Starwood Preferred Guest - Hotel managers-please ask housekeeping to shut off alarm clocks when turning the room

The title just about says it all. Yes, I know that I should remember to check the alarm clock when settling into a new room (and that this happens at all hotels), but I sometimes forget. I would just like to make the world a quieter place, especially at four in the morning. Other than the occasional premature awakening, I think Starwood is quite swell.

Thank you, I feel much better having gotten that off my chest.

Mike

I've been told by some people in the hotel business, that many times it's common for the maids to deliberately turn on the alarms, hoping it will get the guest up and going and out of the room earlier! I was told it's "an old trick of the trade." One that sometimes even management occasionally encourages. :(

So that's 2 things regarding alarm clocks I wish hotels would address.

Happened to me just last week. I called for a 6:45 wake up call and didn't set the clock. 5:30 rolls around and the radio starts blaring...scared the heck out of me.

Even worse than your own clock going off, is when the clock in the room next to you goes off and the room is vacant. Depending on the type of clock, it can go on indefinitely. :mad:

That is the single best suggestion I have heard all year.

That is the single best suggestion I have heard all year.

Agree.

The title just about says it all. Yes, I know that I should remember to check the alarm clock when settling into a new room (and that this happens at all hotels), but I sometimes forget. I would just like to make the world a quieter place, especially at four in the morning. Other than the occasional premature awakening, I think Starwood is quite swell.

Thank you, I feel much better having gotten that off my chest.

Mike


^^^

all right, i'll throw my hat in the ring: " ^ "

One of my initial tasks after opening the door to a hotel guest rooms is to unplug the clock radio. I keep a mini-alarm clock in my briefcase, and the problem of setting the clock/ finding a station/ being surprised in the middle of the night is solved.

Amen amen amen amenamenamenamen to the original suggestion.

If I wake up in the middle of the night, I want to be able to see what time it is (after all, the hotel may have missed my wakeup call, so I need at least to see if I've overslept), so unplugging the thing is not that useful to me. I'd never heard of the "trick" of a housekeeping person turning the alarm on to clear the room earlier. If I thought that was the prime cause of alarms going off, I could think of numerous tactics that would eventually persuade them it's an inadvised trick. But I'd really hate to do something to make a housekeeper's job more difficult if I'm making a false assumption, so I can't take that route, either. And even when I remember to turn off the alarm, in many cases it can take several minutes to decipher how the thing works and even then I sometimes find I haven't successfully disarmed it.

So by all means, yes, let's do what we can to persuade hotel managers that this is a required part of making the room ready for a new guest. When we are awakened by an alarm we didn't set, let's complain to the manager just as we would if we found the previous guest's dirty clothes hanging from the shower rod.

Have them check to make sure the clock is right. Seems pretty basic and that I should've checked the clock, but for some reason it was 15 minutes slow and that caused me to get a late start last week...

Have them check to make sure the clock is right. Seems pretty basic and that I should've checked the clock, but for some reason it was 15 minutes slow and that caused me to get a late start last week...

I had the opposite problem about 10 days ago. Requested a 7:00 wakeup call, and when the (automated) call came, my clock said 7:34. Groggy and not thinking straight, I assumed the clock was right and that the call was late. I panicked. Turned out of course that the call was timely and the clock was 34 minutes fast.

Amen amen amen amenamenamenamen to the original suggestion.

If I wake up in the middle of the night, I want to be able to see what time it is (after all, the hotel may have missed my wakeup call, so I need at least to see if I've overslept), so unplugging the thing is not that useful to me. I'd never heard of the "trick" of a housekeeping person turning the alarm on to clear the room earlier. If I thought that was the prime cause of alarms going off, I could think of numerous tactics that would eventually persuade them it's an inadvised trick. But I'd really hate to do something to make a housekeeper's job more difficult if I'm making a false assumption, so I can't take that route, either. And even when I remember to turn off the alarm, in many cases it can take several minutes to decipher how the thing works and even then I sometimes find I haven't successfully disarmed it.

So by all means, yes, let's do what we can to persuade hotel managers that this is a required part of making the room ready for a new guest. When we are awakened by an alarm we didn't set, let's complain to the manager just as we would if we found the previous guest's dirty clothes hanging from the shower rod.

If you can find the manager's home phone number, he or she might appreciate a call at 4:30 am when your alarm clock goes off. This should do the trick.

One of my initial tasks after opening the door to a hotel guest rooms is to unplug the clock radio. I keep a mini-alarm clock in my briefcase, and the problem of setting the clock/ finding a station/ being surprised in the middle of the night is solved.
First thing I do is unplug the clock. I usually have my own or use a wake-up call if I didn't bring a clock with me.

One of the first things I do is check the wake-up time and make sure the alarm and radio are off. I use a small travel clock with an alarm and also call for a wake-up call in the morning. More than once has the alarm clock been set to go off too early in the morning.

Excellent post. I usually check but sometimes forget, and well, :mad: :mad: :mad:

I must just be extremely lucky, but I have never had an unexpected alarm clock awaken me. I do not have any check-in rituals -- short of looking for all the cool stuff in the room (bathrobes, shower products, bottle of water, etc.) -- that would have me check the alarm clock for a pre-set alarm or the correct time. I have stayed at over 100 hotel nights this year, and the same for the past two years. So, in 300+ nights, I have never had this happen. Do you find that it happens more or less frequently at domestic US destinations or abroad?

Stevekoe

...make sure the AM/PM mode is set correctly or you may inadvertently sleep in.
Jeffrey

At risk of getting flamed, I'll bet that clocks going off in the middle of the night, happens a lot less to those who travel constantly as opposed to those who have to travel a couple of times a month! If you spend enough time on the road, you learn to become pretty self contained, and you do not leave elements that can affect your performance to others.

The secret is to become a creature of habit and be absolutely methodical in following a checklist. I won't go into all of the steps in mine, but two steps I've learned to add to my list, in the before I start to unpack part, is to turn the alarm clock off and to turn on every light in the room to ensure they are working.

I don't often use the alarm clock but I've run across several instances where the clocks are not set correctly, or simply flashing the time because somebody plugged them into a switched outlet and every time they left the room, the clock reset.

Depending on the maids to keep you on schedule is simply folly, and begging for trouble.
DF

The OP's suggestion could make the world a happier place -- bravo! ^

If you can find the manager's home phone number, he or she might appreciate a call at 4:30 am when your alarm clock goes off. This should do the trick.

:D

No flaming at all. You're right about relying on housekeeping causing trouble (funny how the people with the most responsibilities and contact with the customers get paid the least--please tip your maid! but that's a post for another time). I travel 2-3 times per month, but still forget the basics sometimes.

Enjoy!

Mike

At risk of getting flamed, I'll bet that clocks going off in the middle of the night, happens a lot less to those who travel constantly as opposed to those who have to travel a couple of times a month! If you spend enough time on the road, you learn to become pretty self contained, and you do not leave elements that can affect your performance to others.

The secret is to become a creature of habit and be absolutely methodical in following a checklist. I won't go into all of the steps in mine, but two steps I've learned to add to my list, in the before I start to unpack part, is to turn the alarm clock off and to turn on every light in the room to ensure they are working.

I don't often use the alarm clock but I've run across several instances where the clocks are not set correctly, or simply flashing the time because somebody plugged them into a switched outlet and every time they left the room, the clock reset.

Depending on the maids to keep you on schedule is simply folly, and begging for trouble.
DF

Have them check to make sure the clock is right. Seems pretty basic and that I should've checked the clock, but for some reason it was 15 minutes slow and that caused me to get a late start last week...

I checked into a hotel *8* days after day light savings.... and the clock still had not be set to the correct hour.

As one who has been awakened far too many times by "un-reset" hotel room clock radios, I have implemented a rather low tech solution: As soon as I walk into the room, I find the clock radio and unplug the thing. They're useless and a total pain in the &#!.

As soon as I walk into the room, I find the clock radio and unplug the thing. They're useless and a total pain in the &#!.

I sometimes travel lite. Ever since I had my atomic clock removed from my head, I find this clock radio contraption a useful device in displaying time. ;)

My problem is not the clock going off at the wrong time, it's that it's too easy to hit the button that changes the time on the clock. At 6am I'm banging on the clock to hit the snooze button and a few times now I've hit the hour button enough to change by 1 or 2 hours. I come to and have a panic attack thinking that I've way overslept. Once I didn't realize it until I got downstairs and into the car (unshowered!) only to see I was two hours ahead of where I needed to be (that's why I take the room key with me any time I depart). Now I call the front desk to verify the time if it looks like I slept through the alarm.

If you can find the manager's home phone number, he or she might appreciate a call at 4:30 am when your alarm clock goes off. This should do the trick.
LOL - excellent suggestion!

I must just be extremely lucky, but I have never had an unexpected alarm clock awaken me . . . Do you find that it happens more or less frequently at domestic US destinations or abroad?
Stevekoe
Mostly US destinations; I’ve never heard of this . . . I too would consider myself as lucky. I’ve stayed in a countless number of hotel rooms, and have only had it happen once - but luckily it was in the middle of the afternoon. Apparently, the prankster (I am assuming) had a momentary lapse in judgment between AM and PM, and my 4:00 wake up call was more odd than an annoyance.

I would argue, though, that this should be somewhat of a task for the person staying in the room . . . if one can remember to see the clock and unplug it - why would it be so difficult to remember to check the clock to see that the alarm isn’t on, instead?

Good suggestion to have the maid do it, though - it would make the world a happier place!

agreed: part of the cleaning routine - wipe down clock radio - reset alarm. ^ ^ ^

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Word!

^ Agree. Yes we all try to remember to reset the alarm, but every clock is different. Hotels, please help us! :)

I read this yesterday, thinking "This has never happened to me before!". Well, at 5:30 this morning, this happened to me for the first time. Thanks, Westin Embassy Road!

Not to mention the alarm clock going off in the empty room next to yours....(sometimes for 1/2 an hour or more waiting for front desk to handle).

:mad:

100% agreed. Don't forget about those in-room mobile phones as well, which I've had in some European and Asian desitnations - they have alarms too. I posted some time ago about the alarm on one of these phones going off at god knows what hour in the morning, during a stay at the Westin Chosun in Seoul. It freaked me out since it was some wacky "music" or something and I had no idea what it was or where it was coming from. Ahh, the joys of technology...

Let me add my own (probably ineffective, but it feels good) educational advice to deal with this scourge of the frequent traveller: IF THE THING GOES OFF EARLY BECAUSE THE MAID LEFT IT SET or if I hear one going off in the room next door, I both refuse any tip to housekeeping AND I give the front desk a piece of my mind.

I've gotten a 50% reduction in the room rate, extra points, and even a letter of apology from the GM on occasion. It's still too many occasions. PLEASE, PLEASE GM's: educate your staffs that this is a MAJOR COMPLAINT.

I cant remember which hotel I stayed at, but about 3 am, the alarm clock went off. This alarm clock was hardwired to the hotel system as it did not have a plug, just wires going into the wall. I could not get this alarm to shutoff.

It would be safe to say, the clock finally landed on the other side of the room.

Last week at the Westin Maui the first morning nothing happened, the second morning the alarm went off at 6:30 am. We certainly didn't set it -- it was a vacation. Did the maid set the alarm??? :confused:

Property: Sheraton Bloomington, Minneapolis, MN.

Time/Date: August 3, 2005.

Requested wake-up call: 7:30. Actual wake-up from non-turned-off alarm clock: 5:45 AM Central Time.

grrrr :td: :mad:

The alarm going off in the empty room next door - is by far the worst. I have waited 45mins to have it taken care of . . . .

Thanks for the reminder Mike - I allways try to remember checking the alarm as I had it go off at unwanted times before. Funniest brutal wake up I had was when I stayed in some 5* hotel (can't remember which one it was) in Djakarta. I checked the alarm and all was well but was woken up by lound prayer coming out of the radio very early in the morning!! Must have been a special prayer channel that was silent during other times.

...I unplug the clock the second I enter the room. Most clocks are way off in the time (usually ahead to force us to check out earlier) so they need to be reset anyways. :D

Few months ago in CA airport hotel, alarm at 5:30am, needless to say not set by me when I went to sleep at 2. :eek: Thanks guys for the advice to either check or unplug.

All Hampton Inns now have these neat alarm clocks that need to be activated each day. We should never have that issue with them.

I usually check the alarm in the room before I go to bed to make sure the time is correct and it's either set for the time I want up, or turned off if I want to sleep in.

But that's just me. :D

I usually check the alarm in the room before I go to bed to make sure th etime is correct and it's either set for the time I want up, or turned off if I want to sleep in.

But that's just me. :D

Same here. ^

But then again, that's because I stagger the alarm and wake-up call so that I have a contingency plan (alarm is 30 minutes before the wake-up call)... :D

just stumbled across this thread and couldnt agree more. But I had hotel desk wake me up when they called the wrong room.. Istanbul bebek luxury hotel That really got me going

Couldn't agree more with the posts on this thread.

My worst experience was checking into a hotel, starting work straightaway, and being surprised it was so late when I finally shut down my computer. Set the alarm for 7 to meet a colleague in the lobby at 7:30. Was frustrated when the backup wakeup call didn't come, but since I had woken at the original alarm it wasn't too big a deal. Went to the lobby and waited. And waited. Finally I took out my phone to see where my coworker was, and was shocked to see it was only 6:45. Someone had set the clock in the room forward an hour and I had failed to notice. Doh!

Best experience (at a Westin) was when I set the alarm/backup call to go the gym in the morning, changed my mind when the call came and scheduled a second call instead, couldn't fall back asleep so decided to work out anyway, and returned to the room to see one of the front desk staff knocking loudly, concerned that I hadn't answered the second call. Now that's service!

What I really hate though is staying at hotels in Europe / Asia where there is no alarm clock, and so to tell the time in the room you have to either turn on the TV or be wearing your watch at all times, even in your pajamas before you go to bed.

All Hampton Inns now have these neat alarm clocks that need to be activated each day. We should never have that issue with them.

They could very well advertise this as an advantage of staying in their hotel!

:cool: