mishmash - 05/05/2008 14:46 GMT
1) Unresponsive TV remotes
2) Getting to your room to find the key card doesn't work
3) Posh hotels not providing ironing boards and tea and coffee facilities
as standard
4) Dodgy wifi internet reception, and no cable provided for wired connection
5) Pillows that look plump and enormous, but are in fact as flat as pancakes when you put your head on them
6) Duvet covers tucked in to the bed - how am i meant to get in?!
7) Multitudes of lights on in the room when i arrive, and even worse... the TV on!
8) Minibars that charge just for taking the product out of its holder - big brother is watching you.
9) Double beds that are really two singles pushed together.
10) Bathroom soaps that dry your skin to within a layer of its life.
Hey you missed the most annoying thing...
Low wattage lights(s) at the desk. Hard to work when its so dim!
The wattage of the light in the warbrobe is frequently higher than the light on the desk.
Solution - work in the wardrobe!
LynnWood - 07/05/2008 16:16 GMT
and beds made up with sheets and blankets so that they finish just under your armpits - and are so tighly tucked in at the bottom it's a major bed remake!
MrDobba - 08/05/2008 13:33 GMT
Rooms that so obvioulsy havent been cleaned.
Pathetic showers that you have to run around to get wet.
Refurbished rooms where they have painted round the existing fittings.
FlyinJK - 11/05/2008 14:51 GMT
In addition to the above...
1) Hotels that ONLY offer an iron/ironing board, and won't press shirts for you
2) The recent fad of remote controls no longer having sleep timer on them
3) Finding out that the Pay-TV is not actually available/working [in countries where news channels are the only English option!]
4) Being made to wait at check-out in some hotels, while someone secretly runs to your room to check the mini-bar, and see if you stole any hangers. Ridiculous! Especially for Platinum guests!
5) Flimsy walls, so you can hear your neighbours alarm clock at stupid times...
6) Finding hairs in your room/bathroom... which aren't yours!
7) Windows that won't open. After 10 hours on an overly air-conditioned flight, the last thing I want to do is blast the AC in my room.
8) Lack of options or flexibility on room-service menu... I'm vegetarian!
9) Rooms which have an un-removable smell of smoke, even though you booked non-smoking
10) Being charged extra for double occupancy. Why? It's the same bed, it doesn't cost the hotel any more!
jimfanatic - 14/05/2008 21:42 GMT
Rooms next to lifts that make that "bing bong" sound every time they open - ALL NIGHT!
And on the subject of hotel lifts - why are they always at the other end of the building whenever you call them?
bombayteddy - 17/05/2008 10:39 GMT
Bathtubs that are SO high you need to be an acrobat to hoist yourself in/out (Case in point: Gyand Hyatt Cairo). And nothing to hold onto while you're doing that. Especially annoying when the ONLY shower available is over the tub!
Only 2 bottles of mineral water provided. This is INEXCUSABLE in a 5-star hotel in a tropical country, at the prices they charge. C'mon, how much does a couple of extra bottles actually cost the hotel, if the guest requests it? Though of course, the amount one is asked to PAY for extra water is usually extortionist. But then, they have to make money SOMEWHERE dont they?!
travelwell - 21/01/2010 20:34 GMT
one to add: those stupid floor lights that are left on at night near your feet under the bedside table, complete waste of time and very annoying fumbling around the room trying to figure out how to turn them off.
Binman62 - 21/01/2010 20:53 GMT
My gripe is rip off WIFI charges in rooms. It does not matter if you are in a holiday inn express or a Conrad or the Intercontinental, they all seem to believe that £10 a day is reasonable. When will they learn
watersz - 21/01/2010 21:06 GMT
krap gyms and swimmingpools. So small you cant swing a cat and 2 people there is a crowd.
Giving the breakfast lady a dollar tip every morning for pouring my coffee when I've just had to fetch everything else from the buffet my self. (stateside)
A Bell boy appearing from nowhere to carry my case the last 50M to my room when I've had to carry it 3000+ km
welcome letters on my bed promising to move the earth to make my stay a success
Then asking them for help to be told we dont offer that service
Nice posts over here . The quality of in formations are very well done . If cleanliness is very important to you, choose your hotel wisely. Large national chains with good reputations want to keep them. Complaints about dirty properties spread quickly and good hotels know this, so they do everything they can to make sure their housekeeping departments do a good job. Also know that a smaller property may be cleaner than a large one. The more rooms a housekeeper has to turn over, the more likely he is to cut corners.
Camiguin Island l Camiguin Hotels
steve11 - 04/04/2011 19:30 GMT
I recently stayed in a hotel and when I sat or laid on the bed, I could here the plastic
mattress cover crackling every time I moved. I understand that hotels are worried about bed bugs but that was super annoying.
conair346 - 04/04/2011 20:12 GMT
One thing I love is that the CP I've worked in since it opened in 2008 as a brand new 4* property had 228 LG TV's installed in the rooms - with no HD content, and worse no HDMI cabling anywhere. Its not even easily upgradable.
The same owners are building a HIX hotel right next to mine and we'll wait and see if they embrace the future.
When staying away, I've found mostly the same issues like TV remotes, Internet and pillows. On pillows, I stayed at the Hesperia Tower, BCN last summer and it took them 3 hours to deliver more pillows. They had to phone the room at 1am to get me to answer the door. I was less impressed by being woken, than the failure to deliver. Oh and they forgot the bath salts I ordered.
I love staying in Holiday Inns and seeing the old school Philips TV/internet systems with keyboards and how the hotels still intend to charge for their use. Its usually those remotes that dont work either. Two different rooms at HIX GVA Airport a week apart had the same issues with the remotes.
One I havent seen yet is the seeming lack of consistency across brands. Especially with the basics, as mentioned - bed sheets being tucked in so its like an origami puzzle to get into. Some offer a decent range of tea/coffee etc in room, while others its only one tea and one coffee and no hot chocolate. Infact some HIX's are nicer in the rooms than HI.
I am certain that people who design hotel bedrooms never actually sleep in them!
1 - Flatscreen TV's (mainly Samsung) with an annoying bright blue light on the fron t that cannot be switched off.
2 - Bedside light switches on one side of the bed only.
3 - Numerous light switches that mean you have to get back out of bed to turn them off.
4 - Impossible heating / cooling-controls, I mean, how hard can it be??
5 - Showers that run hot then cold, then hot, then cold etc
6 - The coffee provided, even in 4-5 star hotels is instant, why cant they simply provide ground coffee & a French press?
7 - (this is a common one) - Dirty glasses in the bathroom, where someone had had their toothbrush in there & the cleaner has simply rinsed the glass.
8 - When there is just ONE tissue left in the tissue box
conair346 - 04/04/2011 21:41 GMT
I hear what you're saying ST.
I agree about the designers. The bar in my CP is so operationally flawed (fridges opposite each other, half wide door in back room, wine fridge outside of the bar) but looks nice. The designer came in a short while after we opened and she admitted she messed up.
On the tv issue, its moderately old ~4/5 year old Samsungs with that blue light and its in the settings menu. I used to have one; you can set it to on when the tv is on, on when the tv is off or off all the time.
Light switches are so infuriating, theres no need for 5 zones of lighting, unless you're in a banquet hall. Not a bedroom for sleeping and maybe so work!
Providing real/ground coffee wouldn't work, there would be so many complaints about the grinds not being fresh, and it would be so messy. Its bad enough operating an espresso machine as a barista and getting the grinds everywhere nevermind some guests who belong in travelodges/premier inns trying to figure out a cafetire.
LindsayW - 05/04/2011 03:09 GMT
Oh, how we can all relate to most of these issues :-)
Time to go and replace my cuppa, which I just spilt on my laptop.
Dobson73 - 08/02/2012 09:57 GMT
@Conair and st, The Handlery in SFO provides (or used to) coffee machines in it's rooms. Such a nice touch and much, much better than Nescafe Blend 43!
My biggest gripes:
Air con that can't go lower then full blast so you either freeze or sweat. Coupled with un-openable windows.
A gap under the door so you hear all the foot traffic and trolleys up and down the corridor all night.
Doors that rattle (yes, I'm looking at you, Grand Hyatt, Melbourne)
Hearing someone do their ablutions in adjoining rooms (or rooms on the floor above. Again, @Grand Hyatt, Melbourne, the finger is pointed at you!)
Pillows so hard you have a headache before you can even fall asleep.
And most of the above from others! :)
1. doors that slam shut and echo along the whole floor
2. hotels who reduce or play with internet bandwidth in order to reduce skype quality to encourage use of hotel phone at ridiculous costs
3. sports channels being blocked (in rooms) to encourage you to see the event on the hotel bar with accompanying costs
4. Food trays being left outside rooms overnight resulting in a feast for the flies (Sheraton JFK)
BeckyBoop - 08/02/2012 10:39 GMT
Charging for WIFI especially five star hotels its a disgrace!
The Spa's pool crowded full of children (they should have a sperate one)
Lack of english tv channels when abroad.
Lack of availability when making dinner or spa reservations after you have checked in
Charging for WATER!!!!
Being able to here people chatting and running in the corridor at night!
Rooms not sound proofed so you can hear the tv in and people arguing in the next room.
To make it worse if you stay in five star places the manager gives a welcome note offering you the world to make your stay enjoyable and you raise anything new or the points above and they give you excuses...not on.
x
Not having free wifi annoys me as well. Even more when I'm told the internet is free on booking, only to find it's free with a cable but wifi is charged. It's not possible to run an iPad through a cable!
Not being able to book dinner is also very annoying, though in fairness some hotels have 2/3 star restaurants which tend to be booked well in advance by non-guests who are probably staying in cheaper establishments in order to afford said meal! Doesn't change the frustration though.
My biggest pet hate is not having a plug next to the bed where I can charge my phone etc.
