hfly

DYNAMIC CURRENCY CONVERSION and the lies perpetrated by hotels and on their staff and guests in order to get people to agree to it. Specifically when they make the choice for you (which is not actually legal in some countries and which is in fact against the merchant agreements that hotels have) and try to force customers into the rip off rates. Worse when the staff of such hotels INSIST that it is a good or better deal, when it is anything but one. This practice is very prevalent in Asia and seems to be moving around a lot lately.

Hvr

My fellow Australians will understand this one.

Not having a kettle in the room. I don't want a freaking coffee maker. I don't drink the stuff. I want hot water so I can make a hot chocolate with the powder I bring because no US hotel ever has hot chocolate.


A tap in the bathroom that i can fill said kettle under, why have low taps and very high containers?

House keeping, I want the option to opt out when I don't need it. When travelling through the US last month the happiest housekeepers were those I told I didn't want service and asked them to just come in and ring through as if the room had been serviced.

Which brings me to, have a door wedge. If you're coming into the room whilst I am there the door is staying open, wide open. Have a door wedge so this can be done and we can have our exchange quickly and publicly. Safer for both of us.

jpetekYXMD80

-disabling of certain heating/cooling systems by season. I don't care if it's winter, that doesn't help me if my room is sweltering.

-no refrigerator available. it's nice to be able to bring leftovers and drinks/snacks back

-outlandish resort fees for things I will not use

Christopher

This is another one of mine. Do the people that choose the taps and/or choose the kettles for the rooms ever try to fill the kettle from the tap? Sometimes I think the answer must be a resounding "no"!

joemcool

I'll go ahead and agree with whats been posted so far, especially bad WiFi, no available power outlets, poor tv channel selection (Why can I watch a hockey game in the bar, but not my room...), and expensive/bad breakfast.

The worst I've ever seen happened a few weeks ago at a friend's wedding in GA. I stayed at a Springhill Suites just outside Athens, GA for the wedding. The room was pleasant enough (though they went a bit overboard with the "spa" theme), but there were no drawers! There was the standard 3 foot wide closet for hanging clothes, but that was it. I ended up stacking my folded clothes on the table and A/C unit, but I can't imagine what the hotel's designer intended me to do with them...

Other Springhill Suites and various Marriott chain hotel's haven't had this problem, but this one was pretty ridiculous...

ACYYZ/SD

Single-bedded rooms. Recently stayed at the Hilton Nordica in Reykjavik, and I realize that this is largely a Northern European standard. Vast majority of hotel has 2 single beds - have not slept in one since I was nine years of age, and unable to secure alternative arrangements.

Any major hotel chain offering 4* accommodations or above should abolish single beds.

danpass

the only solution is to fill up a cup, then fill the container. back and forth, back and forth ...... lol

Jane's Addiction

- insufficient lighting

- the trend of open bathrooms or merging bathrooms and bedroosm. stayed at a new (high-ish) end hotel which took this the furthest i have seen this far, with the tub fully in the bed room (was easier to watch the TV from the tub than from the desk)

- insufficient AC. i like it to be cold, and sleep better. I hate being unable to get a room below 24C at night. Always in China....

B747-437B

a) Hotels that do not allow you to use their lobby to wait before check-in or after check-out. I can understand discouraging transient traffic, but if you insist on check-out by 2pm and my flight is later in the afternoon, do you really expect me to wander the streets in the snow for an hour until my shuttle picks me up? (Marriott Beijing Northeast)

b) Hotels that ban outside food/drink from being brought onto their property (and the security guards that enforce these silly regulations). There is nothing more annoying than being forced to drink the last few sips of your Diet Coke at the door of the 4* hotel due to "management policy". (Crowne Plaza Istanbul Asia)

keihin_242

Need to second this. I know it's pretty much the standard at European and Japanese hotels, but this sucks, especially in October, April, and May, when the heat is often the only option (not even the fan) but the room is a broiler.

At least most European hotels let you open the windows. Some in Japan do not; I experienced a toasty stay at the Washington Hotel Yokohama - Isezakichojamachi a few years back during a warm week in March. A friend of mine once speculated that his blazing hot room in the ANA Hotel Okayama was "designed for Vulcans."

And I completely understand people that like to keep the rooms warm - it's just nice to have the option to choose heat or A/C, as most hotels in the US do.

gobluetwo

Many have already been said, but...

Lack of power outlets, in general, but als by the bed KILLS me. What a pain.

I just stayed at a Hilton-owned property in NYC that had NO COFFEE/TEA IN THE ROOM. I figured it'd be cheaper to just go downstairs to the restaurant to grab a cup of tea rather than having room service bring me a cup. It cost almost $4.

Speaking of which, exorbitantly priced everything. Basic pastry/juice breakfast for $20? WIRED internet for $15? 6 oz glass of juice at the Columbus OH Hyatt for $4 (given that you can get 64oz at the grocery store for <$4, that's highway robbery)?

Hotels that still don't have in-room wifi. Not that it matters much to me since I got a mifi, but still - that's just silly .

Ridiculously loud A/C units. You know the ones where you have to at least double the TV volume in order to hear over it when they kick on.

When you hang your towels so they're not replaced, per the "we respect the environment" signs everywhere, but housekeeping replaces them anyway. Seriously - if the towel is only used after a shower, I can use it more than once.

That's silly. I guess the whole "hotel lobby as office/hangout/coffeehouse" trend hasn't yet hit China.

cordelli

• CFL light bulbs that date back to when they were invented, the kind where you have to wait 10 minutes as they get brighter and brighter. Replace them with instant on ones, use the old ones in fixtures like hallways and garages where they are always on
• Thermostats that say warmer and colder instead of numbers. I know I want a room at a certain temperature, and don't want to play turn it back a bit, than 20 minutes later turn it a bit more to zero in
• Hotels too lazy to plumb so that cold is on the right, and hot on the left in every room instead of every other room because they did not want to cross the pipes
• slow draining showers, by the time I finish the shower, the water should not be ankle deep
• Vending machines on the floors selling cans of soda for $2 or more
• When the wifi signal from the hotel across the street is stronger (and cheaper) than theirs
• Alarm clocks you need instructions to set
• Outlets. Fully understand many areas don't allow them to put in power strips or extension cords by code, but they could switch the dual outlets to quads.
• Irons that look like somebody cooked with them and never cleaned them
• long breakfast lines for serve yourself food. If the line is 20 people deep, put out another tray of the hockey puck egg things on the other side of the room to cut it in half
• $2 walmart plastic toilet seats

mhnadel

Every Hampton Inn I've stayed at has had hot chocolate. Sometimes it is even in the room, but more often you can get it all day at the coffee / tea area in the lobby.

The thing I haven't seen mentioned yet (and is something that seems to have popped up in the past couple of years) is furniture arranged in such a way that you have to move half of it in order to get to the drapes to close them.

LTBoston

This is a little thing, but it annoys me: When housekeeping doesn't replace the little doorknob-hanging-breakfast-order-thingies after I've used the first one. This is especially annoying in hotels that don't open room service until 6:30 a.m. or later.

I don't like having to talk to anyone first thing in the morning who does not have a pot of coffee for me in his or her hand, especially a room service order-taker who asks me to repeat everything three times and then tells me my order will be delivered in 45 minutes, when I won't have time to enjoy it.

bitburgr

Mini ironing boards.
And crappy irons...especially ones that don't have a burst of steam button.