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!