Ways that hotels annoy guests

[luxury-lizard]

Here's a few more:

• In room safe which does not work (probably happens 50% of the time) - usually just needs batteries replaced
• Mini-bar fridge which is not at all cold
• Hangers attached to the bar
• Taps which are too complex; ditto for lights
• No (or insufficient) power points and/or USB slots at desk (if there is one)
• No Nespresso machine (or some alternate brand which does not use "Nespresso compatible" capsules)

And last but not least - hotels rooms which are "not yet ready" even past offical check-in time and one which tells you at (say) 9am that your room is ready but since check-in is 3pm then it will be $30 per hour to check-in before then (I'm looking at you QT Perth).

 

[RooFlyer]

Lifts taking ages, lengthening the wait to reach your room even further. And out of order lifts!

I often think that they must have one or more lifts deliberately out of use at some times, to save costs. Does anyone know if that actually happens.

Banged-up irons that drip and spill water all over your clothes.

Or spit rusty water over your clothes

 

[Mattg]

I dislike hotels that don't provide a proper desk and comfortable chair in the room.

 

[MARTINE]

I did have a big peeve years ago at a v expensive hotel which I had booked for the day before I arrived (I was landing at 5am and needed to guarantee the bed). Sent no less than five emails to hotel from time of booking to day before arrival. Of course, in taxi on way to hotel get a text I am no show /forfeit one room night. Arrive at hotel and room ‘not ready’ er it was mine from yesterday. Of course they used it twice and they had zero customer service to remedy.
Got back to Oz and escalated all the way to their customer service global. Next two hotels in the chain got VERY personal attention and upgrades/foods/gifts..

 

[jeza]

Disabling the Sleep Timer function on the TV remote.

 

[Pushka]

I did have a big peeve years ago at a v expensive hotel which I had booked for the day before I arrived (I was landing at 5am and needed to guarantee the bed). Sent no less than five emails to hotel from time of booking to day before arrival. Of course, in taxi on way to hotel get a text I am no show /forfeit one room night. Arrive at hotel and room ‘not ready’ er it was mine from yesterday. Of course they used it twice and they had zero customer service to remedy.
Got back to Oz and escalated all the way to their customer service global. Next two hotels in the chain got VERY personal attention and upgrades/foods/gifts..

Ooh don’t say this. I’ve done exactly this for a trip to the US.

On a similar vein we’d booked a hotel in Venice but as we were about to board Qatar in Adelaide the flight was cancelled. I immediately contacted the hotel where we were staying for a few days. They said that we would forfeit a night and that was fine. We were still coming for three more days. Oh. I don’t think we can do that, hotel is full! WTF? I had a paid booking for the stay. Finally arrived a day later and the room wasn’t ready. ##%###

 

[SeatBackForward]

• In room food items costing multiples of what they cost from the shop around the corner, if they don't want to make any money from these, why have them at all?
• Thermostats that don't show metric units
• Lack of powerpoints around beds or desks
• Clock radios that can't be turned to face the bed
• Shower curtains that still manage to flood the bathroom floor

 

[SYD]

• In room safe which does not work (probably happens 50% of the time) - usually just needs batteries replaced

Room safes not bolted down!

 

[Daver6]

I dislike hotels that don't provide a proper desk and comfortable chair in the room.

This! Something that's a 5* or business grade hotel that doesn't have a proper desk and chair to work at.

Bit of a less serious one. Those ridiculous pillow menus as a feature. 10 different pillows on a menu but you have no real idea what the difference between them all is.

 

[Katie]

Dark cupboards with no lighting nearby. I struggled to find my clothes at times!!

 

[Captain Halliday]

Those ridiculous pillow menus as a feature. 10 different pillows on a menu but you have no real idea what the difference between them all is.

I like the pillow menu, but…

When requesting a firm pillow or latex pillow and housekeeping brings another feather pillow.

So adding to my hotel peeves: thin, flimsy, pillows that offer no support.

 

[Daver6]

I like the pillow menu, but…

When requesting a firm pillow or latex pillow and housekeeping brings another feather pillow.

So adding to my hotel peeves: thin, flimsy, pillows that offer no support.

My gripe isn't so much the menu....but the lack of details that would help you make an informed decision. Instead there's usually a bunch of fluffy (pardon the pun) words that don't tell you how it's different from the other pillows. Or perhaps I'm just a halfwit

 

[MARTINE]

I personally LOATHE shower curtains and have not had one in any house since I was a uni student. Needless to say if there was one in a hotel I would run. Everyone is different but - for me- they don’t protect from flooding and I just don't think they can be cleaned well enough. You know… body bits stick to them. It’s me not you!

 

[Captain Halliday]

Hotels with "airport" in their name, or otherwise claiming to be an "airport hotel" that are not walking distance from the terminal.

 

[VPS]

• In room food items costing multiples of what they cost from the shop around the corner, if they don't want to make any money from these, why have them at all?
• Thermostats that don't show metric units
• Lack of powerpoints around beds or desks
• Clock radios that can't be turned to face the bed
• Shower curtains that still manage to flood the bathroom floor

shower curtains full stop. They are revolting

 

[RSD]

Pissing myself laughing at this thread - I was just about to create a new thread about hotel design fails and post a picture from of the bathroom in the hotel room I'm staying in right now in Dublin - but I will add to this thread now that I have seen it.

Room has a nice sized bathroom - about 3.8 x 3.8 metres, has a really over-engineered shower system including a rain shower in the ceiling - but no one thought to add a little tray or something like that to put the soap and shampoo tubes on so as you don't have to carefully balance them upside down on the flat ends of the vertical pieces -

Post automatically merged: Feb 27, 2025

BATHTUB / SHOWER STALL THAT DOES NOT DRAIN PROPERLY

YES - in China especially this seems to be a big problem - two minute showers only to avoid the great flood!

 

[RSD]

Kmart has wooden door stops for $2.50

Damn good thinking - this is a problem that I struggle with quite often.

One of my pet peeves is hotel curtains that don't properly close/overlap in the middle - how hard is it to figure out what size curtains are needed so as they overlap to keep the light out. I now take several clothes pegs with me to resolve this issue.

Post automatically merged: Feb 27, 2025

Half a dozen oddly shaped, brightly coloured pillows piled up on the bed that you need to frisbee across the room before getting to the actual pillows for sleeping.

Yep! Its ridiculous! You end up with more cushions etc on the floor than useful pillows on the bed.

 

[RSD]

My other pet peeve - light switches in the most stupidest locations - I swear that just about every hotel room in the world was wired by an Egyptian - because that is how they wire apartments in Egypt - the wiring, locations of light switches and powerpoints is as random as all hell. In Egypt they never used to have on/off switches on the powerpoints, then when powerpoints with switches came out they just wired directly to the pins anyway - bypassing the switch.

My current hotel room in Dublin is yet another example - trying to find the light switch for the bathroom - nope not in the bathroom... not on the wall outside of the bathroom near the door... finally found it under a bedside lamp.

 

[MARTINE]

I think its been mentioned upthread but the hotel restaurants that discreetly hand over a business card for the Tripadvisor review request after you mention you liked the eggs at breakfast. Its so furtive - a waiter actually put one into my husband’s shirt pocket.

 

[VPS]

I think it’s been mentioned upthread but the hotel restaurants that discreetly hand over a business card for the Tripadvisor review request after you mention you liked the eggs at breakfast. It’s so furtive - a waiter actually put one into my husband’s shirt pocket.

I had several come up to me in the executive lounge in one of the Hiltons in London to say would I give them a good review and gave me their card. They were giving out free drinks and pretty ordinary food. Why would I give them a good review?

The only person that was really great at that Hotel never said anything about his name until I asked him.