What hotel blunders do you whine about?
 

We travel to Hawaii 2-3 times a year. There are certain things that really bug me about the different resorts we stay at, such as when housekeeping doesn't clean our room first thing in the morning even though I have requested that when checking in or when food is not cooked the way I like it. I tend to politely tell someone about these things, whereas, my husband will let them go and then stew with anger about them. He says we will look like complainers. I say we pay a lot of money to have things the way we like them. He says that's bitchy. I say that's assertive not agressive.<BR><BR>What are your pet peeves and do you and your spouse agree on when to speak up and when to keep quiet?

Your husband is correct.

Tina, the hotel cleans the rooms being checked out of first so the early check ins can have a clean room THEN they get to yours. I can't believe these are pet peeves of yours.

How does your husband ever put up with you??!!

She is probaly one of the ones who ask for an early check in and a late check out.

Your poor husband.

I agree with Tina to a certain degree. When I get up in the morning I make my bed. I don't leave it unmade until after noon time. I am a neat freak at home and I want my room made up early too. If my food was edible I wouldn't say anything, but if it was downright lowsy I wouldn't pay for it. Would you?<BR><BR>If you hired a maid to clean your home and she arrived at 8:30 am would you tell her it's ok to let the bedroom go until afternoon, lets say between 12-3? If she burnt your meal would you eat it? You pay her good money to work for you and the same can be said when you pay a hotel over $500.00 per night. You can tactfully handle these situations Tina without coming across as a bitch or a finger snapping witch. It all depends on how you handle these things.

I guess I'd ask WHY? Why do you need your room cleaned so early? If you have a good reason and let the hotel know, you'd probably have a better chance of that happening. I don't think that it is bitchy to ask for special requests if they are reasonable and logical.

Why are you in your room if you're on vacation?<BR><BR>Also, they need to make up nearly every room in the hotel. That takes time. Sometimes you'll be in the rooms that get done up early, sometimes the ones that get done up near the end. If you want your bed made before they get to your room, make it. The people making the beds aren't making the $500/night. They are probably making minimum wage. Why expect them to keep track of which guests want their rooms done by what time and then run back and forth between floors, etc. to get them done in order when they can just go room to room? Odds are their lives are tough enough as it is.<BR><BR>If its very important to you, ask the hotel when you make your reservations if there is a set order/pattern that rooms are done and ask to be assigned one of the rooms early in the rotation. But if they can't accomodate, go with the flow and relax.<BR><BR>Mehalo!

Gee...I'd say we have a wimpy husband here.<BR><BR>

Oh, Oh, we only get to go to Hawaii three times a year!<BR><BR>Oh, they don't make my room up fast enough!!<BR><BR>Oh, this one's too hot...this one's too cold!<BR><BR>Oh, I can't understand what they are saying, and they smell funny!!<BR><BR>Oh, I wanna go to Miami!!!<BR><BR>Get a life.

Emily - if I hired the maid I'd expect him/her to do what I expected and when. However, they would be my employee working in my home being paid by me. And if I hired a cook, I'd expect him/her to cook what I like to eat. However, when you are at a hotel, the maids work for the hotel; just like the chef at a restaurant works for the restaurant. They can't be expected to cater to the individual needs of every guest/customer. Your analogy doesn't apply.

It is common knowledge that when you stay at 5* hotels you notify them at check-in if you have a preference in when you like your room done and what time you would like your turn down service. When we travel to Hawaii we travel 5000 miles and get up at around 5:00 AM Hawaii time. If our room doesn't get cleaned until 12-3 PM it's almost like why bother. We are very neat and clean people. We go back to our room to change for the pool after breakfast and our morning workout. We go back to our room before lunch to freshen up and we go back to our room to check for messages on my husbands cell phone.(we don't carry it everywhere) The only example I can think of is, a receptionist is the first impression one has when calling or going into an office building. She/he is a representative for that company. If I call that company looking for information about something and she/he does not seem to care about me or the company by being indifferent, what would make me want to call or go back to that company. There are so many choices these days for the consumer. This is why the Four Seasons and Ritz Hotels always win the awards. They know how to train their staff. By the way BOB, my husband has business meetings in Hawaii and I never said we ONLY go 2-3 times a year. You obviously only stay at 3* or less hotels and that's your choice but don't put me down because I am fortunate enough to be able to travel as much as I do. Hotels have maids on each floor and they give them a list of what rooms should be made up first. (the guests with a preference) We tip them well and they do a great job for us. We just want our room done early. They work for the hotel, therefore they are the hotel. I would stay at the Royal Lahaina if I didn't care about these things. They say you get what you pay for. This should be true when you pay for a five star hotel.

There are many people on this forum who throw the terms "5 star" and "4 star" like they know what they're talking about. Someone will stay at some Hyatt and say that "they always stay at "5 star" hotels. There are only about 20 "5 star" hotels/resorts in the U.S. Most Ritz Carltons are not "5 star" only a few Four Seasons are "5 star" Mobile gives the "star" ratings and chances say the hotel you said was 5 star is not. The Bellagio in Las Vegas is not 5 star it is 4. The Plaza in New York is 4 sars. The famous Drake hotel in Chicago recieved 3 stars. Some people say that certain hotels in Hawaii are "5 star" Mobile doesn't even rate the hotels in Hawaii; AAA does, but they give diamond awards not star awards. Look at exxonmobiltravel.com for the star rating of any particular hotel.

Mobile is not the only entity that uses star ratings. The star rating is used by the hotel industry itself in self-serving ways.<BR><BR>I would venture a guess that travelers would not point to Mobile as the basis for their information about the number of stars a hotel receives.

Let me get this straight...<BR><BR>Your topic is:<BR>What hotel blunders do you whine about?<BR><BR>You travel to Hawaii 3 times a year on the company's dime.<BR><BR>You're whining about your free trip.<BR><BR>Get a life.<BR><BR>BTW, I log over 100K mi. per year. I like Hyatt. I'm brand conscious. I've got better things to do than worry about the maid service...they're too busy scurrying around trying to satify whiners like you.<BR>

Whine??? I haven't whined since I was about 5 years old. Other than that I know dogs whine a lot and sometimes my sister still does when she doesn't get her own way. She's pretty neurotic and never happy anywhere, anyway so mostly we've learned to ignore her.

Once again, MOBILE IS A CITY IN ALABAMA! The rating service is MOBIL!!<BR><BR>Big difference.

Tina, you're obviously very superior. Why even ask subhumans like us what we think? You're wasting our time.

Yellow Rose...I bet you have Big Blonde Hair and long red fingernails?

C, that's hilarious. Thanks for pointing this out. Mobil it is. Still, star ratings are used by many others not associated with an oil company.

Tina: What you have are not pet peeves but inconveniences. Hotels DO NOT make up rooms based upon request but do so by who is checking out that day. As far as making up the room between 12 and 3pm and 'why bother', most people do not get up at 5:00am on vacation. Don't you see? Everyone is making fun of you because you have no gripe with the hotel! And you still want to argue. I feel for your husband.

I would be more annoyed if housekeeping came knocking on my door at 7:00 a.m. trying to clean the room while I'm on vacation. I've been at hotels before where they try to come clean up the room at 5:30 or 6:00 pm, at which point I do kind of wonder, "Why bother?"<BR><BR>For the most part, though, I am able to stay in a hotel without wetting the bed or throwing up on the floor, so I don't care whether they come in and make up the room every day. If I'm staying more than one night, frequently I just catch the housekeeper in the hall and say something like, "You don't need to worry about cleaning up our room today; can we just have some clean towels?" I find they are more than happy to accomodate this and it's much easier for everybody involved. They don't have to make up the room for no reason, and I don't have to wonder when they're going to come do it. Sometimes they make you sign their printout next to your room number saying that you said you didn't want your room made. I guess that's to keep people from coming back later on and demanding a free room because their room didn't get made up.<BR><BR>Who cares? Do you change your sheets at home every day? As long as I'm the only one who's slept on them since they've been washed, it doesn't bother me.

Tina you have been given some very wrong info. The housekeeping staff first cleans the rooms of rooms already checkout for the day. Your request (and keep in mind that is what it is) is then taken into consideration.

But x, Tina knows that the maids are given lists of guests who wants their room cleaned first. She knows more than you do.

LOL!! Oh yea, I forgot she is superior.

Tina,<BR>You obviously mistake us for people that care! Maybe you don't tip enough. I would hide your toothbrush when you leave the room if I were you.

She is staying on her husbands company dollar and she is cheap enough to complain!!!??? Get a life my dear.

Hah! I gotta ya. I got everyone of you people. I am PMS ing and just needed to vent today. Ya'all were great little characters for my little play. Now be good little rats and go out and play.

Get a life.

Tina you are the only one who came off looking like crap here my dear. Now go take your medication and get off the computer.

Someone stold my post about Mobil star awards and took it as their own. I know I did't spell Mobil correctly. There are other entities that use a "star" award. However, they do not go to the hotel and use an extensive check list to rate a hotel or resort. Most "star awards" just use reputation or the list of the hotels amenities. Mobil and AAA are the only awards hotels care about. Obtaining 5 stars (Mobil) or 5 diamonds (AAA) is very difficult. And I don't work for mobil, I'm an eye doctor in the midwest.

Hey Jason, keep the Do Not Disturb sign on your door ya moe-ron!

happy, <BR>thanks for the advice. I think I'll do that.

Hey Jason, keep the Do Not Disturb sign on your door all the time and no one will hassle you.

just look at her post...WHAT blunders....dear, do you mean WHICh blunders? And there are so many errors in syntax in your post! I believe you are ill-educated and probably intimidated by others. Do you feel powerful picking on those in service positions? You are a pathetic moron. You are lucky that someone married you and especially blessed that you are having vacations. Girls like you usually spend their lives in trailer parks with occasional trips to Wal-Mart.<BR><BR>

Sam, your post cracked me up! What a loveable guy - you sound just like my husband! The world needs more folks like you.

To "mtsod": you're an "eye doctor" and you use the word (not a word, actually) "stold"? I haven't heard that incorrect usage since I was in grade school!<BR><BR>To the Mobil and AAA ratings gurus: do you realize that what most people at this forum consider important in a hotel has almost nothing to do with obtaining those star/diamond ratings? Ever look at what it takes to get one of those ratings?<BR><BR>Here's a partial list required for 5 star status (Mobil):<BR>- Choice of at least two complimentary newspapers distributed <BR>- If pool service, during a 90 minute period, in warm conditions, some sort of complimentary refreshment is offered (for example, mineral water, fresh fruit, water spritz) <BR>- Public washrooms feature fresh plants or flowers <BR>- Each guest room has three phones, including one in bathroom <BR>- Fresh flowers present in guest rooms <BR><BR>No fresh flowers in your romm means no 5 star rating.<BR>Ooohhhhh.....I couldn't possibly stay in a room without fresh flowers!!<BR><BR>There are many 4 star hotels that have BETTER ROOMS and are more enjoyable than 5 star hotels, many 4 star hotels that should actually be 3 because they focus on fulfilling the letter of the 4 star law rather than making the rooms as pleasant as possible, and many 3's that should be 2. <BR><BR>

I much prefer that housekeeping not enter my room. When I need clean towels, I grab a few. Anybody else like me out there?

Oh Jeeez, you just cannot get away from this friggin mstod and his whining about 4-5 star hotels!<BR>