What do you want and don’t want when checking into a hotel? The list could go on forever. But there are some things most people expect; not all of them are ones you’d predict. After traveling across the world as a business woman and, more recently, as a journalist and journeywoman tourist, I have become a bit demanding. Well maybe not so demanding — all hotels should offer these basics.
Cleanliness
People want clean — clean rooms, clean linens and clean bathrooms. Easier said than done. There are frequent complaints about rooms not being up to sanitary snuff. We’re not only talking about down-and-dirty motels on rarely traveled remote secondary roads. There have been many reports about glitzy hotel rooms not passing the white glove and bedbug test.
One person said he no longer stays in hotels that have quilted bedspreads. He prefers duvets with crisp white cotton covers so he can tell whether or not they’re clean. This was before the bedbug crisis. Jim explained he discovered a floral patterned cover had some extra designs that betrayed a lack of washing or dry cleaning.
Amenities
People do care about thick towels and comfortable sheets. Some would like air cleaners to insure the room always smells fresh. Then there are those who want black-out curtains and a coffee maker in the room with a free selection of coffee and tea. One woman asked why couldn’t there be complimentary bottled water. She’s irritated by having to ante up for it. Others resent to paying $4 for a soft drink. Guess they’ve never heard about profit centers. Please be sure the rooms are quiet. Let someone else’s room be next to the elevator or the ice machine.
Food
Some travelers feel breakfast should be included in the room price. Others said they’d appreciate some fruit and edible goodies awaiting them upon check-in. How about being given something to drink as soon as they walk through the hotel’s doors?
People who travel a lot wish there were a list of restaurants that locals frequent so they wouldn’t end up eating all the time in the hotel or at place next door that’s a tourist trap.
Tips
A couple of people interviewed said they’d like access to a change machine, or tips for the staff, added to their bills. They don’t like having to fumble around looking for money or experience embarrassing ‘tip’ moments.
Get connected
Others see red when they have to pay for the internet or are unable to log on without calling someone from the IT department, who’s frequently not available for a few hours. “Paying extra for internet, these days, is like asking someone to pay extra for electricity in the room,” one person stated.
They’re the same clients who want sufficient electrical plugs (a communications console) in order to charge all of their electrical gadgets including an IPod docking station. Many complain about insufficient light. I hate when there’s no easily visible alarm clock that doesn’t require an engineering degree to set the alarm.
And more
Beds glorious beds: Some voiced they’d like to be able to adjust the mattress’s firmness. Other complaints included pillows that are too hard or too soft. It’s a highly personal choice, which is why I travel with my own.
One traveler joked, “After a long trip I’d like to see robotic bed waiting for me next to the front desk so I could fall into it and have it take me up to the room. Then the next day if we get bored we could have motorized bed races in the hallways.” That’s a bit extreme – but hey …
Safety
People want doors with good locks on both the doors and windows. Secure parking lots are important with camera surveillance. Hallways should be well-lit.
Service was the main complaint – or rather the lack of it
Clients appreciate being treated with respect and not being greeted as if they’re intruders. They have the nerve to think that after their first stay, they should be addressed by name.
One person said, “All I’ve ever wanted from a hotel is that when I walk in, they hand me my room key. None of this, stand there, sign this, let me rehash everything you already filled out online, let me take your card, even though we have that info.”
Others said they’d like to check in with the same type of confirmation documentation airlines are sending to clients’ cellphones — in other words, a room pass.
According to Joe Brancatelli of JoeSentMe some hotels are getting the message. The Courtyard by Marriott chain is dumping the big, imposing central desk in favor of “welcome pedestals” in its lobby redesign. They’re small areas where lobby personnel can handle the check-in and check-out formalities. The pedestals are designed to allow the hotel employee to step forward and assist guests with other needs too. The new Hyatt Place chain has also eliminated front desks and are making the check-in process increasingly self-service.
Pamper me
Jillian said, “Take care of me. Care that I’m happy and get a good night’s sleep. There are only two hotels I’ve ever stayed in that I’d absolutely return to and that’s because they did pleasant little extra things — free wine tastings, free food at happy hour, a nice exercise room and helpful staff who remembered me. This is in addition to getting the basics right.
Both properties also had comfortable, inviting public spaces. That’s important on long business trips when staying in the room becomes claustrophobic and I’m too tired to go out. I just want the service people to be pleasant and smile.
That’s certainly not asking too much, is it? Please post what you want to find when you stay in a hotel. Perhaps some people who work in the hospitality industry will read your responses and take them to heart. We can always hope.
Karen Fawcett is president of Bonjour Paris.
Karen Fawcett loves to travel anywhere. Karen was a founder & president BonjourParis.com while living in Paris for more than 25 years. She has traveled across Europe and the rest of the world. She is now based in Washington, DC.
Paying for Internet access gripes me, especially when entire towns are now wireless. Witness Falmouth, MA.
But re the “amenities”–food and drinks in little bars–those are not usually owned by the hotels. The money they make on them is negligible and a hassle. I actually like it when there is NO food or drink that costs.
Here’s the thing. The hotel does NOT have your credit card number if you book online. It’s something in the booking system, but it does not go to the hotel, they cannot charge you without your card being swiped right there in front of them. Furthermore, what’s to stop you from typing in sixteen random digits in the booking system, and charging some stranger’s card if all you have to do to pay is book online? They have to see your card and see your ID so they know you are who you say you are, and haven’t stolen anyone’s money. They have to do this, because if you DID steal someone’s CC#, that person would see the charge, complain to have it reversed. By that point, the ‘guest’ is long gone, the hotel has spent the money it costs to provide them the service, and now has to lose the revenue on it. As someone who has worked the desk at a hotel I’ve seen too many people whose ID’s don’t match the CC they give me. It happens more often than you’d think. So what’s to say it isn’t even more rampant online when you just have to type in the numbers?
I promise you the desk clerk is not out to get you. But there are things involved in check-in that have to be involved. If you stay there for six weeks at a time, leave for a couple of weeks and then you’re back again for another six weeks, yeah, we’ll leave some of the check-in procedure out because we have that information. We’re still gonna need your signature, because otherwise you could say “oh hey, I didn’t stay here, they’re charging me but I wasn’t here.” The desk clerk wants to check you in as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Give me accessable electric outlets. I have taken to carrying a power strip with me on trips to plug in bedside for my cell phone and computer chargers. It stops from having to decide whether to unplug the light or the clockradio.
My two biggest beefs are: charging for WiFi and surly staff. I will gladly pay extra to stay at an Omni or Ritz Carlton simply because I know their staff will be tops.
I’m in the Omni in Pittsburgh. Internet costs $9.95. People are nice though.
I stay at a reputable chain (Marriott) and please no more towels in Courtyards with see through holes and body hair in the bathroom. Seeing short and curlies in the bath or on the bed are the grossest. Give me a clean room, a decent bed and a good internet connection and I’m happy. Good point about the outlets, too.
I found it interesting on a recent stay that some of the breakfast items served during the week were removed when the weekends rolled around. I didn’t appreciate that at all.
I like a clean room, accessible outlets, internet included in room rate and a reasonable restaurant on site. I don’t use the minibar so don’t want one. I don’t want to smell tobacco smoke anywhere in the hotel, and I don’t want to walk a mile to get anywhere. A fitness center with commercial quality fitness machines is an essential. I can live without the evening turn down service.
My hotel (very) basics:
#1(!) – The rate on my reservation or that I prepaid will be honored – no last minute switcheroos
#2 – I requested, and you promised – a certain type of bed, or non-smoking, whatever – honor that!
#3 – Unless you say the front desk closes, is it too much to ask that someone be there when, tired from flight delays, I arrive at 2AM?
#4 – No hotel should be allowed to design facilities that place a hotel door across from the elevators, or the ice machine, EVER!
#5 – Unfortunately, most have become used to the American-style hotel room – if your facility has rooms with shared baths or other ‘oddities’ please let me know BEFORE I book. Also, no ‘open concept’ suites – any ‘suite’ without walls is NOT a suite (see dictionary definition if you don’t believe me). – Parents of small children booking suites will thank you!
#6 – A thoroughly cleaned room (actually this should be higher on the list) – is it too much to ask that you bleach that tile grout?
#7 – More towels! Most people ask for more, can’t you just put more in the room to begin with?
#8 – Free local calls & 800#s- since the advent of cellphones, you’re probably not making any money on these calls anyway, but it would be nice if you would just see the light and logic and make them free so we don’t have to exhaust our batteries hanging on hold for the local taxi service, or while checking our outbound reservation.
#9 – Free parking! As irritating (maybe more) as baggage charges, are the facilities that expect customers to pay to park, while they also pay to stay. This is the worst of the hostage charges.
#10 – Reasonably priced (or free!) in-room coffee & water. Even Starbucks only has the nerve to charge $3 for coffee (and they make it for me!). Five bucks for water, really? I will never then eat in your restaurant because I can only imagine what a steak dinner there must cost based on that scale.
Hotel *basics*? Sounds more like a bunch of wish lists to me. Although, I agree about free WiFi, we never even had free local phone calls. Why would we get free WiFi now? But you can get free WiFi – just lower your standards a little. Only the higher end hotels charge for WiFi. Most of the mid-range chains don’t charge. And free water? No problem – there’s a glass and a water faucet. Go for it. If you absolutely must have bottled, buy your own. Same with food. The stuff most places serve for free makes me never want to touch the stuff. I’d much rather pay for a better breakfast. But that means a *better* breakfast – not that I want to pay for the same crud the mid-rangers are giving out for free these days.
My biggest expectations are that the room is clean and safe. I’d be happy if they’d get rid of the “freebies” (they’re not really free – you know that, right?) and hire an adequate staff to actually run the hotel properly.
@Janet
If the hotel doesn’t have my credit card when I book online, how can they charge me for a no-show? Merchants swipe cards because it gives them greater protection from fraud. Also, typing 16 random digits doesn’t work. Credit card numbers follow certain rules. Any number that doesn’t follow the rules shouldn’t be accepted as a credit card.
@Laura
I like open concept suites. They can be more spacious than the same room with closed walls.
Hello. When are all you hotel goers going to realize that B&Bs offer everything that you gripe about in this story! Free (often gourmet) breakfast, water, coffee, tea and snacks with no mini-bar prices attached, free wi-fi and an innkeeper who will notice if you’re not back in time for breakfast. Cleanliness is a given, and a friendly host upon arriving means you don’t have to worry about an imposing front desk upon checking in.
Discover today’s B&Bs and learn about a better way to stay. http://www.betterwaytostay.com.
Could not agree more on the internet and alarms. Hilton has received the message for Gold and Diamonds on internet. However, too many of their properties have slow, undependable, primarily wireless connections. As to alarm clocks, Hilton still needs to work on ones you can read by the light in the room and can readily figure out how to turn on and most importantly to the neighboring rooms, turn off in the a.m.!
One thing not mentioned, hotel shuttles!!!! They set the tone for many a stay, especially when they are nont dependable.
B&Bs are great for some kinds of trips, but they aren’t the answer to everything. A colleague told me about one she stayed in while interviewing for a job several years ago. No desk. Communal bathroom. It was not at all conducive to a business travel experience. Every B&B is different so without making individual phone calls or major online research into every place you stay, you can never really know what will be available to you. With chain hotels, the room setup and amenities are fairly standard. The only variable is the staff.
Which leads me into my next point that cleanliness is also not a given. B&Bs are run by humans who are sometimes all-too-human. They make mistakes. They cut corners. It happens in the B&B business too.
The biggest reason I’m not the greatest fan of B&Bs is how I’m treated. Sometimes the owner visits with me and I enjoy the social interaction. At other times, I have felt smothered by excessive hovering. And I always seem to have a dilemma at breakfast. Am I a guest or a customer? Do I have to be polite and eat what is served or can I feel free to push something away because I’m a picky eater? I know the logical answer is that I’m a paying customer and perhaps should have been consulted regarding my breakfast wishes. However, that isn’t always the case, and I’m not necessarily willing to hurt someone’s feelings over some creative breakfast dish they’re particularly proud of like scrambled eggs with home-grown broccoli on my honeymoon. Ick! Broccoli requires cheese. Eggs require no cheese. I couldn’t make it work. I don’t feel like I should have to worry about such things when I’m a paying customer.
Free WIFI. Just back from the All-Star Disney Resort. Internet access is via cable and at $9.95 per day. Granted, one is supposed to be out enjoying the Florida attractions but I do like to investiagte dining and other local attractions.
@ Carver,
I consider ‘open suites’ false adverttising – the definition of a suite is at least two rooms (as is any thing measured in suites, like music or furniture). If you like large rooms, fine, the hotel can provide them and advertise the spaciousness of their accommodations. But if you travel with little, curious ones, and a spouse or partner and want some, ah, privacy? The ‘open concept’ suite doesn’t cut it,
I want to be able to use a debit card to check in and register. My bank now gives a debit card instead of travelers checks . Safer. When you swipe them they are the same as cash since they are prepaid. Why a credit card when these are the new travelers checks? I can see asking for an ID just for security, but why give my credit card numbers out when these are meant for travel. I would rather pay cash or use one of these. All you have to do is have the numbers on that credit card stolen and your life is a mess for a long time. Debit cards are safer. You only load what you need. Never let your credit card out of your site. People are using their cell phones to take pictures of the front and back and selling the pictures. Then the buyer uses your numbers online.
Very happy to see this. I am in the process of developing my own hotel and sure that which I just read helped me a lot to better understand guests needs and plan ahead. Thank you