What's missing from YOUR hotel room??
 

Having just gotten back from a mini-vaction, I thought I would pose this question..."If you could tell hotel management what you would "like to have in your room" what would it be??

1- A real exhaust fan in the bathroom
2- A can of "oust" {in case #1 isn't possible}
3- A magnifying mirror in the bathroom
4- A corkscrew
5- A coffee maker with real mugs...no paper cups
6- More hangers in closet

Let's see what the rest of you think!
Debi

I'd love to have a nice view! (parking lot is NOT a view :(( )

I'm understandably wary of hotel comforters, so I'd love it if all hotels would wrap their comforters in washable sheets. Also, better bathroom lighting.

I'd rather have disposable beverage cups, as there was a gross thread on this board recently about hotels not cleaning glassware thoroughly (or with the same rag as is used in the bathrooms).

A view is not necessary in Birmingham. Different in resort areas. However,those 2 cup coffee makers with one pack of regular coffee SUCK. I always have my own corkscrew, but 2 real wineglasses would be nice. Soap. No kidding, just back from Europe and 5 hotels had "gel packs". No ashtrays and non-smoking. Someday. A hair dryer where you don't have to hold the button down. Newspapapers in the lobby. Somebody at the front desk. Honestly, in Filisurs the waitresses had desk duty..not good. And I don't like blood stains on carpet...beware any Days Inn properties in Miami Florida. And drug dealers outside the front door, go elsewhere.

Yeah, "No drug dealers" is high on my list, too.

A decent shower. I'm spoiled beccause I live in a pre-war apartment with 11" ceilings - so the shower head is WAY above me.

I'm only 5'9" and in many hotels I have to duck my head to wash my hair - do they assume everyone in the world is 5" tall?

Also - a little more water will help. It's going to take the same amount to get the shampoo and cream rinse out of my hair - why make me stand there forever to get it - instead of having a reasonable amount emerge at once and save me some time?

Can I swap those triangles on toilet paper roll for another shampoo bottle? Doesn't matter how many people in the room, doesn't matter how many beds, it's always only 1 shampoo.

My rooms must have an in-room safe. Lots of plump pillows--no foam please. BIG towels. Double sheeting nice.

What's with the hairdryers where you have to hold the button down? I've only run into that in France and what a pain that is!

Uh...:) make that triple sheeting!!

a room next to it without kids or dogs

Separate bottles of shampoo and conditioner not just one bottle of "conditioning shampoo." Cheap!

Spent the night in a hotel in Goodland, CO, and I had to call the front desk for lightbulbs. I need lightbulbs, please.

Not much between Kansas City and Denver. No other reason to visit Goodland, either.

Decent pillows. Why do most hotels/resorts have such flat pillows????

A good size counter around the bathroom sink so there is a place to put your toiletries. Pedastal sinks with perhaps just a tiny glass shelf above the sink just doesn't work! Oh, hangers that are for skirts and pants.

Regarding lights. A decent light in the bathroom especially over the mirror and also at the bed so one can read in bed if one wishes too.

Just a few of my request Debi.

A quiet heating/cooling device. Earplugs just aren't enough to block out that low hum.
And bottles of water-espcially in places where water is questionable. Having to pump water through a filter to brush teeth in the morning is not fun.

A robe and plenty of foam (not feather) pillows.

EEEWWWW cleaning the mugs ~o) with the same cloth from the bathroom! :-<

Here's another...we stayed in an "accessible" room as it was the only king non-smoking room available. Now I understand the need for things to be lowered BUT I think in all fairness, some people who need these rooms may actually be traveling with folks who don't need these accomodations so how about 1 rack in the closet being at normal height? And the accessible shower should be larger, I could hardly fit in there without using the bench.

And the housekeepers should be required to check and make sure the alarm clock is turned off! I cannot believe how many times it has gone off at 6 AM {I keep meaning to check it myself when I first get into the room but somehow it gets overlooked.

And yes pillows...after they have gone to the trouble of putting in those nice beds in so many hotels...pancake pillows.

And please, make all the linens more than 180 thread count and make them white. And change the duvet or sheets around the blanket, please. I agree that triple sheets is a good thing.

Debi

Decent coffee with the in-room coffee maker, and could I please have more than 1 packet a day?

Snacks in the mini bar that I don't have to get a loan to afford.

low wattage...dim light bulbs

who are they kidding..its not to be energy efficient its just being cheap

I'm less concerned with the thread count of the sheets than I am with the ability of a maid to make a bed without tucking everything in together so it is impossible to get into the bed without undoing the entire thing.
And while I'd often like more hangers, I'd be eternally grateful if the ones they do provide weren't permanently attached to the rod as if I were going to steal them.

FITTED SHEETS!! I hate when flat sheets are used for both the top and bottom. One toss or turn by hubby or me and the bed is "unmade and you're sleeping on the mattress. Are fitted sheets really that much more time consuming to put on then trying to tuck in a flat sheet?

Good reading light by the bedside.

My dog.

REAL creamer and good coffee.

Corkscrew.

Free bottled water.

And last, I am missing cash due to the ridiculous resort fees...

I agree with Zoom about how nice it would be to have separate bottles of shampoo and conditioner, but I think that they'd cheap would with a cheap conditioner, too.

Have you noticed? Many hotels have now gone to a combined shampoo/bath gel combination, and have dropped the shampoo/conditioner mix. Perhaps they realized that they weren't fooling anyone, implying that this combintation came anywhere close to being a decent conditioner?

Like Zoom says, cheap, cheap cheap.... I'll use their shampoo (in whatever form,) but I've learned to bring my own conditioner.

I like disposible shower caps. But Debit's item no. 3 (magnifying mirror) got me to thinking about life after 40 and how the expanse between you and the mirror with the counter in between seems to grow each year after 40, and how nice it would be to have the mirror a bit closer so when the lipstick goes on, it doesn't end up on your chin.

Hmmm...:?
What's missing from MY hotel room?

1. A pretty envelope containing a complete refund of the cost of my stay
2. A complimentary masseur at my disposal round the clock.
3. A bell to summon my butler who would come and feed me strawberries and chocolate.

*sigh*

-More hangers would be nice. I've started traveling with my own now! There never are enough...maybe because people keep stealing them? :)

-Brighter lights. Why do we want dimmer lights folks?

-clocks that don't emit this eerie red glow when the lights are off.

an alarm clock that doesn't take a PhD in physics to figure out how to set the wake up time.

You said it, Nytraveler:) Decent water pressure and a showerhead higher than 5'8 is a must! It's sad when campgrounds (1/4 or less of the price of a hotel) have much better showers.....lol

It's a competitive market, and I think they are keeping a decent pace (ex: refrigerators & microwaves are standard), although I do have a list of my own. Particularly annoying, as someone pointed out, are attached hangers and poor water pressure. I agree they should do something about the comforters; I fold them down before I'll sit on the bed. In fact, I agree w/most everything listed.

Of course the nicer the hotel, usually the less cause for complaint, plus there are more amenities.

In addition:

- wi-fi
- local television stations (like w/the weather)
- much bigger bathrooms
- room service until midnight

So, I didn't realize people actually use the shampoo/conditioner unless they forgot their own.

No way do I use hotel shampoo, claire!! I don't care for the hairdryers either...not strong enough, so I always lug my own.

Saps, amen to the alarm clock complaint!!! They seem universally difficult to set. Our last hotel alarm clock/music system was a sort of docking station with an Ipod nano. First you had to have some clue as to how to even turn on (or off in our case) the Nano--my husband didn't, and had I not known, we'd have been listening to the symphony all night. :)

Yes, more skirt hangers, please. I don't mind that they are attached to the bar and understand the need for that. Just give me enough so that both of us can hang our clothes without doubling up. And no...I do not want to be bothered calling housekeeping for more!

There is at least, now, some logical reason for the attached hangers. I recently saw (and took a picture of!) a warning next to a ceiling sprinkler head in a hotel room ordering me not to hang anything from the sprinkler head or I will have to pay $5,000 in water damage. I suspect a problem had already occurred with someone using a hanger to hang a wet bathing object using the sprinkler head as a useful attachment only to discover the entire room became flooded when the sprinkler went off.

Good point Surfergirl, but they could put a little "cage" around the sprinkler.
Amen to the reading lamps and to the decent coffee in the rooms.
I'd also like some herbal teas but it's not difficult to bring my own.

more electrical outlets. Usually 3-4 of us women travel together, 1 room. Never enough outlets to plug in curling irons, etc. Also, someone usually styles their hair in the bedroom when bathroom is occupied & although there's a mirror w/dresser, there never seems to be an outlet close to dresser so you can see what you're doing. (I keep my cordless curl iron in travel bag now, but extra outlets, better lighting would be nice)
we've experienced the last couple hotels without coffee makers. (guess they want you to buy coffee in hotel restaurant). The last hotel had a coffee kiosk in the lobby, but, again, not complimentary. It's so nice having the coffee maker in the room. We usually ask for more packets of coffe, & they usually bring more. I'm ok w/paper cups. Oh, the list could go on...........

Free internet access. Charging for internet access has got to be the cheesiest thing that upscale hotels do these days. If a Hampton Inn can have it for free, why should I pay 9.95 per day at a W? The infrastructure is there...

A lot more electricity outlets, for two reasons:

1) Most business travelers have at least 2 items to plug in (cell phone + laptop), and sometimes it can go much higher than that. Why is it so hard to have at least 2 outlets, next to the desk preferably?

2) Where do they expect you to plug in the iron? Inevitably, I end up in the bathroom, taking up all the available space with the ironing board!

Fun2Travel -- AMEN on the fitted sheets request. A "heavenly bed" is h*ll if you'e sleeping on a bare mattress!

And is it too much to ask that 3 to 5 * hotels have genuinely soundproof walls? Nothing ruins a trip for me more than noisy neighbors returning drunk at 3 AM and then having to crush a pillow over my head to stifle the sounds of vomiting and/or whoopee-making!

**A night light in the bathroom (I have begun taking one with me for lack thereof)

**A adherred to maintanence schedule for smoke detector battery replacement so they do not start beeping in the middle of the night.

JaGirl, did you borrow your list from my children? Seems they expect all that staying overnight :))

I travel a lot with work and I appreciate the little things.....Like a couple of packets of makeup remover towelettes!!
I of course like a good mini bar too...