What Do You Want in a Hotel Room?
 

We travel a great deal, and this is what we like to find in a motel or hotel room. Do we expect too much? Not enough? What did I leave out?

 Clean.
 Quiet, including an air conditioner and heating system that run quietly and hallway doors that close without slamming.
 A large window that does not face a pedestrian walkway or, on the ground level, a parking lot.
 Ample flat surfaces for suitcases, hand bags, and so on.
 Comfortable beds.
 Blankets covered by a sheet as well as a bed spread (so there is a clean surface on the bed when the bed spread is removed).
 Extra blankets and pillows.
 A nightstand with plenty of space for personal effects.
 Two reading lights over the bed or one reading light over each bed.
 A clock that does not ring unexpectedly at night.
 A TV with a “sleep” function and that does not turn on unexpectedly at night.
 Accurate information about available TV channels.
 Two comfortable chairs.
 A table or desk at which two people can sit for writing, dining, etc.
 Curtains and drapes that are all properly attached to hardware.
 A bathroom with a large area for placing toiletries.
 A closet with a door or that is located out of view of the main living area.
 An iron and ironing board.
 A coffee maker.
 A conveniently located ice machine.

Very desirable to have

 A sense of spaciousness.
 A view of water or mountains.
 Lights on dimmers.
 A refrigerator.
 A microwave oven.
 A wet bar.
 An extra washbowl located outside the bathroom.
 A light breakfast included.

My list is about the same as yours -- definitely topped by "clean and quiet". A small fridge would be at the top of my "desirables" list.

Would you expect all that at $50? No

That is why there are DIFFERENT PRICES.
It is nice that we have these choices in travel. If one only wants to spend $50, a view of a pedestrian walkway may be fine, but forget about the ocean view or coffee maker and 2 chairs.

This is a list of *wants*, not expectations. Certainly, views, double-sheeting etc. command higher prices. But I have found that high-priced rooms sometimes focus on "amenities" that I have no interest in, and would rather not pay for -- designer decor, fancy toiletries, high-tech TV etc. -- while overlooking some of the basic comforts that lovingheart listed.

A smoke detector that does not sound a 'low battery alert' intermittently starting at 3 AM

Curtains and draperies that can be completely closed blocking out sunlight in the early hours.

These 2 even for $50, please.

Decent water pressure in the shower! I'm all for conserving water but IMHO setting the water pressure below a certain reasonable level actually wastes water as my shower time triples or worse ... I have to rinse shampoo & conditioner out of hair using the tub faucet! (yeah its my pet peave)

A tall, dark, handsome...
you get the picture.

This may be along the lines of "clean," but a room that doesn't smell like stale smoke is definitely up on the list for me.

Atilla, no, tell us more ;-) Double sheeting and wine glasses are ny fave extras...a pillowtop mattress is great too!

Oh - I had that beeping smoke detector at a Motel 6 one time. It was terrible.

More than anything, I want a room that's reflective of the culture/history/geography of the location. If that means I'm sleeping on a mat on the floor, okay by me. Otherwise, I often don't feel as if I've traveled at all.

A comfortable bed
A decent working shower
Some soundproofing
Cleanliness and not ragged
Decent towels

Those are the requirements regardless of where I sleep. But generally I'd have a lot more requirements depending on how much I'm willing or required to spend.

The bad part is how many times I've paid big bucks for a place and found even one of more of the above requirements severely lacking. That's sad!

How do you mark off those squares?

Denise Richards and a bottle of Dom.

Absolute necessities:

Clean
Comfy bed
Electricity
Shower
Toilet

As for the rest, it's all gravy.

Hey, I'm easy to please. Besides, if I'm spending my time in my room it means I'm not enjoying myself!

What most hotel rooms lack that they should have -

A decent shower - most have almost zero water pressure - a hotel is a big buidling - not a private house - there is no excuse for not having a niagara of water (it doesn;t take less water to wash my hair if there's only a trickle of water - just a lot more of my time).

Also - the shower head should be a lot higher - and why do bathrooms have 7' ceilings (I know I'm spoiled living in a prewar building with 11' ceilings - but 7' is ridiculous)

A decent makeup mirror with appropriate lighting (why can;t they understand that 50% of travelers are women???)

A TV that can be seen from anywhere in the room - is it really necessary to attach it to the inside of the cabinet - who ever really tried to steal one of their TVs (the picture is awful and the resale value is about 12 cents)?

Someplace secure to store a computer in the room - I always travel with one and sometimes am concerned there is no place even vaugely secure to put it

And I know you won;t get these in a Motel 6 - but the number of 4 and 5* hotels that don;t have them is scandalous

A/C that works, no matter the season.

Water pressure

Iron and board

High-end shampoo

Triple sheeting

A damn phone book that I don't have to go on a scavenger hunt to find.

An empty mini-fridge.

I appear to be in the minority on this board, in that I have never, and probably won't ever, pay more than $200 a night for a hotel room. If I did, I wouldn't ever leave the room so I could get my money's worth.

When we travel, we are generally out of the room by 8:00 am and don't see it again until after 6:00 pm. All we want is a comfortable, clean place to sleep and to feel like we are getting our money's worth. I don't care it has a fancy lobby, room service, a snooty staff, or any of that high priced stuff.

Here is what I look for when I'm making reservations:
Location
Enough room for 2 adults and 2 kids to spread out
Price (I have a budget)
Queen size beds
Hi Speed Internet in the room
Breakfast
Pool (for the kids)
Hot Tub (for me)
Laundry (at least every third day)
Refrigerator (although we travel with an electric cooler)
Microwave

Me, George Clooney, and a camera.

Oh, yeah, all that other stuff mentioned too.

nc,

I'll call you Denise if you call me George!