mainespring

Hotel rooms without full length mirrors drive me crazy. How can I prepare properly for a business mtg?

[Quote of invitation to reply to this survey deleted by Moderator in order to save posting length and redundancy, given the nature of the survey thread.]

Cheetah_SA

I find many hotel rooms - even big ones and ones in very upmarket properties just don't have enough cupboard space, drawers and/or hangers.

I hate literally living out of a suitcase so want to be able to hang up some of my clothes and store the rest out of sight. I also want to be able to put all the bits and bobs that one travels with these days in a conveniently situated drawer or two. That excludes the ones already containing the hotel's stuff like hairdryer, guide, stationery, laundry bag etc.

And if two of us check in for a week, how on earth is half a dozen hangers going to suffice? And if you ask for more they bring three more!! (I have resorted to taking wire hangers with me for stays of longer than a few days.)

MrTemporal

My pet peeve, and I admit it is a small one compared to many on the list, is all the brochures, signs, papers, etc. left on the desk, bed, top of the TV, window sill, etc. I spend a few minutes taking all this stuff and stowing it in a drawer so I can use the furniture for my needs and not as an advertising medium for the hotel. In many cases I have to sort through this junk to find the little booklet that explains how to adjust temperature, breakfast room hours, where to find the ice machine, etc.

beachmouse

Another year and I am still stacking my daily rubbish next to Barbie's 1 liter trash can in the bedroom area. Can I please have a trash can large enough to hold a standard take-out container?

I've given up on hotel pillows since I found a memory foam travel pillow that compresses into a a small enough volume I can fit it into pretty much any suitcase I use.

brucelaird

Yes, lack of outlets is a major pet peeve for me, especially because I need one next to the bed for my all-important CPAP machine. Many hotels hide the quad outlet under the head board of the bed. At best, I can dig behind the mattress to access the outlet but have to unplug a lamp to free up a socket. But, alas, where do I plug in my phone/alarm, etc. to have close at hand.

Long ago I found the real solution to all this was quite simple and inexpensive:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-15-ft...-950/202529045

Like your American Express card, don't leave home without it.

Thank goodness I don't often travel to out-of-the-way places with rooms that haven't been renovated/updated.

jspira

"One man's junk mail is another man's LL Bean Catalog."

From watching the peeve poll voting for the past five years, I can paraphrase that with "One man's major issue is another man's minor peeve." ^

We had that on the list a few years ago but it didn't gain traction. I do however find it an annoyance.

pinniped

I encountered a new one this week. A pet peeve of mine (in general) is a building is setup in a way that forces people to navigate through a gaggle of smokers to get into the building. Most commonly associated with office buildings, and in particular government buildings where it seems like a huge number of employees are smokers. I didn't really think of this as a hotel issue, until...

The Doubletree Suites PHX is set up where you check-in to the hotel in a regular (nonsmoking) lobby, but then have to walk outside and directly through the smoking area to get to the elevators that take you to the rooms. I checked in the other night at 7PM...it's 110 degrees outside, making the whole idea of outside walkways and exterior hotel room doors (another peeve) bad enough. But having to walk through the airborne remnants of some guy's Marlboro made it even worse.

lokijuh

One of my pet peeves is hotels in the tropics (In Asia mostly) that have thick quilts/duvets/doonas, in rooms with ineffective air conditioning - which means I can't sleep as I am too hot. At least give me a sheet that I can sleep under so I don't spend the night sweating and over heating. I usually overcome this by removing the quilt from its cover and making the bed with just the cover - so is manageable.

But really the amount of air conditioning needed to sleep under the thick bedding provided at some tropical hotels is crazy, sure it's nice and fluffy but is really quite a waste of energy.

Oh and I really don't like showers where you can't adjust the pressure. That's I guess a feature of plumbing in some countries.

MrTemporal

'Pet Friendly' hotels.

Sorry, just because a hotel allows pets, does not mean that the other guests want to spend time with your pet, clean your pet's hair off their clothing, or take additional medication to deal with their pet allergies. And your dog definetly does not belong in the public areas, sniffing lustfully at my food and drink.

swixo

All that other stuff is fine. Outlets, water drainage, wifi, all a nuisance.

But noise is the deal-breaker for me. Stomping around above me, rattly air conditioning, vibrating ceiling from machinery on the roof, etc. No sleeping with the noise.

It's the most likely reason I will move to another room.

s

swixo

At least you can fix this easily yourself.

Is this really that much of a problem? Man
some of you are real whiners.

ldsant

Pet peeves include the following:

The whole 'room not available' - hotel motif in Seattle did this when a friend and I went to check in at 4 pm at 7 pm the room still was not ready.
Housekeepers who are screaming to each other at opposite ends of the hall, slamming doors, etc. especially at 8 AM on Saturdays
Staff not knowing what is going on e.g., asking the concierge for a recommendation and they don't have a clue

CaptRobPhD

Shoulda been "hotel room" pet peeves. I'da added gauging for room service (not markup but fees as they're not a hidden fee), slow check in, untimely van service, & gyms not 24 hr.

StephenDC

#1 for me are the showers you have to climb inside of before turning you can turn the water on, meaning that you have to get blasted by cold water before it warms up.

I was also surprised to stay in a nice hotel in LA a few weeks ago that trumpeted its green credentials everywhere, yet despite the state's horrific drought, had not bothered to install water saving shower heads.

I've spent more time trying to figure out how to turn bedside lights on than I want to think about. Some seriously over-engineered electronics out there when a simple on and off switch will do.

MrTemporal

Thank you for telling me that. The next time they ask for ' pet peeves' I will check with you first to make sure I mention an approved peeve.