squeakr

:D!

The clock-radio is fast (it's always fast, never slow) by 5-30 minutes in maybe 75% of hotels I stay in, not that I keep track of it. This is not limited to Hiltons.

I don't want to waste time trying to figure out how to reset the clocks, so I just move them to the floor or facing the wall.

smmrfld

People still use hotel clock radios or get wake-up calls? Both are notoriously unreliable - that's one of the things that phones are for. I turn the archaic thing around to face the wall, since it's inevitably wrong.

wizla

Here's what I do, first I check the alarm is off, then if it's the cube type I turn it face down as I too hate light pollution ,I also travel with a handy eye mask, this helps!

trooper

Me too... but unfortunately I suspect that means WE are contributing to the "wrong time" problem..... I certainly can NOT claim that I always remember to plug it back in and reset the time...

furballs

Wrong time? I'm more likely to find them not plugged in...

writerguyfl

If you never use clock radios or wake-up calls, how do you know they are unreliable?

bse118

Yep, I briefly thought about that. But that's housekeeping's job. If they can rearrange my stuff everyday, making me put it back to the way I wanted it, they can certainly reset a clock.

smmrfld

dulciusexasperis

In your OP luke, you write that the clocks are often wrong and you do not want to use your phone to see the time in the middle of the night. Now you are also saying that you no longer wear a watch. OK, I understand what you have written. But do you?

What I now understand you to be saying, is that you are only interested in a way of insuring hotel clocks are always correct. Well, there is only one answer to that. It's never gonna happen. So that means you need to accept what is, not look for what you wish was and you need to find a way to deal with what is, that is satisfactory to you.

So, if you don't want to learn to set hotel clocks or use your phone to check the time, what is your solution to YOUR problem?

Personally, I just unplug hotel clocks as a matter of course. I look at my watch if I wake up in the middle of the night. I set my 'internal' alarm (works surprisingly well for me) if I want to wake up near a certain time. I have no problem.

I'm left wondering just what kind of answer you really hope to get here if you reject all suggestions as not working for you. It's almost as if you expect a magic answer that will make all hotel clocks do what you want them to do. That's just wishful thinking and will get you nowhere.

luke5111

I'm venting with the hope that somebody at Hilton takes note of the fact they have a problem and does something to address it. I truly like having a clock as a means of knowing the time and for waking me up. A number of years ago Hilton standardised on a simple and effective clock, I imagine they got feedback that the prior mess of varieties that were hard to understand were annoying to guests. Hopefully, they can come up with a solution to this. Perhaps a wifi enabled clock that gets the correct time automatically or something. If I complain to individual hotels, I may get a few points but nothing will actually be done. Complaining in a public forum might actually get noticed.

auandagbug

Another thing that is especially bothersome is clocks that are set 12 hours off, such as set for 3:00 AM when it's really 3:00 PM. It is difficult to reset the time for Hilton's alarm clocks and probably causes a lot of maintenance calls that could be avoided if guests could reset both alarms and the current time more easily. Whenever I check into a hotel, I verify the clock's time with my phone and verify that time displayed is correct, including AM or PM.

Since many wake-up calls are now automated, I have seldom had a problem with not getting one when I asked for it. For critical wake-up times, I use my phone's alarm as the primary and the wake-up call as a back-up. Since I frequently travel across multiple time zones and am jet lagged, it's nice to have a bedside clock that displays an inaccurate time when I wake up in the middle of the night.

StayingHomeIsBetter

A contributing factor is the too-frequent paucity of power outlets around the bed in Hilton rooms.

I travel with a CPAP machine and the in-room clock is often the device of choice to be unplugged in order to power the CPAP.

writerguyfl

I was being 100% serious.

As auandagbug notes, wake-up calls are automated. If you weren't getting them at the correct time, you might have been staying in some dodgy hotels. Personally, if a hotel staff member can't enter a wake-up call correctly, I'd find a new hotel. If the staff can't manage wake-up calls, I'd be wondering what bigger things they're screwing up.

As for the clock radio, you're conflating a wrong time with unreliability of the product. Clock radios aren't newfangled technology. If they have the wrong time, it's because a human being (probably a guest) set them incorrectly. As long as the time is correct, there's little reason to worry that the alarm won't function properly. I've used hotel alarm clocks on every one of my stays in the past 25+ years and never had a single problem.

docbert

Wait.. I'm confused...

You mean it's actually possible for the clock to be right?

With one exception a few months ago I don't recall ever actually finding a clock that was set correctly in the past year.

Even worse are those new clocks they use where it's not possible to set the time without unscrewing the back...