Hotel Pet Peeves
 

Do these peeves irk you as much as they do me? <BR> <BR>Fat pillows - I like a thin, flat pillow, yet so many hotels provide 4 or 5 thick ones. Why not 4 or 5 thin ones, then if someone wants a thick pillow they can stack 'em. <BR> <BR>Room clutter - All those annoying little brochures, folding stand-ups, breakfast room service order slips, and all that other stuff. <BR> <BR>Pathetic TV channel selection - Why provide a copy of TV Guide when you only provide 10 or 12 channels. Take the money you spend on TV Guide and subscribe to a good cable line-up for the entire hotel. <BR> <BR>Sheets and blankets tucked in between the mattress and box spring - I don't sleep like that, do you? <BR> <BR>Clustered room assignments - If the hotel is not full, why assign all the rooms together (this goes for restaurants too)? Spread 'em out and give me a chance to sleep without being wakened in the middle of the night by the party next door who wants to watch TV at 3 AM. <BR> <BR>Mr. Marriott, are you listening? <BR> <BR>Anybody else have any good ones?

You're being sarcastic - right? Gosh, but we always have to stack up all the "thin,flat" pillows. And, who cares about the "literature" strewn about? It's certainly not the least bit obstrusive. Would much rather complain when there's no phone book, incling yellow pages in the bible drawer. In our experience, there's 75 channels on the TV, but no channel guide. No problem to "untuck" everything that's tucked in. Surely, the least of our annoyances - such as the stomach churning "air freshener" most spray to suffocation levels! Everyone knows that every hotel does their best to "rotate" rooms. And, if the one to which you are assigned is less than desirable, moving is not usually a problem. You seem like a veteran traveler - what's your point?

&gt;I like a thin, flat pillow, yet so &gt;many hotels provide 4 or 5 thick ones. <BR> <BR>Gee, I like thick pillows. Tell me where r u staying ??? I'll go there. <BR> <BR>&gt;Sheets and blankets tucked in between &gt;the mattress and box spring - I don't &gt;sleep like that, do you? <BR> <BR>Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. <BR> <BR>&gt;Room clutter - All those annoying &gt;little brochures, folding stand-ups, &gt;breakfast room service order slips, &gt;and all that other stuff. <BR> <BR>And if that info wasn't there, you'd probably grouse about no info. Toss it in the drawer if it OFFENDS you so much. <BR> <BR>I think you need to come up with some real, meaty, pet peav

Wouldn't people who like to travel, but can't afford to, love to have such hardships in their hotel room - flat pillows, paper clutter, room service goofs, and on and on ... and wouldn't the homeless be upset in having to deal with undoing the sheet/blanket from their box-spring mattress ...

What a peevish group! But let's get serious: <BR> <BR>Two greatest peeves: <BR> <BR>1. That hotels don't understand that people travelling need the Weather Channel more than just about any other channel. Very few have it. <BR> <BR>2. Above all, the appalling inflation in prices due to (expense-account-subsidized business) travel. It used to be that weekends were more expensive and you could get discounted midweek rates -- when travel was out of leisure funds. Now it's the opposite, which tells you how and why the prices are so outrageous.

The noise of the ice machine at all hours of the night, which always seems to be right next to my room.

1. Returning to my room in the evening and walking past the same dirty breakfast dishes that were there in the morning. <BR> <BR>2. Hotels that block 800 or 888 calls so that you will need to use their phones at inflated prices. <BR> <BR>3. Cheap, crappy clock radios. It wouldn't cost much to provide a decent radio. <BR> <BR>4. Hangers that don't come off the hang rod.

Oooooohhh, yeah. Those hangers drive me crazy. Do they really think I'm going to pay $200 for a hotel room and then steal their hangers? <BR> <BR>Here's another: Maids who yell and screech at each other in the hall. Hey, those doors are thin, and I was out late last night! A little peace, please!

As a woman traveller: <BR>when the front desk announces to all what your room number is when checking in. <BR>

about the pillows and blankets - umm..they're just trying to make the room comfortable and tidy. Would u rather your sheets hang sloppily off hte bed? Speaking of which, how many people sleep on hard/flat pillows? I dont. YOu complaints are so petty...u must be a bitter old man i guess. NOw, the hangers and ice machine pet peeve..that's something to be annoyed at.

How about the lack of a fitted sheet on the bottom? It bugs the heck out of me when the bottom sheet pulls out when you move! It couldn't cost that much more to have fitted sheets, for gosh sakes.

How 'bout when you make your reservation over six months in advance and they can't have the room ready that day by check-in time. <BR>Once, I actually heard a front-desk person tell another weary traveller that they could use the lobby rest room to change clothes, if they wanted to go somewhere for dinner a while.

<BR>Whether just for overnight or a two week stay, there's usually never enough closet space, drawer space, hangers or pillows. And in Europe, never a conveniently placed electrical outlet for my hair curling iron. But I'm still a happy traveler!

Reserving a room at a 5-star Hawaii beach resort (the Ilihani) and finding that the sole pool, pool deck, and ocean access have been rented to a "private party" for the afternoon and evening.

<BR> <BR>1) Hangers...it also drives me crazy trying to get those things to slide back into the slot. <BR> <BR>2) I'd like to be able to check out by clicking the buttons on the T.V. If you've paid with a credit card, why not? I hate standing in line to give them my money. <BR> <BR>:-)

Many of the complaints are either petty or the hotel cannot do anything sbout it. If your room is not available when you check in than it is probably because you were checking in too early or the folks leaving did not check out until late. <BR> <BR>However, I do have one pet peeve. I get very angry when I have hung out the "Do Not Disturb" sign and housekeeping knocks on my door or telephones asking if we want the room made up. It usually results in an irate call by myself or my wife to the manager.

HotelHarry, Isn't a pet peeve by its very nature petty? Sometimes it's the little things that bug you and you just have to vent.

Hey, folks, life is too short. If these things bother you, how are you affected by real problems?

Howard: I'm sure we all DO have larger problems - but that wasn't the question was it? If you don't wish to read other's "pet peeves", then kindly move along to something more to your taste. There are several good "depression" bulletin boards on the Net. Prehaps you would rather monitor one of those. <BR> <BR>My pet peeves? (1)queen sized flat sheets on a king size bed. Waking up each morning laying directly on the mattress is most irksome. (2)requests to housekeeping for king sized sheets that get a response one day and then its back to the queens the next. Should I really have to babysit the bedlinens at a 5 star hotel?

Sorry to revive this old thread, but it struck a nerve. Two peeves: <BR> <BR>1. You usually get little bottles of shampoo and conditioner, but no lotion anymore. What is the deal? Plenty of people use lotion, particularly with all of that dry air-conditioned air. If necessary, kill the conditioner. Does anyone really trust their hair to that conditioner stuff? <BR> <BR>2. Maids who knock once while they are already in the process of barging in, like it's San Quentin or something. Screaming "Just a minute!" as the doorknob turns doesn't work. I guess it sounds just like "Howdy, come right on in!" There are a few maids walking the face of this earth who have seen me naked. Gotta remember to put out that Do Not Disturb sign every single night.

My absolute biggest pet peeve is finding that my non-smoking room is just that - a non-smoking ROOM. The hallways and elevators reek of smoke and I have to walk through clouds of it to get to my room. I now know to make sure the entire FLOOR is non-smoking when booking reservations.

Hi Hate, <BR> <BR>Last week my husband and I stayed at The Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. We are both allergic to smoke - and requested a non-smoking room. Phoned them 3 times prior to make sure our reservation reflected that request. <BR> <BR>Got there very late at nite and they stated that there were no more "non" smoking rooms (in spite of our confirmed reservation!). My husband was very persistent in our wishes - they found us a "room". The room didn't smell, but we did find ash trays in the drawers of the room. Which leads us to know that when it's convenient, we have "smoking" rooms or "non"-smoking rooms in The Paris Hotel. <BR> <BR>All of the rest of the Paris was okay, though. <BR>

I also wish they had fitted bottom sheets - using whatever they have just doesn't cut it. Seems they are always falling off the bed. Also wish they had thicker pillows. We travel lots and I have NEVER seen a thick pillow in a hotel yet. Where do you stay Frank?? I always have to ask for several more pillows just to be comfortable.

Cally: there are some Westins and Four Seasons that have a selection of pillow types. You can contact housekeeping for a variety of types...thick/thin/down/synthetic/hpoallergenic. <BR> <BR>

Thanks Caryn - I will keep that in mind on our upcoming trip. I appreciate the info.

top!

I think one has a right to expect certain things, or at least, we take them for granted. while in Europe, staying at most of the median priced places, one must drop the standard. We were in a hotel in London--was very shabby and dirty, they lost important incoming telephone messages, or denied getting them, no drinking glasses in room, rug filthy, window stuck shut (no air/c for sure), and when we complained we were told that we could certainly stay elsewhere, as their were many who were waiting for a cancelation. so you see, it is all about supply and demand. Seems the demand out strips the supply, and thus, you have very little complaining power.

When the hotel clerks tell you when you check in that your room isn't ready (although you see others getting keys) and to "come back in two hours" and when you DO.....it's still not ready and you have to sit in the lobby another hour. Also non-smoking rooms that clearly had someone smoking in them previously. Only 2 pillows in a room for 2 people. Large mirrors opposite the toliet...who wants to watch themselves THEN? Noise in the room from motors or machine outside in the hall. Not enough sound proofing.....you should be able to hear the man next door to you snore or the babies scream al night. Thin drapes or drapes that don't close fully so I have to wear a face mask to make the room dark as they always have lots of lights on all night outside for security.

And what's that smelly stuff they wash the linens in? Maybe some good-smelling liquid fabric softenfer for the sheets and towels, please? I sprinkle baby powder on my pillow and sheets to try and combat this myself....

Speaking of linens, even a lot of the moderately-priced hotels I've stayed at have comforters that seem to be man-made material, plastic-like. Is it so hard to offer a soft comforter? <BR> <BR>Marlena

I'm with Monica and Cally on this one. <BR>Why or why can't they learn to make a bed? I've been to the best of hotels that use flat sheets for bottom sheet and no mattress pads. The sheet slips and you find yourself on a plastic mattress. I think that is why most hotels have two queen size beds in the room. We always mess up one, sleep in the other and mess that one too.

The coat-hangers are definitely an issue. There is nothing worse than flying cross- country for six hours, having been at the airport an hour early, and having taken an hour to travel to the airport, an additional 45 minutes at the end to collect your luggage and get to your hotel well after the advertised check-in time to be told your room is not ready and available. <BR> <BR>Also - hotels who have restuarants on the premises that don't have information on other local restaurants annoy me!! The restaurant section in the yellow pages is often my first stop in a hotel room. If the area does not have identifiable chains, it is tough to tell where to go to eat, much less how to dress and how much it will cost........

I'm always staying at hotels with the fat pillows and I like thin! So, I bought a down travel pillow which only takes up the space a sweater would in my suitcase. Maybe fat pillow fans could use one to fatten the thins up? My real peeve is maids who want to turn down the bed just as you are dressing to go out to dinner. If you resist them, they punish you by not turning down the bed so no clean towels etc. I also think for two people you should have two "mini bottles" of shampoo and they should be replaced daily. If that's not possible, then don't offer it at all. But, in general, you get what you pay for, just like the airlines......a top quality bargain is hard to come by.

I hate hotels that have the sink and mirror in the same room as the tub and toilet. This really slows us down in getting ready for the day, since I can't do hair/makeup while husband showers! <BR> <BR>I also hate hotels that charge for local phone calls. What a ripoff...

Towels - not enough of them. Why not an extra towel or two ... I don't want to use the same wet towel I just dried myself in to then dry my hair. I am always calling down for extra towels as soon as we check in to a hotel because no matter the price range they never have more then one towel for each person....does no one think that women want a clean towel to dry their hair with??

Well my peeve is when you are told you cannot check in because the rooms are not ready - still being cleaned. Maybe SOME of them are being cleaned but they don't all suddenly become clean at the stroke of three or four or whatever...some must be ready before others and if I've driven two or three hundred miles to get there it's not much to ask to give me a room half an hour early is it?

How about radio alarm clocks that go off at 3 AM on the first night/morning of your hotel stay, because the prior guest or hotel cleaning staff fiddled with the alarm setting of the clock! (This only has to happen once, before you learn to automatically check that darn clock as soon as you check-in to any hotel)

Does anyone else feel compelled to answer the morning wakeup call in a pleasant and cheerful voice just in case it is a real person? Then if it is a machine, I feel like I've been had.

My biggest pet peeve is when the windows do not open so that you can get fresh air. Either the a/c is freezing (especially when you first walk in before you have a chance to make it "livable") or the room is stiffling hot when it is cold ... but the air is stale and and stuffy! The thermostats don't even begin to work!!

One of the best travel aids you can <BR>get are a set of ear plugs. I use <BR>the styrofoam kind that airline <BR>employees use and you can elimate a <BR>lot of these complaints using these. <BR> <BR>Now my complaint: Why do they replace <BR>soap bars that have been used once, escpecially here in America? What a waste!