Why do costlier hotels have fewer features?
Mar 3, 2015, 8:53 am
#61
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Well here's an example, Holiday Inn vs Holiday Inn Express. At the regular "more premium" Holiday Inn they charged $2 for coffee (really being cheap in my opinion) and breakfast would have set you back at least $15 plus tip. Holiday Inn Express had free coffee/tea all hours of the day and of course free all you can eat breakfast in the morning.
Mar 3, 2015, 8:55 am
#63
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Well here's an example, Holiday Inn vs Holiday Inn Express. At the regular "more premium" Holiday Inn they charged $2 for coffee (really being cheap in my opinion) and breakfast would have set you back at least $15 plus tip. Holiday Inn Express had free coffee/tea all hours of the day and of course free all you can eat breakfast in the morning.
Mar 3, 2015, 9:16 am
#64
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Well here's an example, Holiday Inn vs Holiday Inn Express. At the regular "more premium" Holiday Inn they charged $2 for coffee (really being cheap in my opinion) and breakfast would have set you back at least $15 plus tip. Holiday Inn Express had free coffee/tea all hours of the day and of course free all you can eat breakfast in the morning.
Mar 3, 2015, 9:22 am
#65
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I'm not so sure. Most of those I've seen are the reverse. My most recent experience was at Slough near LHR last Aug. The express hotel which was right behind the train station and walking distance from a Tesco was 15K a night but the other one which was a 5 minute cab away was 25K.
Mar 3, 2015, 9:51 am
#67
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I'm not so sure. Most of those I've seen are the reverse. My most recent experience was at Slough near LHR last Aug. The express hotel which was right behind the train station and walking distance from a Tesco was 15K a night but the other one which was a 5 minute cab away was 25K.
Mar 3, 2015, 10:38 am
#68
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Me personally I am disappointed when more and more hotels are providing free wifi for all guests. That just means it is being built into the room rate and what about people like me who are perfectly fine with using their data plan for a few days? If the hotel has free wifi, sure I'll use it, maybe watch Netflix if the connection is fast enough, otherwise I am fine with just web surfing and watching tv, or playing a game on my phone. I don't need wifi to entertain myself on vacation, and staying connected to email and facebook is possible on my regular data plan anyway. I know I am in the minority but I have no problem with hotels charging for wifi.
One review I saw once was somebody complaining about 20 dollar a day or so parking charge. I think it was the Courtyard Newark. The logic of the reviewer was that people drive cars and to just build it into the room rate. I say speak for yourself. What about those of us who use public transit? Especially in a large area like NYC? Why should I have to subsidize someone else's need to drive a car? Nothing wrong with a hotel charging for parking or wifi, the people who choose to drive a car or who choose to use wifi should have to pay for it. People who take public transit or who are perfectly happy with their personal data plans shouldn't be subsidizing those who want to use the features.
One review I saw once was somebody complaining about 20 dollar a day or so parking charge. I think it was the Courtyard Newark. The logic of the reviewer was that people drive cars and to just build it into the room rate. I say speak for yourself. What about those of us who use public transit? Especially in a large area like NYC? Why should I have to subsidize someone else's need to drive a car? Nothing wrong with a hotel charging for parking or wifi, the people who choose to drive a car or who choose to use wifi should have to pay for it. People who take public transit or who are perfectly happy with their personal data plans shouldn't be subsidizing those who want to use the features.
Mar 3, 2015, 11:25 am
#69
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The actual marginal cost of providing wifi is trivial, probably less than the cost of billing for it. The cost of space for parking near NYC is large.
Mar 3, 2015, 11:40 am
#70
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This isn't just happening in the USA. It's also happening in Europe.
I personally feel that excluding wifi and breakfast for 'normal' customers is to have cheap and visible freebees for elites. To be honest, paying more per day for wifi than I pay in a month at home (and I get a lot faster wifi at home as well) and a enough for breakfast to get a luxury catering service with home delivery isn't a realistic price, but it's what a lot of hotels here want.
For me, those charges are a big turnoff. When I'm out traveling for business, of course my hotel bill is paid. However, when it comes to meals, I usually have a daily allowance to cover those expenses, which is a quite common way of working here. The allowance is split in three parts for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is usually quite generous and under normal circumstances more than sufficient to pay for all meals. However, if I have to pay twice the amount and thus pay a lot myself for a bunch of toast and a cup of coffee in the morning, then it's an absolute no-go. In that case I'd rather book with a hotel that either has breakfast included or I book a hotel that's most conveniently located instead of a hotel chain of which I may have a customer card. That's not necessarily a cheaper hotel or a worse hotel, by the way. So in those cases expensive hotel chains lose a customer due to being cheap.
A lot of facilities in a hotel room are basically surplus anyway when on a business trip. I usually stand up early and return late to my room. So at the end of the day I spend by far most time in a hotel room with my eyes closed anyway...
I personally feel that excluding wifi and breakfast for 'normal' customers is to have cheap and visible freebees for elites. To be honest, paying more per day for wifi than I pay in a month at home (and I get a lot faster wifi at home as well) and a enough for breakfast to get a luxury catering service with home delivery isn't a realistic price, but it's what a lot of hotels here want.
For me, those charges are a big turnoff. When I'm out traveling for business, of course my hotel bill is paid. However, when it comes to meals, I usually have a daily allowance to cover those expenses, which is a quite common way of working here. The allowance is split in three parts for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is usually quite generous and under normal circumstances more than sufficient to pay for all meals. However, if I have to pay twice the amount and thus pay a lot myself for a bunch of toast and a cup of coffee in the morning, then it's an absolute no-go. In that case I'd rather book with a hotel that either has breakfast included or I book a hotel that's most conveniently located instead of a hotel chain of which I may have a customer card. That's not necessarily a cheaper hotel or a worse hotel, by the way. So in those cases expensive hotel chains lose a customer due to being cheap.
A lot of facilities in a hotel room are basically surplus anyway when on a business trip. I usually stand up early and return late to my room. So at the end of the day I spend by far most time in a hotel room with my eyes closed anyway...
