The designer always puts a framed mirror at the desk, presumably for the ladies to sit there to put on their make-up. Well, the ladies cannot do it 2' away from the mirror. They need to be 2" away. The mirror is also very distracting for those of us sitting there trying to do some serious work. Pretty soon you'll check your hair, pluck your eyebrow............

henryw:

I just lived in the supermodern Hilton Lyon.
Very stylish, well designed hotel. Had a tub and a shower. A nice working area with lots of place, plugs etc. A small balcony with two chairs and a small table facing a park. Vertical shades/shutters (electricaly) to change/regulate according to the sun etc. ... One thing was not perfect: You had to change the elevator when you go from the garage to you room, it should have been one elevator to reach all floors. One nice security feature: You had to use the room keycard in order to operate the elevator.
An example for bad planing was Westin Bellevue in Dresden. Otherwise a very nice hotel. But the garage had no connection to the hotel. You had to walk trough the rain in order to get to the hotel (or to the garage, when coming from the hotel). The hotel had only one way to enter. If you are on the other side of the street (with an island in the middle) you have to drive 1/2 mile to reach the entry of the hotel. I would have asked the City of Dresden to open the island in the middle of the road to enter the hotel from both sides of the street.
In an upscale hotel, I would like to have a locked(only I can open it!, the luggage doesn't have to be locked!) walk-in closet where I can "deposit" all the luggage, clothings, laptop, documents etc.

USAFAN
The parking elevator to lobby transfer is a necessary security measure to check the criminals at the lobby level. For elevators with direct guest floor access we recommend to our clients to switch off the upper floor acces at night.
The electronic card key alone is not going to work, as the criminals can follow you out of the elvator. No guests would demand to see the other guests' card key before they let them follow.
Your idea of a lockable walk-in closet is an excellent idea, the best I've heard in years. Thank you.

Here's another one. I've renovated a 515 room hotel a few years ago. The bathrooms had a spoon-shaped vanity, i.e., there was a narrow wall ledge above the toilet. Presumably the ledge was to serve as a shelf space for storage of nic-nacs, but of course nobody used it for fear that the things will fall into the toilet. The saddest thing was that these ledges were built too wide, which made it difficult for the the toilet seats to stand upright. So what do the guys do? Stand sideways and keep the seat up with one knee? Do it with one hand? Most men have trouble keeping it inside the bowl with two hands. We need to hire an instructor.

I agree. Hilton Lyon had it exactly like you recommend. Both elevators where side by side, the doors facing the reception.

The parking elevator and the guest floor elevators should not be side by side. This is a common design error by tradition.
They should be kept apart to make the guests/criminals walk across the lobby in full view of the concierge desk or front desk before going upstairs.

Unfortunately, I have found a couple times that there needn't be a ledge in the way for the toilet seats not to stay upright. Perhaps a word with the seat manufacturers is in order. (This is of course not a phenomenon limited to hotels.) The easiest solution to such a defective seat is not mentioned in your list, and that is to sit down on the thing. I mean you're in the room by yourself, right? In the bathroom by yourself, at least, I should think, most of the time anyway when you're working that sort of function. Nothing to prove, no testosterone battle to lose, no one will ever know except those people watching the hidden cameras.

Then we'll have to take our pants down to the ankle. How unmasculine! How inefficient!

[This message has been edited by henryw (edited 05-20-2002).]

Insufficient bathroom counter space, inadequate bathroom lighting, no makeup mirror, shower stall doors that don't close properly to avoid flooding the floor, no switches on BOTH sides of the bed to turn off all lights.

Lighting is of utmost concern as the baby boomers grow to their 50s. Old eyes need three times as much light as young eyes. Old bathrooms have a fluorescent light strip above the mirror. It's harsh and shows the bags under your eyes.
Some hotels in the early 90's introduced bright double wall sconces. They are flattering -- you don't see the wrinkles and turkey necks anymore. Then some designers forgot the purpose of this concept and started dimming these wall sconces. Now we see bathrooms with double wall sconces plus one or two overhead spot lights. The recommended light level should be 50 footcandles at eye level and 40 on vanity top.

I have to agree that lighting is a big problem in hotel rooms. Usually, it's too dim and/or not in enough places.

Also, what do hotels have against OVERHEAD lighting? Very few of them have it; I love it. It can be IN ADDITION TO the individual lamps.


Kathy

1. No free local phone calls. OK, I know this isn't a design error but it's my biggest gripe.
2. No spare electical outlets. I need two each near the bed and at the desk.
3. No high speed Internet access (to my laptop).
4. Water not hot enough or takes too long to heat up.
5. Shower water volume too low.
6. Shower temperature control too hard to get to desired warmth.
7. Noise, either from hallway or outside.
8. No separate shower stall (prefer to shower/bath combo).
9. No soap/shampoo holder in shower.
10. Cannot completely block out exterior light.

Excellent, QuietLion. For years I tried to convince my clients the virtue of 2 electrical outlets by the bed. One for the laptop, and one for to charge the cell phone. I presume you need them for the same purpose. There is very little differnce in cost for single outlet versus duplex.

I for one don't want the good lights only in the bathroom. I don't want to try and put on makeup and blowing my hair in a humidity-filled room. I am greedy. I want good light in the bathroom for my honey to shave AND a vanity in the bedroom with good light, a magnifying mirror AND an outlet for my hairblower.

[This message has been edited by Marysunshine (edited 05-21-2002).]

Kathy, I'll have to say that overhead light may not be the right solution, especially when you lie in bed. Most chains require 4 lamps in the room. If that's not bright enough, I usually specify a halogen torchiere (floor lamp directed at the ceiling). The reflected indirect light is more pleasant.