Pet Hates/What annoys you about hotels?

[simongr]

Why do any of us travel???? Hotels are the worst part of my experience - especially in my current role as our preferred hotels are basically cr4p... I am not bothered by the internet thing as if I need to use I just recharge it, or I use the iPad with 3G (and get to claim a tax deduction).

My gripes are:

- Lighting - not just poor lighting but excessive controls over lighting that mean I have to hunt around for which switches to turn off and on to get the right combination to achieve darkness

- Bad room service - it is just universally cr4p

- Insert your room key for lighting activation

- Concierges who think that googling a decent restaurant is a demonstration of their knowledge of the area

 

[JetLagged]

- Insert your room key for lighting activation

When any busines card or the like will often do the trick just as well!@

 

[MatF]

I think my major gripes have been mentioned, but I might reiterate:

- Shower curtains. My No.1 gripe. I either position them inside the edge of the shower/bath so they flap around and stick to me (yuck), or outside the edge of the shower/bath, in which case I flood the bathroom. Awesome. Which leads on to:
- Showers over baths. I'm sure some people have baths in hotels, but I'm not one of them. Give me a proper shower please.
- Stains. Anywhere, but particuarly on towels and sheets. Just no ....
- Double/queen beds that are two singles, with the join in the middle. Particularly when one of the singles is an inch or more higher than the other! I might as well have a single bed.

The hotel I spend 4 nights in every 2nd week has all of these things.

 

[Warks]

I was thinking we were due for another thread on this. There was one on 'idiosyncrasies' last time which was similar of course but things change over time.

Most of mine have already been covered, particular highlights are:
* the lack of free internet access even in $300 a night hotels - the cheapest Super8 we stayed in the US or Canada had it two years ago!

* those flipping alarm clocks which default to a midnight alarm when the power goes off - this is a design fault in all digital clocks - the default time should be 12pm - that's not going to wake anyone but a teenager. Also the bright glow of the clock face - I have to cover them in a dark room.

* that annoying flashing light on the smoke detector on the ceiling above the bed! (TV standby also annoying but you can get up and turn it off)

* noisy fridges especially in country motels - I sometimes turn them off (or to min).

* the fact that hotels advertise they have cable TV but only have the same five channels they all have - most of which you'd never watch.

* hiding the damn TV remote! I've searched rooms high and low sometimes.

* air conditioning in American hotels - set to 28C in winter and 14C in summer!

* bright lights on the outside of the hotel so you can't open a curtain at night

My biggest bugbear though is:
* being unable to open a window to get fresh air. Granted that's not going to be possible in high rise towers but most places I stay are only up to about 10 storeys. I hate sleeping in air conditioning unless it's really hot outside. I always sleep better with some outside air. A bit of noise comes with it but I find that more comforting that the tomb-like silence of some hotel rooms. Although the hotel usually has its bottle collection at about 330am!

 

[burrco]

Similar to many:

* Shower over bath
* Shower curtain
* Lack of power points
* Not having the room cleaned by late afternoon
* Hotels that think a DnD sign is optional - bonus marks off for W Taipei who after I ignored five minutes of knocking called me to tell me the DnD light was on.
* Breakfast that finishes too early
* Paying extra for a "full service" type hotel yet still having to tip. $400 a night yet I'm still suppose to directly pay the bellboy's wage?
* Hotels requiring a keycard for access to the floor - but the reader in the lift is hard to spot/use etc.

 

[codash1099]

Similar to many:


* Paying extra for a "full service" type hotel yet still having to tip. $400 a night yet I'm still suppose to directly pay the bellboy's wage?

Even worse, being hit with a service charge as high as 20% and having staff still expect tips.

 

[malmacdowall]

My Hotel hates;
- rubbish coffee in the rooms --- nescafe really ?
- rubbish coffee in the hotel restaurant at breakfast time
- paying $30 for breakfast at the hotel and having a poor selection of food..
- getting upgraded to the "handicap accessible" room. Seriously a shower chair is not a feature... And who needs all the handrails? (But they do come in handy after over indulging )
- a hotel room that feels "dirty". Surely they can steam clean the carpets occasionally.
- hotel showers where you have to fight with the rest of the floor for the hot water.... Grrrrrr. Chilly.
- hotels that promise extras for loyalty guests but fail to offer or deliver. Yes I'm looking at you Rooty hill ....
I'm sure I'll think of many more but thats a good start....

 

[Verde]

I was thinking we were due for another thread on this. There was one on 'idiosyncrasies' last time which was similar of course but things change over time.

Most of mine have already been covered, particular highlights are:


* those flipping alarm clocks which default to a midnight alarm when the power goes off - this is a design fault in all digital clocks - the default time should be 12pm - that's not going to wake anyone but a teenager. Also the bright glow of the clock face - I have to cover them in a dark room.

That reminds me. Another of my dislikes of the Novotel Nadi was they had the clock hooked up to a power point that lost power whenever you left the room (didn't have the key inserted to have the lights go). Thus every time I left the room it went off. I am fairly sure the clock radio just needed swapping to a different power point, but I still thought it was pretty poor form (it took me a while to spot the pattern as the first few times I thought maybe there was just dodgy electricity as I never saw it go off when leaving, only noticed I had to set it again upon my return).

 

[BVT]

++1

No 1 gripe is the curtains that do not quite meet and leave that 1 cm gap for all external light, natural and artificaal to come flooding through ...

And a very idiosyncratic annoyance - king size beds that you can land a small plane on. 90% of the time I am alone and would prefer a comfortable sitting area instead of largely unused bed space.

 

[RWJ777]

Pet hates in hotels

As I commence my work travel for the year today, I reflected on my pet hates in hotels.

None of these is terrible -- and would doubtless all fall into the category of 'first world problems' but they are irrits nonetheless; and when you travel a lot, they become very irritating indeed.

But, as they say, a problem shared, is a problem halved. So here goes:

1. Promised priority check-ins at hotels under loyalty programs that are never honoured: you know the deal, reach a certain status and you'll get priority check-in or check-out in hotels. But when push comes to shove, there is one queue and higher status guests gets the same priority service as everyone else. Tres annoyment!

2. No damn power point next to the bed. Hilton is chronic at this. What is the problem with having no power points next to the bed? Their absence means that you cannot charge your iDevice or crackberry overnight and use it as an alarm clock. :evil:

3. No clock next to the bed. Travel interrupts your sleep patterns and causes you to need to check the clock more regularly during the night to make sure you rise on time (see connection with problem #2). Yet, SO OFTEN, the clock is not next to the bed so it can be checked during the night. Grrr.

4. This falls into the category of pedantry but is a pet hate for me nonetheless. The bathrobe bound so ttightly with the cord that it's impossible to disentangle when you need it most. And then, once you get the cord undone, it falls to the ground as it hasn't been thread through the loops.

So what are the other pet hates in hotels?

 

[Sprucegoose]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

Noise,no electrical outlet, cough on my bill, surly staff.....

 

[yohy?!]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

noise has to be number 1 - be it lift, AC, plumbing, buzzing lights - if you cant get a good night sleep there is a serious problem

on the priority check-out question from the OP, why don't you just do express check-out and drop your key in the slot (or even just leave it in the room).

 

[flyingfan]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

• Making you fill in a registration form when you've already filled in details online or are a loyalty program member with details on file (I've been tempted to refuse but am afraid they'll give me the worst room around)
• Bathroom taps so low as to hinder filling of the kettle
• Alarm clocks set to wake you up at the previous guest's OMG time and which seem impervious to resetting
• Hardwired/hard-to access power cords for the appliances in the room, leaving few convenient sockets for personal electronics
• The stench of cigarette smoke from a previous guest that has ignored the no-smoking signs
• Soap that feels like you're rubbing a porcupine against bare skin
• $130/night for a Darwin hotel that doesn't provide shampoo :evil:

 

[Ansett]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

My Pet hates are

1) Noise

2) Excessively hot rooms and no fresh air or aircon controls that work

3) Kettles that dont fit under the taps to be filled

4) Irons that dont fit under the taps to be filled

5) Ironing boards that leave a criss cross pattern on your shirts

6) Alarm clocks that dont work

7) Power points in obscure points

8) Internet access point as far from a poer point as humanly possible

9) Showers that I have to run around under to get wet

10) OVER PRICED FOOD AND DRINKS and I mean like a wine that cost $10.00 being sold at 45 to 50

thats enough for now

Perhaps I really am turning into a grumpy old man LOL

 

[RWJ777]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

• Making you fill in a registration form when you've already filled in details online or are a loyalty program member with details on file (I've been tempted to refuse but am afraid they'll give me the worst room around)
• Bathroom taps so low as to hinder filling of the kettle
• Alarm clocks set to wake you up at the previous guest's OMG time and which seem impervious to resetting
• Hardwired/hard-to access power cords for the appliances in the room, leaving few convenient sockets for personal electronics
• The stench of cigarette smoke from a previous guest that has ignored the no-smoking signs
• Soap that feels like you're rubbing a porcupine against bare skin
• $130/night for a Darwin hotel that doesn't provide shampoo :evil:

With you on number 1! Swissotel in Sydney did that to me every single visit.

 

[LadyC]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

A few things I noticed on my recent trip:
- overheated rooms and you can't seem to control the temperature
- no soap blocks, just body wash
- hair dryers hard wired in weird places like the cupboard

 

[irv]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

- Someone hiding your room on another floor after a big night entertaining clients
- The next morning

 

[markis10]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

noise has to be number 1 - be it lift, AC, plumbing, buzzing lights - if you cant get a good night sleep there is a serious problem

on the priority check-out question from the OP, why don't you just do express check-out and drop your key in the slot (or even just leave it in the room).

OP is talking about getting a key, not giving it back.

 

[Blinky]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

Non-steam irons. Cheapskates.
Having to wait for your 3pm check-in while watching countless customers check-in earlier. (This doesn't happen at my usual business hotels, but I'm convinced that if you're not known to the hotel, they make you wait as a matter of principal).

Not so bad really.

 

[Austman]

Re: Pet hates in hotels

When you check-in, and there are two of you, they put two door key cards into one the one key card wallet.

Just about all hotels to this.

If the hotel thinks the key card wallet is a useful thing (and I think it is), and if they are giving two key cards... then why (oh why) shouldn't each guest get their own key card wallet?

I have to constantly ask for another wallet please...