Simple things that make a hotel great

[bPeteb]

One recurring theme on this thread as been free, or cheap wifi...obviously Hotels haven't done this yet because they know something..
Would you change your choice of hotel just for the wifi??

When we use booking engines it's one of the things we select.

When we travelled through Japan last year free wifi was pretty much non-existant (in rooms) but free wired was available in every hotel we stayed - 3 star business to five star luxe. We always travel with a netbook so we just connected it with he provided LAN cable and then if we wanted to use our phones fired up Connectify and we had free in-room wireless.

If just about every hotel in Thailand can offer free wifi why can't we do it here? Sadly it's the typical fleece 'em for everything we can attitude too many businesses in Oz operate under.

 

[mannej]

Perhaps the excuse of higher cost rearing it's head again in regards to cost of wifi and internet

 

[JessicaTam]

One recurring theme on this thread as been free, or cheap wifi...obviously Hotels haven't done this yet because they know something..
Would you change your choice of hotel just for the wifi??

I buy a $3 coffee at S$#@bucks and get free Wi-Fi for as long as I like.

I now choose hotels with free Wi-Fi. I am voting with my wallet.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Perhaps the excuse of higher cost rearing it's head again in regards to cost of wifi and internet

It wouldn't be higher cost, it would be losing that source of revenue, which would be decent enough, one would think....

 

[medhead]

I buy a $3 coffee at S$#@bucks and get free Wi-Fi for as long as I like.

I now choose hotels with free Wi-Fi. I am voting with my wallet.

What's the deal with the coffee place? Do you have to ask for a code or something? I tried going into a couple of coffee shops in London but could see any obvious wifi networks and left again.


Sent from the Throne

 

[JessicaTam]

What's the deal with the coffee place? Do you have to ask for a code or something? I tried going into a couple of coffee shops in London but could see any obvious wifi networks and left again.


Sent from the Throne

It should appear in your wifi list on your device. You may need a passcode which you ask for or is printed on your receipt. I haven't had any trouble in various cities. I can't explain why you couldn't see a network.

 

[Chicken]

I don't care if the staffs smile at me. They don't know me I don't know them let's be honest. Just be polite, have basic manners, and make sure the place is clean, then give me the bloody key!

The most irritating thing is TV not set up properly. How hard is it to set up the TV and the distribution system (many hotels use proprietary TV & Internet combined system, not standard cable TV / standard ethernet Internet network), so the screen is clear & shows picture at the correct 16:9 ratio? If I can set up the $300 LCD TV at home showing pictures at the correct 16:9 ratio, why am I paying $200 or more per night and getting a twisted picture on TV?

 

[Timsboot]

Last year I published my "Business Traveller Tip: 12 survival tips for staying at a 5 star hotel" on the BOOT blog (cant share the link as not high enough status here but if you google "Business Traveller Tip: 12 survival tips for staying at a 5 star hotel" you'll find it

Three of my biggest tips for getting the most are
- lock the doors to ensure over eager/accidental housekeeping staff do not barge in (happened to me)
- keep you magnetic stripe room key no where near your phone and have a back up one
- unless absolutely essential do not give bags to the bell boy as it will mean you have to sit around your room for 15-20 mins (maybe more) waiting for them to send up your bags

 

[jukebox333]

*snip*- unless absolutely essential do not give bags to the bell boy as it will mean you have to sit around your room for 15-20 mins (maybe more) waiting for them to send up your bags

And worse, then have to tip him - usually when I only have large local notes from ATM or AU Forex....

(If I travel light, and want to carry my bag, why shouldn't I have that choice? It gives me the irrits that some hotel staff think "service" is not giving the guest that choice)

 

[horseman]

And worse, then have to tip him - usually when I only have large local notes from ATM or AU Forex....

(If I travel light, and want to carry my bag, why shouldn't I have that choice? It gives me the irrits that some hotel staff think "service" is not giving the guest that choice)

Couldn't agree more! Some overseas work trips the bell boy would insist on carrying my toolbox to my room for me, all 30 odd kg of it! I don't know how some of those scrawny dudes got it all the way there but as bad as I felt for them I did say many times I would carry it but they insisted all the same.

 

[seanpodge]

One recurring theme on this thread as been free, or cheap wifi...obviously Hotels haven't done this yet because they know something..
Would you change your choice of hotel just for the wifi??

Yes.

No excuses either for any western hotel. If a sub $10 per night joint in China can do internet for free, there's no reason why places charging 1st world prices can't provide first world facilities beyond wanting to gouge their customers.

 

[farawaymum]

One of my pet hates is hotels with a credit charge surcharge - recent experience is that this trend has not reached the US yet.

Otherwise I want complementary wifi for multiple devices, 2 comfortable chairs so both guests in a 2 person room can watch the TV from somewhere other than the bed.Doors that don't slam so everyone on the floor is woken up,decent soundproofing between rooms (and from the corridor).

 

[flyingfan]

One of my pet hates is hotels with a credit charge surcharge - recent experience is that this trend has not reached the US yet.

+1 to this! Yet hotels probably wouldn't like the thought of all their customers paying cash and having to secure all those transactions :evil:

 

[gruntfuttock]

The most irritating thing is TV not set up properly. How hard is it to set up the TV and the distribution system (many hotels use proprietary TV & Internet combined system, not standard cable TV / standard ethernet Internet network), so the screen is clear & shows picture at the correct 16:9 ratio? If I can set up the $300 LCD TV at home showing pictures at the correct 16:9 ratio, why am I paying $200 or more per night and getting a twisted picture on TV?

So imagine my own personal hell...

I refuse to buy Pay TV at home cause nearly every channel I want is at extra charge and I'm just old enough to be an intransigent grumblebum who would rather spend that 'extra' money on a bottle of Lagavullin. So after a l-o-n-g day, I flick on Sky News as a treat to find the 16:9 image has been chopped left & right to fit in a 4:3 window (huh?) then stretched to fit back onto a widescreen TV.

And let's not get started on the channels so badly set up that eveyone has an artificial suntan...

Pretty uniform in Oz, there are only a couple of hotel TV providers and neither the pub nor the provider give a toss... have politely complained at various 3.5-5 star pubs but noy joy.

Oh... and the reason for most trips is because someone felt the need to retain my services out of town - did I mention I design rather complex professional audiovisual systems for a living?

I really must have annoyed the Gods when I was a young boy, they're getting even at every opportunity! :evil:

 

[BjJames]

Simple for me --- apart from cleanliness, security, friendliness [location is own choice] I MUST have free internet -- wired is OK, but much better to have wireless now that most of us have smart phones.

They can provide free internet at 95% of the hotels I stay at in China - including 2-star dumps - and I am amazed at the gouging that occurs in Australia.

Internet access is now such a basic utility and should "be there" just like turning on the light switch or the tap.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I buy a $3 coffee at S$#@bucks and get free Wi-Fi for as long as I like.

I now choose hotels with free Wi-Fi. I am voting with my wallet.

Couldnt agree more JT. I am in the same mood as well.

We are so behind in this country.

I went into an Indian in Perth and they gave me free wifi, I felt iwon the lottery!

 

[ajca]

Pretty much all I ask for is a comfortable bed. As I discovered last week, this is beyond the capabilities of the Hilton Sydney... where a 'king bed' is actually two single beds pushed together with a very uncomfortable and noticeable gap between them.

 

[Pollywaffle]

I've read through all 10 pages and there's really nothing I disagree with.

I like:
- a good mattress. The worst mattress I have ever slept on is at the Melbourne Sofitel. I always wake with a backache. I stayed several times so it's not a one-off either. I've gone elsewhere.
- a clean room.
- temperature control. It boggles the mind that there are still major hotels where you cannot fully control the temp
- a separate shower/bath
- good towel supply
- body wash rather than cakes of soap
- easily accessible power points
- sufficient lobby space to be able to sit down and get yourself in order. This is one of the few places where The Langham in Melbourne fails

I dislike:
- being put in rooms with those locked connecting doors. I automatically feel less safe in the room
- no door stopper or other mechanism that allow the door to be kept open. Due to the narrow entryway, it's difficult trying to wheel in luggage or take outside a room service tray or cart...especially if I am trying to do it quickly because I am in my PJs
- no timer on the tv. Worse is seeing the function on the remote but somehow the hotel has disabled its usage
- credit card surcharges. In general but specifically at hotels. Even the Langham in Melbourne charges it and I do think it lowers the tone
- hard to figure out lighting systems. The Renaissance Blackstone Hotel had the most ridiculous lighting system with several switches and dials that were not at all intuitive
- the high cost of hotel breakfasts. Highway robbery.
- inattentive staff. I don't want fawning, just acknowledgement. Do you really have to be tapping on that keyboard while a line forms at reception waiting to be checked in and out?

 

[bricky64]

the most annoying thing is variable internet service.i mean, its a fixed cost to the hotel, so why are there variable rates, variable speeds etc etc..build it into the cost of the room..and surprise, the hotel can still make a profit! another essential is effective soundproofing..especially in city hotels, from street noises. soundproofing from other rooms, floors and even the corridor is essential!

 

[Barondupon]

I've replied to this post before but this week (I stay at the hotel every Monday and Tuesday nights) I arrived to find a monogrammed pillowcase with my initials on for the pillow that I bought last week. Very nice touch. Today I was taken around the suites to look at options that I may be able to use if the hotel is not at capacity. I also had the room service staff prepare two special meals for me (I am doing the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation). Very happy here at the Adelaide Intercontinental!