Patrick

"Hangers that can be taken off the pole". Oh yes, how could I miss that one? Anyone who installs those awful things that won't come off should be shot!!!

sheila

My second bid:-

bedside lamps at BOTH sides of the bed with independent switches.

And a question, please? Why two sinks? Do people really use both at once?

Patrick

Good one, sheila. As an interior designer I've often asked that myself. Especially silly when they take most of the limited counterspace to put the two sinks in. And the funniest of all, when the two sinks are on the two sides of a corner. There is no way to use both at once -- both people would have to stand in the same spot.

LynnP

Iron and ironing board, two extra pillows (to allow two per person), bottled water, and some way of posting preferences to the maid service. I like to have two towels for me, my husband only uses one towel. Whenever I am staying in a hotel where I can reasonably expect extra services and I can be bothered for asking for another towel to be put in the room, housekeeping brings one up straight away but when the room is cleaned the next day usually our three towels are replaced with the standard two. I ring houskeeping, they bring an extra up straight away, when the room is cleaned the next day.........

A nice touch in some hotels in Australia is a bowl of fresh fruit by the lifts on each floor, you take a piece whenever you want. I also like mints in a bowl on the front desk. Current, local, magazines in the room are fun. They don't have to be Vanity Fair type quality (although that is nice). I like the hotels that have novels, biographies and guide books to borrow from reception. Some hotels I have stayed in have a Video/DVD player and movies available to hire as well as game machines. Great when you have children with you. A trouser press is useful. One cheapish hotel in the States had a dirty clothes basket affair in the bathroom that was a large plastic bag on a frame. It wasn't for you to put laundry in to be done by the hotel, it was just to put your dirty clothes in and when you left you could just grab the plastic bag, scrunch it up and put in the your luggage. I loved it.

None of these things are particularly expensive so would put up room rates but all are nice.

I would like to add my voice to the hoards that are crying out for removable coat hangers please!

Shanna

Hi, Andrea - you're dreaming big!! One of my favorite touches in a Paris hotel was the little pile of doggie-doo under the chair. Seriously, I've had a couple of baths with huge tubs - where you can stretch all the way out and soak completely under water up to your neck. What a delight after a rough day hoofing it up and down cobblestone streets. Keep dreaming!

Tries2PakLite

* An iron and ironing board are such a blessing if you are an ironing nut like me. We had both in our rental on the Amalfi Coast last year. It was great and worth any extra cost for the electricity. Rick Steves may like wrinkled chinos, but not me. [-(
* Heated towel bars and heated bathroom floors (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
* Extra pillows (especially down ones)
* A safe (might not be a special touch, but nice just the same)
* A hairdrier that will actually dry your hair!

Sue_xx_yy

I'll second Brimham Rocks. If you can achieve what the more successful chains do on a smaller more intimate scale, you're more than halfway there. I have been in small hotels that sought to cover their sow's ear with various silk purses.

I must confess, I could care less about things I could easily provide for myself if so desired, from magazines to candy to flowers. What I would look for would be what I can't provide - soundproofing, or at the very least wireless headsets for the TV (or more to the point, my neighbour's TV.) And for very high standards of the basics offered in a lower starred hotel.

Sorry, I know that must sound terribly unromantic, but it is truthfully what I'd be willing to pay for. Good luck with your dream.

StCirq

I'm a rather Spartan traveler when it comes to hotels. If the mattress is comfortable and the room is quiet, I'm pretty happy. I don't need chocolates or big, fluggy bathrobes (though I'll use 'em with glee if you provide 'em), but I do want a telephone that I can use to call overseas without some huge hassle or massive extra charge; internet access, whether it be in the lobby or in the room; a minibar - not so I can raid it but so I can put my own purchases in it to keep cool; someone at the reception desk who can intelligently gather my messages and deliver them to me promptly - and tell me when I enter the hotel that I have them; nice hotel management who are willing to hang out in the lobby on a quiet night and schmooze and get to know their guests; willingness to deliver extra pillows or blankets; and a minimal willingness on the part of the person at the front desk to check out what's happening in the city right now that might interest me. Oh, and willingness to call a cab to the airport for arly in the morning.

k_marie

Many of my suggestions have already been mentioned but I'll note some special touches I have liked--
fresh flowers in the public spaces;
a basket of fruit in the room with a welcome note;
space in the mini-bar refrigerator for my own local puchases;
'triple-sheeted' beds with quality linens;
an extension mirror in the bathroom with a magnifiying mirror on one side.

Those survival flash cards are an terrific idea for the traveler with limited language skills.

In China, I would expect bottled water. (I've never been to Shanghai, though; do tourists find the tap water potable?)

I'm curious, too, Andrea, about the house itself. As a building in the former French concession, what is the architecture style? Could you describe it for us?

Keep us informed on the progress of your dream boutique hotel, Andrea!

artlover

Lots of great suggestions here. Just a few I don't think have been mentioned--
Towel warmers--how I love these! Even got one for home after staying at Hotel Pigonet in Aix)
Free internet access in a space in the lobby (like Marriott Marbella)
a "book corner" where people can "book swap" on vacation (many have had this)

Tell us when you're opening! Good luck!

elina

I leave the "hard" stuff out, since I don't really care if there is a lift or not. Or is the bed twin or double. I enjoy small hotels, historic ones with a story. Yours could be one of them. Some little touches have stayed in my mind:
- You can choose your pillow, or even the matress. It was called "pillow boutique".
- coffee maker and freshly ground coffee in the room.
- flowers (real) in the room. Or like always in Thailand, an orchid placed on your pillow in the evening.
- books about the town and country (with pictures). OK, that is what you are planning to have.
- a living room with a fireplace for guests
- and one thing I liked (but many here would propably hate), was cats and dogs in this one tiny, sweet Spanish place. It was great to lie on the living room sofa (just like at home), and read a book, while a cat was purring on my stomach.

Angela

In a hotel that my parents recently stayed in they were asked, when they arrived, if they were celebrating a special occasion. They informed them that they were celebrating their wedding anniversary. On the evening of their anniversary they returned to the room to find a litte cake, iced with the words 'Happy Anniversary'. What a nice touch!

I stayed in a hotel recently, and when we first entered the room, it was written on the television screen 'Welcome Mr and Mrs......'. I quite liked that (probably more so because we are recently married and the Mr and Mrs thing still gives me a little thrill!)

Angela

aquaman

Mine is probably a lame suggestion, but one of the many things I like about the Delano in Miami Beach was a simple easel in the hallway right at the elevators on each floor. It held an oversized pad of paper on which the hotel staff detailed the day's weather report. Much better than turning on the local news or radio only to wait twenty minutes for the weather forecast (and this could be especially helpful to non-Chinese speakers in Shanghai).

k_marie

Don't remember the hotel, but they had the day's weather forecast as a print-out from a web-page, in a simple lucite frame on the front desk.

ncgrrl

A sink outside of the bathroom. If your sweetie is in the bathroom and you need to wash your hands or washoff some of the free fruit, an extra sink (or a wetbar) would be nice.

soundproofing between rooms/hallways and doors you can't slam.

Maybe have a car service or contract with a car service where the drivers know some foreign languages. The flash card idea is GREAT, but often times the passengers have strange questions where there won't be a flashcard.

cigalechanta

Fresh flowers, clean, charming, a warm helpful staff, and hopefully affordable

artlover

Another to add which we had on our recent trip to Spain...

chilled bottle of Spanish champagne waiting for us!!!

Nice!

klondike

-Fresh flowers each day with the change of linens

-heated towel racks and plush bathrobe

-chocolate chip cookes (DH fave) still warm from the oven delivered every night to the room

-when the room has a jaccuzi, having a separate shower/bath area too.

-a hotel which not only put the weather report poolside at the breakfast buffet, but a list of countries the day's guests were from. It was fun to guess who was who over coffee.

Shadow

Here's my main request: Please ask me what time would be best to clean my room? Please don't come knocking to clean my room at 9:00am or earlier. If I was asked I'd almost always say 2:00pm
or around that time. I am not a "morning person" and do not like being rushed-at all.

hanl

I had to laugh at Christina's comment "I wish hotels would stop coming into your room in late afternoon to put candy on the pillow, etc., I really dislike that."
On holiday in South Africa last year, we were staying in a safari tent at a game lodge, and the maid would come in every afternoon to place a chocolate on the pillow. When we returned to tent in the evening there was a procession of ants marching over my pillow and into the tiny hole they'd drilled in the chocolate wrapper. Lovely!

Another time the chocolate slipped off the pillow and I didn't notice it, until I woke up the next morning with chocolate all smushed into my hair!! Yum.

At a hotel in New York recently, staff left little, prettily tied bags of home-made cookies in our room a couple of times. That was a nice touch.

I also love hotels that have a book exchange. Often it's only the backpacker hostels that do this but I think it's a great idea. It's nice to sit down in the lobby or lounge and pick out a book, knowing that if you're interested you can take it with you. Of course you should leave behind a paperback of your own.