Something's missing
 

These are little things... but at least for me they are important:

*Having the zip out checkout system through the t-v in your hotel room work. It really can be a pain in the cat's tail when you are rushing to check out and the system is not working saying "Sorry, you must go wait ina long line to check out." So I end up calling the front desk and checking out.

In fact: my most recent stay at the NYC Millenium Hilton says "You can zip out checkout by checking otu channel 20. I go there... no button for zip out.

*I wish the hotels would start putting those little bottles of mouthwash and bubble bath in the bathrooms again... I hate carrying my big bottle of mouthwash and I lik eto have clean breath. And sometimes I like taking a hot bubble bath. The Millenium Hilton had Neutrogena Bath something and I assume it's bubble bath.

*MY BIG ISSUE: LEAVING A 'DO NOT DISTURB SIGN ' SO I CAN PUT IT ON THE DOOR. I can't earn frequent sleeping miles when housekeeping bangs on the door so early.
I bring this up because once upon a time, in my first trip to Hong Kong, the flight was in five hours late, I was fried so I went to the hotel, checked in, went tot my room, stripped, flopped on the bed and was off earning double snoring points in seconds.
Then early in the morning I in half sleep see this little shadow in a white dress running around the room, I sit up and it's this housekeeper who's probably no more than 18 or 19. I screamed, she screamed, they brought security and she said "Oh you forgot to put the do not disturb sign on the door.
It's not nice to wake the CATMAN out of his beauty sleep. I can be a real tiger!



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MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!!!

Beware green bath gel that looks just like green mouthwash. Sheraton Wall Centre Vancouver has green bath gel--as I learned the untasteful way!

Speaking of those little bottles of stuff on the vanity, I always take the unopened ones home. Figure I paid for them and then I give them to homes for abused women, kids, etc. They especially like the sewing kits.

Clear telephone dialing instructions, and costs involved. "Dial 9 for local call, 8 for long distance", what about 800/888/877 lines? Often, I can not find any instructions.

If TV checkout is not working, try to 1) either drop off your room key/express checkout form in an express checkout box at the lobby or 2) if an express checkout box is not available catch the eye of someone at the front desk and hand them your keys/form and tell them to check you out at their liesure.

Maybe it's the engineer in me, but I'd like some sort of instruction/plan for the lights in a hotel room.

I mean the sconces over the bed have switches on them but do not work unless the switches by the door and under the curtain are both on...but since they've replace the bulb with a flourescent that takes 10 seconds to warm-up you'll never know when the combination is right as you keep switching to every combination in rapid succession to try to see a spark of light......


You'd think an layout/instruction behind the door would be possible....

Similar to your comment David, I've woken up in the middle of the night to my laptop beeping at me because it's battery was dying since I had turned off a light switch without realizing I had also turned off the outlet my laptop was plugged into.

I spend a lot more time in Days Inns than I do at a Sheraton, as I'm often travelling to small towns. I love the complimentary shampoo, etc. because I can use them in the Days Inn, then refill them at home for my next flight.

The soaps are a different problem - Caitlin and Victoria like having soaps that are "their size", so they never survive until the next trip.

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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

What's missing:

Phone books that tell you what exchanges are local calls.

What's not missing:

A dozen little advertising cards scattered throughout my hotel room. I can't think of anything that makes me feel less at home than having ads all over the place. I hide them after I get to my room - and fairly often, they are returned to their places daily by housekeepers.

Item that was unique;
I have run into a few Marriotts and Crown Plazas that have detailed dialing instructions and a listing of local on-line services access numbers, saving me from making a call.

Items that disturb me;
Electronic keys that don't work when you first get to your room.

You'd think that hotels in a chain would be consistent with the use of a 8 or 9 for local calls. Seems that one week it's an 8, next week a 9, then a 9 back to an 8.

A/C and heating units that don't/won't consistently work.

Phone lines that are toooo short to reach the business desk (NOTE: Fairfields are nice and looooong!)

Hotels that won't drop your paper at your door and then make you run down to the front desk.

Maids that take your soap and half used shampoo each day and also ones that don't replace the used bathroom linens with new items. Seems that they must think that one only uses one towel and washcloth a day.

This might seem petty, but I would love for all hotels to give you a listing of available TV channels, either on the back of the remote or on a separate card. Going thru every channel might seem like fun for you surfers out there, but if I'm looking for a specific show--I'd like to find it easily.

dgolds ~ If I'm staying in a room for more than a night or two, I will often take all of the advertisements/tourist books/etc and throw them in the bottom dresser drawer, but I can't say I've ever had a maid put them back while I was still staying in the room!

What's funny is that problem is actually worse at the nicer hotel chains ... Hyatt is particularly guilty of this at times!

flyguy- my wife also takes and donates the lttle extras!

NJDavid- I sure agree and on of the worst cases was last year in Bangkok. I could not get the air con up to a functional level. For three days I tried to get them to look at the problem- again and again. Finally I caught the cleaning guy in the hallway one morning and after a few moments of difficulty since ny Thai is not the best, he demonstrated that you must press HARD on the console and then keep the electronic button pressed for about 8-10 seconds in order to reset the temp at a lower/highewr level! Finally did get a reasonable temp and I suggested to the hotel that they post a card in Thai/English etc in each room to indicate to guests that this was the case! Don't yet know if they did!

extra towels....

one bath towel & one hand towel just aren't enough if you shower more than once a day and/or have long hair!!

I don't like all the advertising, but what is appreciated is a decent map of the area, showing restaurants, shops, etc.

LOL TexasFlyer regarding the Sheraton Wall Centre in YVR. I almost made the same mistake the first time I stayed there.

I know some hotels have them, but what I would like to see is "healthy" selections in the room service/restaurant menus. Something as simple as spaghetti in marinara sauce would be great. It sure beats fetuccini alfredo.

I agree baobab, it would be nice to have a decent map of the area with the location of area restaurants.

Hmm. I've never been to a hotel that didn't have a city map available from the Concierge. It will usually have pre-printed restaurants or better yet, ask the Concierge for recommendations.

And most Euro hotels have mouthwash and bath gel. U.S. hotels never seem to have bath gel. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

foreign languages can be an impediment, stimpy...

and there are times, even in English-speaking countries, that I don't want to talk to *anyone* after a long day.

mauld: Ditto!

stimpy: I like that nice Eurogel, too - I first encountered it on trips to Munich years ago. One of the chains has a nice peppermint bath gel; can't remember which one, but it strikes me that it might be Westin. They also have it at, of all places, the Stratford Inn, a motel in wonderful Ashland, OR.



[This message has been edited by dgolds (edited 07-12-1999).]

Regarding the telephone dialing instructions....once you know that 9 is for a local call, use it to access 800/888, etc numbers. Toll free numbers are considered "local" calls.

I agree with the map frustration, I usually investigate a city I'll be in prior to arrival....getting a map with Rental Car is only fair. Some cities put detailed city maps in the phone bookes BUT when I find the page I need it usually has been ripped out!

(Baobab: I agree with the "no talking" attitude at the end of one's day! My job requires me to talk (all day) I'm an Instructor, so quiet solitude is a beautiful thing!)

Lastly, I want my shampoos/bath gels refreshed on a DAILY basis. Even if housekeeping views the half empty bottle of shampoo in the shower....give me a new one, maybe what's left will not be enough for the next day's shampooing!!

(Wonderful amenities at the The Pointe @ Squaw Peak Hilton in Phoenix...Caswell & Massey Products!!)



[This message has been edited by traveltoomuch (edited 07-13-1999).]

Wish the dial 9 strategy was more consistent. In Dallas recently (can't remember if it was the Intercontinental or Harvey Suites - stayed at both within a week of each other) I had to dial 9 for an area code 972 call, but 8 for a 214 or 800/888 call. All technically were local calls.

I don't think hotels can keep up with the continuous area code splits and overlays (and the mandatory ten or eleven digit dialing). It's havoc on my default modem settings.

Effective 2 days ago, Oregon added a second area code (971), which will cover the eastern 2/3 of the state. Ads in the paper daily to start dialing 10 numbers for all local calls, to practice, and they will start enforcing it in January.
The DFW 214/972 thing was confusing at first, but I've never been in a hotel (usually stay somewhere in Irving/Las Colinas area) that made you use a different access for each one.

I used to think that if you dialed 9 for a local call, it would not be charged as a long distance call if it was in fact long distance (I thought the call would not go through).

I discovered the error of my ways at the Courtyard by Marriott in Annapolis ... dialed nine and the number and the call went through ... and it showed up as a long distance call on my bill!

AusTxHiker, don't be afraid to ask for something that is NOT on the room service menu. I have very simple food tastes that most room service menus don't adequately address (except in the kiddie menu). By and large, most hotels will prepare you almost anything you want provided they have the necessary ingredients on hand, regardless of whether the item is on the menu. If the person on the phone taking your order doesn't think they can make what you want, don't accept no for an answer. Ask them to talk to the chef. If that doesn't work, ask to speak with the chef yourself. They will usually accommodate you.

My department has a lot of travelers - we too donate all unused shampoo, etc... to a homeless shelter.

Also - I wish for a telephone book in every room - conditioner and lotion in all of the rural hotels that I stay at (clearly many female travelers don't frequent these places), and a "Where" magazine in every city hotel!!

IT's a very nice gesture to donate the unused shampoo/soap etc to the homeless. I think the hotels should take it on themself to put all the soap in a big canister and pour the half used shampoos and other stuff in containers and give them to the homeless.


Everyone here has made such great suggestions.. a few reflections:

Baobab: my hair is not as long or as beautiful as yours http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif but I too could use an extra towel or two.. especially if I go swimming and I have to wrap my suit and stuff in a towel. One HOliday inn gave me one towel with the thickness of a piece of paper towel.
Mauld: my sentiments exactly. there are a few times I am in my room alone, it's late and I'd like to know what channel is which (especially if it's the weekend and I want to know which is the PBS station airing "the Red Green SHOW!"
You know.. a T-V guide like guide could be useful in rooms!

MAYBE We can take all these ideas and turn them into a "Hotel Guest Bill of rights!"

Starting with Amendment one:

*NO STUPID EXTRA CHARGES FOR LOCAL OR CREDIT CARD CALLS!!! WRITE THIS IN BIG READ LETTERS AS THE PREAMBLE TO THIS CONSTITUTION.

And here's that Preamble:

"We the flyers, who travel the world, in order to have an enjoyable stay, ask first of all to END the Miscellanous PHONE charges, Double Dip our points, ensure zin in early and late check-in, provide us with extra towels and most of all: do not disturb signs to avoid those early morning surprises!

DO ordain and establish this constitution, for the Flyer-Talkers around the world.

(sing this to the tune of "We the PEople" from Schoolhouse ROck... if you don't know what this is... e-mail me for an explaination!)

Here's a couple that were just encountered this morning......

Shower heads that are too low.......

Sink/shower drains that don't.....

Those flimsy shower curtains that somehow blow in and stick to you like a magnet....

(live from the Morristown, TN Holiday Inn)

ontherun ~ you sure that's not the "Bring Your Own Sheets" Morristown Holiday Inn? The shower curtain thing, now THAT'S funny. And the shower heads for midgets has always been a thorn in my side, or I should say a "spray" in my side!!

I just recently stayed at the Denver Tech Sheriton and found a $1.00 charge for the USA Today! And I had to walk down to the elevators to get it! What if I didn't WANT the USA Today? The kids down at the hotel lobby insisted that the charge was a "standard" addition to the regular hotel fee. Now, it may seem like I'm crying over $1 here, but if the hotel has an average of 300 guests a night, that's an additional $9000 a month they're sucking out of their guests. That just didn't sit well with me. No sir. Didn't like it one bit.

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Mahalo brudda!
www.hotshirts.com

No actually it's not a bad one, not compared to the Hazard, KY HI property that I recently had the (dis)pleasure of staying at.

Seems that the areas that our company sells our software in puts me in a wiiiiide variety of lodging properties <VBG> but I have yet to have to rent the sheets (or room) on a quarter hour basis.

Those paper thin flimsy curtains are the pits. Seems there is some invisible aerodynamics/wind flow that blows the curtain inwards with enough force to be a second skin.

Wanderlust, You from the islands? Spent nine years on Oahu as an Army brat.

Ciao~