit and so are fairly easy to quickly set. Of course now they have to be all fancy with iPod docking etcetera and subtly every one is different. My usual trips to Canberra mean arriving at the hotel about 9pm and out again by 8am. My regular establishment had "upgraded" their rooms with new wizz-bang iPod docking stereo devices complete with remote control (wonder how long before they go missing) - but no AM band. I didn't appreciate how long it took to work out how to set both the time and alarm.

I left feedback suggesting that they should have gone for something that was actually easy to set and difficult for other guests to stuff up. I was pleasantly surprised on my next stay there some months later that they had replaced the wizz-bang model in my room with one of the old fashioned models. Apparently it was in my profile.

The Hilton clock radios are a good idea - easy to use and need a screwdriver to stuff up the setting. Pity then they couldnt actually set them accurately. When I found one at Sydney Hilton that was ten minutes out I rang housekeeping and got them to send another.

Richard.
[Who wears a watch with thermally compensated quartz oscillator resulting in accuracy of better than three seconds a year (Breitling B1)]

 

[Chatterbocks]

- bedside alarms which go off at 4am because the previous guest had an early flight
- electronic room keys spontaneously deciding not to work
- room not being ready when you check in in the evening despite check out being 11am
- the same boring tv channels everywhere (bbc news, cnn etc)
-

 

[Taezar]

For me some are the same:

• King beds that are two single matresses pushed together.
• The perennially incorrect digital clocks.
• No water pressure (especially for hot water) no matter what time of the day or night you try and shower.
• The coughpiest brand of tea known to man (how hard is it to get Twinings?)
• Hotels that have "free internet" then it is so cough you can't use it and have to pay for a workable service.
• Hotels that have free internet but won't give out a code unless you specifically ask for it.
• Hotels that have free internet but not free wifi (where I am right now is $25 per 24h for wifi - I am tethering instead)
• Overly perky reception staff - like Virgin staff on overdrive.
• Staff who treat you like you are an idiot.
• Airconditioning units that blow hot air when you want cold and cold air when you want hot no matter how many times you check the instructions.
• Things being missing from the room - menus, compendiums, extra blankets etc.
• Staff that think it is the end of the world to help you.
• Getting new toiletries every single day - even though I am not using the ones I have.
• Slowest lifts in history and one always seems to break during peak check out time in the morning.
• Bills not prepared the night before for check out.
• No bench space in the bathroom for makeup and hair management.
• And my big one:
• Nothing in the shower to put anything on!!

I love how my friends think travelling for work is awesome

 

[k_sheep]

Hotels that charge extra for hot water and air con rooms, then don't offer a discount when the power is off all day and night. And act all high and mighty when you request it in the morning, saying "no other guests have complained".

Okay that might be a tad specific.

I do hate when check in staff say "oh as a valuable gold member, we've upgraded you to ..." and it's exactly the same room you've paid for.

 

[munitalP]

What annoys you about hotels?

I can handle most things without too much fuss except...

Smokers in the hotel
Shower curtains with a life of their own that want to stick to you
My bar lady forgetting where I have got to on the restaurant menu!

 

[markis10]

I
My bar lady forgetting where I have got to on the restaurant menu!

Did you finish it? Bar Ladies who are ex chefs are handy

 

[munitalP]

Did you finish it? Bar Ladies who are ex chefs are handy

Yeah, in the end - the entire menu excluding the lamb. They also done me a seared tuna dish that was V good. You are right, Rachael was an excellent bar manager!

My tasting notes :shock:

 

[Blackadder]

Internet access fees.
Parking charges.
Room service pricing.
Poor quality bathroom fixtures.
Visible dirt/mould in the bathroom.
Pillows that come in two varieties, soft or rock hard.

 

[ButFli]

Internet charges are high on my list of **** that pisses me off. It seems like the more expensive the hotel, the higher the cost and lower quality of internet. I agree that it's probably the service provider that is getting the profit but I don't really care.

****ty irons and ironing boards. Once again, it seems like the more expensive the hotel is the ****ter the ironing facilities they provide. I've only ever had one decent iron and board combination and that was in a cheap motor inn next to the army barracks in Townsville. On the other hand I've been put in very fancy hotels and resorts that don't even have steam irons.

Only one vegetarian option on the room service menu. When I order your margherita pizza every night for a week it's not because I like it! Geez, how hard is it to throw a bit of tofu in a stir fry or something.

 

[simonpenny408]

<Rant on>

Internet - particularly in ANZ - where it is expensive (vs free in a lot of Asia) and slow and particularly if you hit some sort of download cap (WTF - you can't charge for it and then cap it at something ridiculous - I'm looking at you - Intercontinental Wellington and Rydges Melbourne)

Trying to save money with playing the environmental angle - towels on rack/in bath, card on bed/not on bed (at least make it consistent please). Combined with no plug in bathroom sink (hello - Ista Hotel Bangalore) this is just ludicrous

Credit card surcharges - what am I supposed to do - pay cash??? Just build it into the room rate and give a discount for cash so at least it doesn't feel like you are being gouged (are you listening Sebel Albert Park Melbourne)

Saunas that work on a timer - so that they are never hot when you want one. What's the point?

Having to configure a stupid proxy for SMTP access to outgoing mail servers (numerous hotels in Asia)

<Rant off>

 

[Bundy Bear]

What annoys you about hotels?

When they are all not as nice as Hilton South Wharf.

Do I need to say any more. :shock:

 

[samiam]

My tasting notes :shock:

I'm guessing that wasn't in one sitting???

Geez - I'd hate to see the dessert menu

 

[codash1099]

Almost all of the above (twin beds pushed together a particular favourite - immediately scratch that hotel from future visits) but prime gripes:

-Excessive Internet charges (but they have to pay for the hardware somehow, and stop the internet hogs)
-Failure to replace used items - soap and laundry lists most common
-Pleading to save water by re-using towels but not having dual flush toilets.
-Automatic mini-bars. At one hotel they suggested I had totally emptied the bar overnight - must have been an earthquake.
-Empty mini-bars. They could at least put some water in there.