Bad Service Ranked as Hotel Guests’ Most Aggravating Peeve

From lying to lamination: USA Today article reveals the most common pet hates of hotel guests.

From indifferent service and laminated brochures to awkward furniture and less than honest employees, an article written earlier this week by consumer advocate Christopher Elliott in USA Today reveals hotel guests’ biggest pet peeves.

Bad service tops the list, but dishonesty of any shade, Elliott writes, is a commonly cited cause of aggravation. Whether it’s a case of outright lying or being selective with the truth, not offering all the facts seems to be a sure-fire way of starting the guest experience off on the wrong foot.

Entrepreneur Adam Dailey related a recent run-in with dishonest employees to Elliott, saying, “They told me that no rooms were available. Then I heard them say to each other a few minutes later that they were not full.”

The problem here, Elliott believes, isn’t the availability of the rooms at the hotel in question, but rather, the demeanor of the staff at this property.

Elliott writes that, “the issue is that the front desk employees, with their careless banter, led [Dailey] to believe they were not being entirely truthful.”

But it’s not only dishonest employees that grate on guests’ nerves. Indifferent, inattentive service is also a cause for concern. To this end, traveler Doug Devitre told Elliott that, “the bellmen who talk with one another rather than helping their guests carry luggage” were a particular source of personal annoyance.

Other travelers were keen to get their bugbears off of their chests.

Hotel refurbishments, explained traveler Emmy Trinh, were another point of contention. “Getting an old room when there’s a newly renovated room on another floor that is the same rate,” she said.

While uncomfortable furniture also made the list, brochures advertising hotel services, said pilot Patrick Smith, author of Cockpit Confidential, are also a cause of irritation.

“It’d be one thing if this laminated litter was placed unobtrusively, but it tends to be exactly in the way,” he said.

But rather than sulk and stew, Elliott offers disgruntled travelers some time-honored tricks to combat poor service: Speak up and smile, he advises, and if that doesn’t work, definitely don’t come back.

[Photo: Getty Images]