Dust in corners and behind furniture. Hair in the bathroom floor. Tiny soap.
Stains on bedspreads. Less than immaculate carpeting. I have endured all of these at one time or another and I usually stay at fairly nice places- not cheap motels- marriots, sheratons ect. The worst was the Omni Hotel in Atlanta. My daughter wrote her name in the dust on the furniture.

I'd like hotels to provide a good reading lamp with a bulb srong enough that I don't have to strain my eyes. Is this really too much to ask?

The towel thing has me stumped, too. I've stayed in 3* hotels that gave me one bath towel and one hand towel; I've stayed in a 1* hotel that gave me twice that - so it's not price, that's for sure.

Showers whose doors or curtains don't prevent water from flooding the floor. Is this like the interior design equivalent of rocket science? Four years at MIT, and you can't figure out how to keep water INSIDE the shower (I've never had a problem in my home)?

I think the no-fitted sheets policy has to do with laundry costs - flat sheets are easy to run through a mangle, then fold. After years of trying to fold fitted sheets, I still have lumpy wads which take up a lot of room in the linen closet. Also, the maids would have to be given an equal number of bottom and top sheets rather than just a stack of flat sheets. All that being said, if the hotel is charging $300 for a room, they could invest a little in the fitted sheet process.

Draperies that don't close easily - or all the way.

Not enough hangers, and no pants/slacks clip hangers.

Could you put an extra glass or two in the bathroom? Then I'd have a place to put my toothbrush and paste, and be able to drink a Coke or some wine without having to wash out the ONE glass so I can get a drink of water.

Another bit of rocket science - room service carts are made of metal; the dish covers are metal; the coffee pots are metal. Why did you install carpets so bumpy that all that metal rattles like ballbearings in a kettledrum?

And if I arrive anywhere near the check-in time, the room is never ready. If check in is 11am, and I arrive at noon, the room 'will be ready at 1'. If I arrive at 1, the room 'will be ready at 2'. Is there a secret code I need to know to get into a room at check-in time?

Carol..I'm with you on a decent lamp.

Marriott seems to be the worst with their "bean counters" installing low output flourescent bulbs in lamps.

Do they really think that people can't tell the difference?

I just hate thin, inadequate curtains, especially in Europe in the summer when the sun comes up at 4am!! I also hate the annoying hangers that either don't come out of the closet at all, or just the bottom part does. Do people really steal clothes hangers??

Too few towels and far too often the ones they do supply are about as tiny and absorbent as a tea towel.

Showers that are either scolding hot or icy cold-or water pressure that wouldn't rinse suds off a fly, let alone my thick hair.

Charging for local calls in the U.S. and those "surcharges" for long distance calls-WHY? I dialed all the numbers myself!

One thin, pillow per person (wish I had the original posters problem with too many thick pillows)

Windows that don't open

Turn down service-uhhh; I can do this myself thank you just use the money towards free local calls please.

A hotel that feels they *must* provide shampoo/soap, yet buy the cheapest brand possible that doesn't lather-why bother?
Same thing with those stupid hair dryers that just puff a little semi-warm air out at about a stunning 20 watts of power, brilliant!

Another vote for higher wattage lights so you can read.

Also, this is not a "peeve" but a question: Why do most US hotels & motels not show you the room in advance like they do in other countries?

Hi Jamie, We frequently ask to see the room before we rent it and have never been turned down in our request. We have passed on some rooms after seeing them too.

Pet Peeves: Not enough clothes hangers, inadequate lighting in bathroom or bedroom for applying makeup, no bedside table, rooms without mirrors, not enough electrical outlets or outlets hidden behind furniture, windows that won't open for ventilation, inadequate shelf space in the bathroom.

The 4 Cup Coffeemaker with the 12 Cup size Coffee Filter Pak--am I the only one that has to cut open the pak and dump half the coffee in the trash?

Rooms so cold that you can hang meat in there..no iron..wimpy or no hairdryer..failure to provide as little as complementary morning coffee in the lobby...USA Today (a local paper would be better)..smokers who stay in no smoke rooms then smoke in them (usual teltale traces on stained bathroom sink)..peeling wallpaper..bathrooms in cruddy condition.

My hotel pet peeves:

1. When you set the thermostat in the room to the temperature you like and the maid turns it back to the standard temperature every time she comes into the room.

2. No fitted sheets - - I think it is gross to turn over in the night and end up on a bare mattress.

3. Cold room service.

4. When you get a recording that puts you on hold after dialing the front desk.

5. Valet parking that takes forever.

6. Mattresses that are too hard and pillows that are too fat.

7. When they leave a bottle of mineral water on the nightstand and then charge you $6 or $7 for drinking it.

Every hotel should have an iron and ironing board, plenty of towels, and a local weather forecast slipped under your door.

Most of my favs have been covered, but I haven't seen this one.

My husband and I, both professionals who do pretty well for ourselves, like to go very casual when we travel. We have enough of suits during the week. And it seems like since we're young and wearing jeans or shorts, we get the short end of the stick, particularly at the supposedly "nicer" hotels. We're not dirty or scary-looking, just casual.

And no, we don't return to the hotels that treat us like that, and our companies both have stopped using certain hotels because of reports from us.

A big second to Turista, one of the first few posts re: Weather Channel and subsidized-by-expense-accounts inflation. If I could have only one channel while traveling, it would be TWC -- local TV news just doesn't cut it, and I can usually get some idea of national news on a radio. But knowing what the weather's like in my next destination, as well as all along the way, is essential. Whenever I find a hotel that lacks TWC, I lodge a complaint -- encourage others to do so.

Much more personal complaint but a pet peeve -- offering tea, coffee, and decaf coffee but neglecting to offer decaf/herbal tea. Often they may have some drekky decaf-Lipton stuff, or -- I find this really annoying -- bring you FLAVORED tea that they THINK is herbal but do not understand that it's just black or green tea with flavoring added. One sounds like such a dweeb having to say, "um, this isn't herbal tea. This is flavored tea. I would like to have herbal tea, without caffeine, please."

We go to LV often and the last time we were there we stayed at NYNY. We have one account/debit card for hotel/eating and then our regular account/debit for bills at home. They w/o telling us, nowhere in the small print charged (refundable) a either $50 or $75 dollar A DAY telephone security deposit which really adds up. We were there for one week, so you can guess what this hold on $$ did for our vacation. We thought it was the bank, but it was NYNY. We complained, asked for no phone and the $$ to be released. This did not happen until 2 days after we were back home.....These large, non-mentioned hidden charges are my pet peeve. (along w/the good other ones mentioned in other posts)

Hello,
I agree with a lot of what was being said.
I hate long lines when you want to ceck out. When I`m on business and need to catch a flight early in the am`s I don`t want to get up one hour earlier just to pay the bill! The express check-out is really a good idea. The hotel already has my CC-number, where`s the problem? I once stayed at an Hilton in Mainz/Germany and had to leave for the Airport. There was a line of ca.16 people waiting and only one clerk behind the desk. After waiting 30 min. I asked the Concierge to get my bill and he told me that he isn`t aloud to do that. I left the place without paying, missed the flight and complained afterwards to their Service-Manager. I finally didn`t have to pay-but my nerves were down that morning...

Miriam

Greg-

Actually I'd love to have that problem (big coffee bag, small coffee maker). I always find the stuff in the room to be really weak but still can't get going w/o it. Just means having to go to Starbucks or somewhere similiar to get the rest of the morning caffine fix

Anyone who works the front desk that doesn't know where or what is available as far as certain restaurants or if a movie theater is close by.

My biggest pet-peeve in hotels is also the noise of the housekeepers in the hallways. We are night owls, and late-sleepers, and hate that the maids start as early as they do. Do I really need to hear these conversations?