elevator-
nice handle for this
i can appreciate some of the logic behind these things but then come up with a reasonable user interface and don’t assume everyone can get it working seamlessly upon check in. I think it’s one thing for a place you live and you get used to a system but don’t make us spend all weekend navigating your cool tech that requires a user manual. My friend never did get the app based key system to work.

and if you are that worried about security then do what the Hilton in Istanbul does - anti tank barriers to the parking lot and armed security with metal detectors

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Quite a few Amman and Riyadh hotels I stayed in had military technicals (probably wrong term, but they were not humvees) with 0.50 cals mounted, next to the hotel entry.

They have been doing that for years - practically when I went there the first time in 2013. It was Istanbul Courtyard West. It's pretty much a norm to walk through these detectors in shopping malls and the Marriotts I have been to.

I hate elevators like this. And no it isn't petty to not return to a hotel because of this - the Thomson NY has this awful slide screen to get elevators that never work. I did one night there this summer and a week later moved my 3 nights to a different property mostly because of the elevator crapiness.

elevators and light switches that are impossible to figure out drive me craziest

About 10 years ago a client of mine installed this type of lift call system in their office tower. It made the queues worse so they took it out again 3 months later.

But back on thread, a few years ago I stopped staying at a whole chain of hotels in one particular country because I didn't like the taste of the single brand of white rum they all stocked. Is that small enough of a reason? :)

While we're on the subject of pet peeves, how about the fact that most of those metal detectors serve no purpose? They are apparently switched off; when you try to empty your pockets, the guy tells you, don't bother (or you decide not to bother), and you walk through and it beeps but they wave you on; they tell you to just walk around it; or it's unattended with no barriers at either side so you can just walk around. One of these scenarios happens more often than not in my experience, 100% of the time at a few hotels and malls in Almaty on recent trips. Once in Istanbul (Hyatt Regency, now Grand Hyatt) they told me to go around it and my obviously Turkish companion to walk through. :p

I guess I should be grateful at the effort spared. I suppose the metal detectors are there just as a pretext to apply more security to people they deem suspicious.

There are many properties in Dubai that I've vowed not to return to for trivial reasons. I've become annoyed at the cumulative effects of horrible front desk service, pathetic lack of attention to detail and standards, and myriad stupid processes, especially at Courtyards in the city.

Most recently, I vowed to boycott the Hyatt Regency because of the way they handle valet parking. When the guy takes your car, he asks for your room number, and does absolutely nothing with that information. Then you have to get the parking ticket signed and stamped by the front desk every time you pick up the car, which usually involves waiting in a long line at the desk. I ask why the attendant can't just record my room number when I pick up the car and credit me (there's a parking charge for non-guests) and they just shrug. I have asked several times why they can't perform the signing-and-stamping routine at the Regency Club, and they said, "oh, great idea," but nothing changes.

I usually return to the offending hotels eventually (as I would otherwise run out of places to stay), but I figure that I at least suspend them from my rotation for awhile and cost them some room nights.

If I have to argue for my elite benefits (i.e Courtyard F&B credit) I won't come back to your hotel.

Most if not all Indonesia's 5 star properties will have some sort of security check at the entrance and metal detectors in front of the lobby.

Jakarta and Bali properties usually have a bonus of sniffer dogs too.

I’m currently staying at a property with both a metal detector and a destination dispatch elevator (scan your card in the lobby, and the system automatically calls for your floor - no buttons inside). Y’all would hate it.

I was told that F&B is $10 for the room not per person, and the front desk refused to listen to me even though I showed him the terms. He also insisted on our rate does not include breakfast... again I had to call Marriott and the Marriott CS called him to educate him.

Going there next week and I'm curious to to see if I had to do the same again.

I stayed in the Mariott Budapest mid to late August this year. I couldn't get the mobile key system for that property to work on my Samsung either.

Last one I was at they said it was $10 period. Not per day, not per person. Was staying there while some plumbing work got done on our house and it sure would have been nice to be able to get coffee daily since I was work from home at the time.

Did you call Marriott while you were in the hotel? This is ridiculous - it's listed clearly on the website.

No. Mainly due to juggling too many things personally and professionally at the time. I can't dedicate the amount of time needed to call Marriott out on these kind of failures as frequent as they are.

It did result in me canceling a Marriott credit card and moving a lot of spend to Hilton this year- including my wedding. Hope their franchisee enjoyed the $110 they saved.