sc

  • Search

Your Hotel Pet Peeves

1 to 28 of 28

  1.  
  1.  

    This will undoubtedly sound like an odd request, however our hotel (sorry, not telling) is constantly doing research into the types of things that usually drive guests up a wall.

    Like many top hotels, we pride ourselves in going the extra mile to anticipate every need and wish of our guests. And we never tire of finding new ways to impress those who stay with us.

    So, we are looking for very general suggestions or improvements that you feel all hotels need to work on—even the very best five star hotels of the world.

    In short, what are some things that you would do differently if you ran a hotel of your own?

    Here are a few examples

    • A longtime guest let it be known that he had been inconvenienced when he returned to his suite, after breakfast, to find that housekeeping had just begun cleaning it. Realizing that many guests prefer to not have to wait to get back into their rooms, we now offer guests a simple card they can fill out in advance to inform housekeeping of the exact time they'd like their room cleaned or to have turndown service. (Of course, guests can always call and tell us their wishes as well.)
    • A guest complained that the bathroom lights were too bright when she turned them on in the middle of the night. Soon thereafter we replaced the main light switch in every bathroom with a dimmer switch so that guests could set the lights to the level of brightness that suits them best.

    We've also heard that some guests have small rituals that they like to do to customize their rooms no matter what hotel they stay in.

    For instance,

    • One guest told us that in almost every hotel he stays in he usually jams a bathroom towl under the gap under the door to his room to ensure that noise from the hall does not wake him up. Since then, we have installed draft-stoppers under every door.

    As you can see, we don't care how mundane or trivial the suggestion might seem. We want to find out what pet peeves people have with hotels and what they would do differently if given the opportunity.

    We often query our guests on this subject, but we'd like to open it up as a discussion here on this forum to reach a much broader audience of seasoned travelers. Your suggestions and ideas are sincerely appreciated. Thank You.

  2.  

    I have one: When I'm travelling alone, I don't like to get up from whatever I am doing (usually writing on my laptop or reading) to open the door of my room. I like to be able to call 'come in' when the staff knock. The problem is that good hotel rooms are well-soundproofed and the waiter or whoever doesn't always hear me. I would prefer it if one's preference for always allowing the staff to enter the room after knocking but without waiting for an answer, be known. My most regular hotel - the Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong - is aware of it but it's not easy to inform others of one's preference in a way that reaches all who might come to the room. Maybe a special green light next to the door bell?

    Thanks from: hotelier
  3.  

    Because I pay for five star service, there are certain things that I expect at the hotels where I stay. It is extremely disappointing, therefore, when that expectation is not met. My pet peeves are not unusual. Two immediately come to mind:

    Personal greetings, by name, (pronounced correctly) when approaching a staff member goes a long way. I have visited hotels with 500 rooms that can manage this, and hotels with 185 rooms who cannot manage it.

    While the quality of toiletry products provided is important, more thought into what is provided would be a tremendous improvement. A portable razor, makeup remover, cotton swabs and dental floss, would be more useful in the 21st century than the shower cap.

    Thanks from: Herry Lawford, hotelier, love2travel
  4.  

    I completely agree with MMMT about a personal greeting. It's the most essential 'service' of all. I avoid travelling BA even though I'm a gold card holder of many years standing largely because they can only manage to address me with the impersonal and often supercilious 'sir' - rather like a traffic policeman would. On the other hand Cathay Pacific manage to call me by my name every time. I know that this is an airline 'peeve' and not an hotel one, but the point is exactly the same.

    Thanks from: theNavigator
  5.  

    This one seems like an obvious one to me, but how about a hamper in the room?

    Nearly every hotel room I've ever been in offers no place for one to put their dirty laundy. After a day or two, my dirty laundy ends up strewn over chairs and across the room like someone ransacked through all my things. I feel awful that the maid has to make due cleaning around dirty socks and other items.

    A simple basket with a lid will do. Or even a durable cloth bag would be better than nothing. Those plastic bags you always find hanging in the closet are too small, too flimsy, and the plastic is wasteful.

    Also, offering free laundry service or access to laundy machines would be great. The Four Seasons Hualalai offers this and it allows one to pack half as much as they would normally pack for a trip.

    Some safari lodges we were at in Africa do non-ironable laundy items for no extra charge and wrap it up like a gift and leave it in your room the following day. It's a nice extra touch.

    Thanks from: hotelier
  6.  

    I am still surprised when some hotels put chocolates on the pillow at turndown. Not being a chocaholic (yes - it's a character defect!) I would have thought a small basket of chocolates in the room would appeal (and be more impressive) to more guests than a poor small square on a pillow!

    Thanks from: hotelier
  7.  

    Staff that speak the language of the country that they're working in to at least a conversational level; windows that open even just a slither so I can let in fresh air rather than recycled dirty air; if I obey the 'throw your towels in the bath to get them washed, hang them up if not' then DO NOT just wash them anyway; FREE bottles of water; FREE Internet access; an iron and ironing board in my room so I don't get ripped off having to pay for a laundry service I don't really need; a DVD library of classic films so that I don't have to rely on the new releases; extra pillows in the wardrobe; the best club sandwich known to man........ I think that's it for now. If you implement even half of these things, then please let me know which hotel you are and I'll definitely come and stay with you.

    Thanks from: hotelier
  8.  

    Complimentary wireless and complimentary water throughout hotel.

    Thanks from: Herry Lawford, hotelier
  9.  

    I went on a vacation to a very highly regarded resort in South America in October and one thing that puzzled me was that sometimes after dinner they would have turndown service and leave chocolates on your pillow and occasionally they would not. They didn't leave them on day 3,4,and 7 of an 8 night stay. I guess my pet peeve was the inconsistency. Either have it one way or the other, because inevitably those were the days when I wanted the chocolate!

    Thanks from: hotelier
  10.  

    You already know my thoughts on tipping at five-star hotels. I hate it because I never know how much to tip and I'm constantly worrying that I'm forgetting someone. So, no tipping would be good.

    Blackberry Farm in Tennessee does this, as do many other places. The all inclusive rate replaces the need for tipping. Employees may only accept tips on the third attempt to give them a tip. I like that.

    Thanks from: Herry Lawford, hotelier
  11.  

    I completely agree with Marcie. Travelling a lot in Japan is a delight for lots of reasons, but not having to tip anyone, at any time, is one. In other hotels, I only tip bellboys who deal with my luggage and give a glacial stare to anyone else who loooks as though he has his hand out.....

  12.  

    I don't know how necessary it is, but Japanese hotels provide - without fail - a cotton sleeping kimono (ie pajama or nightshirt) and a toothbrush and toothpaste. The thing I deplore most is poor-quality body lotion. Many hotels - Japan included - provide non-absorbet 'gunk'. The best is Ferragamo, followed by Bulgari. Don't stint on these touches, or you risk being seen as too parochial - ie not travelling enough to see what the competition is doing.

    Thanks from: hotelier
  13.  

    A night light that I can plug in at my leisure it would fantastic. I can't tell you how many times I've banged by knee in the middle of the night trying to find my way around an unfamiliar hotel room.

    Also, the ability to check in and check out whenever you want. The Peninsula Beverly Hills does this and it's a real pleasure.

    Thanks from: theNavigator
  14.  

    A bathroom that's too small can bring down the experience of a hotel.

    Bathroom counters should be spacious, or have plenty of storage shelves. Double-sinks are a must!

    Also a tub that's big enough for two is a good investment. At the very least, I'm usually pretty disappointed if you climb into a tub and you can't fully stretch out and get the water to come up to your chin. You end up freezing cold.

  15.  

    -Make sure the TV/entertainment system is easy to use. The more expensive the hotel, the harder they are to work out. I have had to call reception many times for someone to come up and explain it to me. Normally it is just 2 buttons and I look like an stupid asshole. The Metropolitan Hotel in London has a confusing system.
    -Get rid of hotel 'Welcome' channels - always naff.
    -Bedrooms and bathrooms should ALWAYS have dimmer switches.
    -I hate the waste of hotels - when I stay somewhere for one night, I only use the bar of soap a few times or a third of the body wash bottle. I can only assume that the leftovers are thrown away. Is this responsible in this day?
    -Why is wireless internet free in some places and charged at a high rate elsewhere? It should ALWAYS be free.
    -And yes, purified water should be free, if not bottled.
    -What do hotels recycle?
    -Lots of pillows please but get rid of those decorative ones that you end up throwing on the floor.
    -iPod docking station is a must.
    -I normally travel with about 4-5 days worth of clean clothes. A free laundry service should be offered for anyone staying more than 4 consecutive nights.

    Oh, and a free night of accommodation at your hotel for the advice :-)

  16.  

    I can understand if this sounds insignificant to most people, but it really bugs me when you check into your favorite hotel and they ask you, "is this your first time staying with us?"

    A good hotel ought to know how many times you've stayed there, particularly since everything is done by computers these days. Just once, I'd like to arrive somewhere I've already been before and have them say, "It's so nice to see you again, welcome back. etc. etc."

  17.  

    I should be able to turn on/off every light in the room without getting out of bed.

    Complimentary wireless, as mentioned several times above, is a must. As is complimentary bottled water.

    The soaking tubs at the Hotel Rivington in New York are fantastic; more hotels should feature such things.

    The armchairs in most hotel rooms are awful. Too soft for getting work done and too uncomfortable for relaxing. Chaise lounges - such as the beautiful red ones in the James Hotel in Chicago - are a much more flexible piece of furniture.

    Room service should not slow down (or, worse yet, stop entirely) in the wee hours. If I'm ordering espressos at 3 am, it's because their presence is urgently required.

    The most important thing of all, though, is having a skilled concierge. Hotel concierges have gotten me onto flights when no one else could, arranged sailing expeditions (including purchasing necessary gear and delivering it to my door) and made last-minute reservations at restaurants that were impossible to book otherwise. And I've never forgotten it.

  18.  

    Oh this is such a doozie, love it ~ my inner critic coming out!
    Comfortable beds that haven't too much of the 'a man's been sleeping on this side too many times' dip where you feel like you might roll off. I stayed at a beautiful lakeside resort where I was paying big dollars a night and my partner and I started to think about turning the mattress over, yeh! Then I realised, oh yeah take it to a higher place, did so, came back after spa treatment to be told the bed had been turned (they couldn't get a mattress in that quickly as we were leaving in 2 days) great as it made the sleeping so much better and left us champagne, fruit and chockies (I am a chocoholic!) and a very nice note apologising, nothing surly and we were asked how things were the next day.
    Care, consideration, warmth go a long way in my books.
    Better lights in the bathroom for us girls who like to put makeup on, most make you look like Dracula's Bride.
    Nice quality bath goodies.
    Free internet (wireless is great too).
    I love the idea I saw where a hotel in ???Japan, can't remember has an internal service thingy (can't think of what its called) where all your papers, meals, messages etc come to you instead of at your door. Don't have to deal with people if you don't want to and there's an intimacy about it. Some people might like the fact they don't have to tip.
    That's a start, I'm off to my bath!

    Thanks from: Herry Lawford
  19.  

    Hate dirty windows, and windows that don't open. Also, I always wonder what has transpired on those brocade bed covers that never get washed--how about duvet covers that are changed after each guest? LOVE complimentary shoe shine!

  20.  

    I can't stand it when I come into my hotel room and housekeeping has turned the radio on. If it's soft classical music then it can be fine. But usually it's a jarring way to walk into a room.

    As many others have noted, there should always be wireless everywhere in the hotel, and it should always be free.

    I find it spooky when people at the hotel know my name, and would prefer a more discreet form of address unless they actually do know me.

  21.  

    First of all - Kudos for using this board as a way to improve the hospitality industry! Having said that, here are my peeves:

    1. Limited late-night in-room dining options. Why can't the menu be just a bit more extensive for those late-night food cravings?
    2. No slippers in the rooms. Even worse, no slippers even upon request!
    3. Beds that are TOO soft. Pillows that are too fluffy or too stiff.
    4. Poor water pressure, especially to the showers. Even worse, running out of hot water!
    5. Small health/fitness centers.

    Praise be to hoteliers who provide:
    1. Easy to use in-room safes. Emphasize: Easy to use.
    2. EARLY (6AM) breakfast buffets. Isreali breakfast buffets are amazing in this respect.
    3. Electrical outlet adaptors (camera batteries need love, too.)
    4. Concierges with lots of local contacts, for impromptu outings and day-trips.
    5. Safe drinking water (doesn't have to be bottled water - a proper filter over a faucet would be fine for us).
    6. High-speed internet in the business center, just in case we want to check email (Lord knows why) while on vacation.
    7. Prompt, able housekeeping and facilities maintenance at all hours of the day (and especially night!).
    8. A "local touch" in our turndown service at night (example: Our resort in the Australian outback offered us a short Aboriginal poem each night on our pillows - what a delight!).

  22.  

    Let's see....the aforementioned free wireless and bottled or purified drinking water would be excellent.

    Also - good lighting in bathrooms for applying makeup and such - nice and bright with a mirror that you can get fairly close to; also, an outlet for a curling iron/straightener/curlers/other electric hair tools (or razors, now that I think of it) would be great. Seems obvious, but many hotels don't have one.

    A quick and easy place to grab a cup of (free) coffee or tea in the morning would be great too - not everyone wants a full breakfast.

    Like Chloe up-thread, I tend to find it spooky when people know my name at the bigger hotels. At a smaller boutique hotel or bed and breakfast, I expect it, but at a large hotel it tends to freak me out a bit (but I might be the odd one out here).

  23.  

    Hotels that charge you for (local) phone calls. With the advent of VOIP (internet) telephones it's insulting that any worthy hotel charges for phone calls at all-- let alone the outrageous fees. It comes off as stingy. It's as if we as guests find a telephone as marvelous luxury in a hotel room and we must pay handsomely to enjoy such wonderful conveniences. I can only guess that these charges must be a leftover from the days when many people didn't have telephones.

    If I'm staying in a five star hotel, the calls should be free. They should give off the impression that it's nothing to them and just fold it into the cost of the room. I would imagine that VOIP phone service should help reduce the cost of this to nearly nothing.

  24.  

    Just ran into another pet peeve on a recent trip. I prefer to have a proper dresser to store folded clothing. Extra large drawers are a welcome feature. A closet alone isn't adequate for storing all articles of clothing.

  25.  

    I'm so late to the game, but in case you're still reading: I agree 200% that daily or weekly charges for internet are ludicrous. As is a lack of WiFi. It's far too easy to implement these days and charging guests is nickel-and-diming. When we stayed at The Ritz in Jamaica, it was ~$40 for the week. Stupid for any hotel, especially a luxury one, to do this.

    Thanks from: DonPablo
  26.  

    Leian - add me to the list of people who completely agree with you.

    We spent almost all of this month in Europe and, since we were already bringing a good deal of luggage with us, in an effort to reduce the amount of things that we were carrying, I elected NOT to bring my laptop PC with me. Instead, I decided to rely on using the PCs at the business centers in the hotels we were staying in. When we were in Paris, we stayed at Le Meurice (a five-star hotel, where we were paying over a thousand dollars a night for our room) and I needed to check on some e-mail messages. I was absolutely shocked when they told me that the charge would be 20 Euros (about 31 dollars at current currency conversion rates) for a half hour of internet time. I reluctantly agreed and sat down at their PC and went through my e-mails. We had a wonderful time at Le Meurice. However, that one incident with the internet charge really bothered me.

    In sharp contrast, just last week, we were staying at the Lapa Palace Hotel in Lisbon (also a five-star hotel). When I inquired about what the cost would be for getting on the internet by using one of the PCs in their business center, they told me that there was no charge at all. (It was one of many complimentary services that the Lapa Palace provided for their guests.) Now, that's the way it should be!

    Anyhow, at 20 Euros for 30 minutes of internet time, it turns out that Le Meurice was charging me about one dollar a minute. That's outrageous! If it were up to me, I'd deduct a star from their rating just for their audacity!

  27.  

    You might not have noticed, but there's already been a whole discussion on how luxury hotels charge too much for Internet access. You're not the only ones who have noticed this phenomenon!

    The worst part of it is that budget-friendly hotels offer Internet for free. It's absolutely shameful to charge guests for Internet — especially when the cost of the room is already so high.

  28.  

    Maybe it's just asking too much, but how 'bout some decent artwork? I am constantly amazed at the high-priced resorts and 4 and 5 star hotels that have artwork that looks like it came from a gas station. That's why I often prefer to stay at historic inns and non-chain hotels, they seem to do a better job of the decor...

1 to 28 of 28

  1.  

Add your comments

  • Formatting Tips
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page
 
tr