lighting in hotel room issues
 

One would assume that a hotel which hosts business conventions would have a desk AND a desk lamp for the attendees to perform their business activities--this is rarely the case.
[Re room lighting: for a few of the hotels I've stayed at, there was so little room lighting, so they provided seeing eye dogs to guide you through your room.]:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I haven't run into this issue in many hotel rooms. If anything, I've occasionally run into the opposite: a hotel room that has *only* desk and floor lamps without a single light from the ceiling (which I sometimes prefer...when I'm not working at the desk).

What property or brand are you talking about?

some people actually travel with lightbulbs and or small lamps

could have things delivered to hotel, especially with conferences

some properties might provide things (free/charge) on request

I find most hotels rooms deficient in this regard too. There's usually a switch by the door that turns on a ceiling light in the entry area. From there on in, there are floor/table lamps that cast a small circle of light in their immediate vicinity. A central ceiling light with a wall-mounted switch would be nice to have. Maybe they don't do it because it's harder to change bulbs there, but with modern long-life bulbs that shouldn't be a big concern.

Over the last year I've stayed in MGM LV, Caesars in LV and AC, Harrah's AC.
All of these host conventions, particularly the two in LV.
For none of these (in addition to a lack of desk lighting), there is not enough lighting to read in bed.

could also look at different room categories

Lack of overhead lighting has been discussed here before. I think the general consensus is that it would make construction wiring much more difficult/expensive to have overhead lights. The light inside the door is in the plumbing/hvac soffit so there is plenty of room to install a can. The ceiling of the rest of the room is typically just a concrete slab that is also the floor of the room above you so it is not really practical to run wiring through it. Much easier to run wires through the walls.

This has been discussed in many forums, and in just about all of the brands.

While I've not gone to the length of buying my own lamps, I have bought brighter bulbs for hotel rooms before.

Some of the brands (Marriott) have even lost focus so much that they've stopped putting desks & proper chairs in their remodeled properties! I'm in my 30s and wouldn't want to spend 8-10 hours sitting on a sofa or bed getting some real work done. And no, I'm not going to hang around the lobby's "collaboration space" to get work done either -- my work won't allow it, nor would I want to be working with client/case data in public.

I won't have space in my luggage for stuff like that.

LEDs my friend, LEDs. Some of these would take up about as much room as a fountain pen would in your bag. Plenty of USB-powered lights out there now too.

One of my Fenix CL2 neutral white LED camp lanterns often finds its way into my suitcase. It's barely 3"x2", puts out a pleasant light (not harsh blue/white like most LEDs) and runs a long time. I've found all sorts of uses for it on the road.

My related grumble is the hotel rooms where 1) the room key toggles on the electricity for the room but 2) the key slot is 7+ feet into the room. So turning on the power after it's dark outside requires this mad pilates lunge thing where you're trying to reach the key slot before the room door slams shut behind you, leaving you to stumble around in a totally dark room.

It's actually somewhat better at check-in because you can use a suitcase or bag to block the door open (and consequently let light in from the hall) until you grope your way to the key slot.

This reminds me of a colleague last year. He moaned to me at breakfast about how he couldn't see to work in the room, how dreadful it all was etc. He had been at the hotel ~24 hours and clearly felt strongly enough to moan to me. But not, apparently, strong enough to ask the front desk for a lamp. Which I did on his behalf on my way back to my room after breakfast. It astonished me that someone could moan, yet had done nothing proactive about it. Hotels don't want their guests to struggle, they will help if they can - I have had lamps, chairs, even a desk brought in to my hotel room to make my stay more comfortable and productive.

I've never been in a hotel room where the lighting was bad. What would make you need a desk lamp specifically? Also, most hotels have desks in the room. You can easily research this before booking.

If I had to do work at a desk.:p
[I was in a "mini" SUITE at MGM Grand in Las Vegas: NO ceiling lights, a few table lamps, one floor lamp--but NO desk lamp. I've been in hotels (mostly in casinos) which had NO desks--but they DID host business conventions.]

Vegas might explain things. That said, call the front desk and complain. Then ask for the duty manager. Put it no them to either find you a lamp or more you to a room with a lamp. I've never had this issue ever, but I avoid the poor service in Las Vegas at all costs.