I travel and stay in hotels almost every week. It leads to some experiences which are far nicer than home, some which make me wonder why I ever leave and others that are almost perfect, with just one pet peeve ticked. Like most travelers I have a few things that really get me going, and for the first time I’ll share the things that drive me the craziest in a hotel…
#5: Doors That Block The Restroom…
If you’re going to spend all that money to design a hotel, how can you make the bathroom a last second consideration? I despise hotel rooms where the bathroom door requires a dance move to salsa dance your way in to the actual bathroom. This is common with doors that swing “in” where the shower or toilet are directly behind the door, creating the awkward shuffle.
#4: Lack Of Complimentary Water…
Take away my wifi and I may cry, take away my water for long enough and I literally may die. In a world where you can get bottled water or clean tap water for mere pennies, how can a hotel not offer at least one complimentary bottle of water? It’s madness, it’s infuriating and yes, that’s me carrying the case of spring water to my room directly past the front desk…
#3: Thin Adjoining Room Doors…
Privacy matters. Few things get on my nerves more than hearing someones conference call (at the best of times) and more… intimate moments at the worst of times, all thanks to rooms that can be adjoined. These adjoining doors often do very little to block out noise between the two, are semi creepy, in the thought that someone could open it with little effort and are just a general fail for people who don’t need their rooms adjoined.
#2: Unclear MiniBar Offerings, Free Or No?
Ok, this is mostly a first world problem here, and generally one I only run into at high end hotels, but it’s still annoying. Minibars aren’t obvious to find in some hotel rooms, so many properties put wine or something out on display to lure you in. I’ve had instances where the offering is a welcome gift, and others where I see a $78 charge for a crap bottle of wine on my bill. Only after looking through a menu in the hotel directory do I see the price!
#1: No Power Ports At The Bedside…
Very few people stay in their hotel room all day. It kinda defeats the point of every type of travel from business to pure leisure. Since we’re out all day our battery drains (way too fast), leaving us with the need to charge when we arrive back in our hotel haven. There is no better place to have charging ports or outlets than on the bedside table. Hell, just put them anywhere close to the side of the bed in a location I don’t have to get on my knees and reach. I find so many hotels where my phone ends up charging half way across the room. Not COOL!
You forgot a complicated shower! One of my biggest peeves! I’m a smart person – or at least I’d like to think so- and a shower where I can’t figure out how to turn the temperature up or to turn the shower head on is the worst!
For ladies there are two big ones. Hair dryers attacked to the wall or ones without any power to actually dry your hair.
Second, is a room with no power outlets near a mirror. They provide the hairdryer, or you have a flat iron and no where to plug it in and see what you are doing.
And a bonus one… the hotel has trendy dim lighting, so it’s impossible to put make up on. On a few occasions I’ve had to go to the spa or pool area for decent lights.
Holy cow above and beyond all these trifling things is: bathroom smack in the middle of the room! Check out the Crown Plaza Madrid airport, where you BETTER like being on display when you are in the shower, because it’s right in the middle of the room. Or, any number of hotels where the toilet has no privacy. You can be sitting there, straining away in full view of anyone in the room. What deviants are designing hotel rooms these days?