Things that turn me off about a hotel
 

Of course, bad service and lousy rooms, but I am looking for more specific items.

Here's my list, what's yours?

1. Charging for internet access.
2. Other nuisance fees.
3. Outsourcing normal hotel functions (like the business center) so as to have an excuse to charge nuisance fees.
4. A bunch of placards informing me how the hotel will be degrading its service to me and increasing its profit margin, to "save the environment."
5. A lot of lamps all over the room, each with a 15 watt or lower light bulb.
6. Household staff instructed to turn off the heating/air conditioning after cleaning the room.
7. Sticking a "voluntary" charitable donation on my hotel bill without asking me (and later, presumably, taking credit for donating the money).
8. A bathroom so small that towels have to be put on a rack in the shower.
9. Thermostats that reset automatically in the middle of the night, at other times, or have motion detectors attached.
10. Seeing a bunch of hotel employees, palms outstretched, for the first time when checking out.

Internet access charge - more often in higher end hotels
Parking fees
rooms with insufficent lighting
warm bottle of water left on table with a note telling you it will cost $5 if you drink it
desk managment fees

Internet access has to be my #1. You can easily pay $30/day in the UK! I'll just keep walking to the nearest McDonald's, thanks.


Halothane

Charges for calling the 1-800 numbers of calling card providers.

Charging for receiving a FedEx or DHL package -- another example of nuisance fee...:mad:

Parking Charges
Standard Room declarated as "Upgrade"
Leaking Ice Machines
No Coffee Maker in the room

Sure there is more... comes with the time ;)

Charges for internet access.

Peeling paint (especially in bathrooms).

Based on this initial extremely scientific result, clearly internet access charges are way ahead in the race to be #1!

Insultingly overpriced minibar and room service prices. I mean, $6-7 for a can of coke? Are you serious? And I'm a lazy sob so I love raiding the minibar. But I do have my limits. It seriously pisses me off when I see some of these insane prices.

1. Charging for internet access.
2. A bunch of placards informing me how the hotel will be saving the environment by not changing towels - AND THEN CHANGING THEM EVERY DAY! I have yet to have a hotel leave the towels even though I hang them up nicely and leave the card out in plain sight!
3. A lot of lamps all over the room, each with a seemingly 15 watt or lower light bulb. At least leave one high watt bulb in the room!
4. Rooms that aren't equipped with a master electricity switch, insert your room key and all services turn on. Take it out and presto - all power off. Easier than running around turning the lights out.
5. Refrigerators that have no room for stuff you might like to keep cool yourself! (You can include that warm bottle of $5 water here, too.)

SLAMMING doors :td: Something hotels easily could (AND SHOULD) remedy.

Seems that the higher end the hotel, the more likely it charges for internet access.

Even better, I'm staying in the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Chicago and the note says if you drink it a charge will be applied to your in-room dining account. No mention of what the charge will be, just that some charge will show up. :rolleyes:

+1 on the internet access

I'm somewhat mixed on parking fees depending on the circumstances.

I can understand a hotel charging parking fees in NYC or SFO, where parking is at a premium and a high percentage of hotel guests are likely arriving without cars. In those cases, they'd essentially be losing money giving free parking to guests versus renting the spaces out to paying customers.

However, on my last trip, I was charged $15/day in La Jolla, CA, where most every business aside from hotels seems to have its own lot with free parking. In that case, parking fees seem absurd and unreasonable.

This actually makes sense, in a way.

Business travelers are less price-sensitive, so another $10 for wi-fi on top of the $170 room hardly registers. But the leisure traveler looking for a room at Exit 183 is going to be drawn towards the "FREE WIRELESS INTERNET" advertised on the marquee.

I was at a conference in Raleigh last week and the conference rate (at the new Mariott) was something like $159 a night. I saw dozens of my fellow conference attendees surfing the web on their laptops between sessions. At $10/day, the hotel must have raked in literally thousands in extra wifi fees. (I did without, personally) Multiply that by 52 weeks a year, and you have a huge profit center. It's just the old principal of supply and demand.

It's the same reason why high-end hotels charge you $7 for a bowl of room service oatmeal, but the local Comfort Inn gives you a free spread of sausages, eggs, bagels, fruit, etc. Personally, I don't stay at high-end hotels unless I have to (conference).