29 Jan 2015

What are your hotel pet peeves?

Submitted by Wanderlust Andi

A hotel is only as good as its service, and there are some trends that consumers don’t like, but hotels seem to continue to do. According to the attached article, minimums at hotel bars, charging for WiFi, and slow WiFi connections are just a few of the issues that hotel guests from around the world are taking issue with. We’re paying for the rooms, so the service should be customer centric, right? Hopefully, the hotels will take note and give us what we all want: a comfortable and convenient hotel stay!

I do agree with many items in the article, such as:

charging for WiFi. What I find amazing is that the more expensive a hotel is, the higher chance that you will be charged for WiFi.
slow and sporadic WiFi.
Minibars that charge you when you use them to store your cream (or pizza, see below).
Peekaboo bathrooms - need I say more?

Others items I would like to add are:

TVs positioned so that you must watch TV from your bed, and not at a table or lounge chair.
lousy to minimal TV channel lineups.
no fridges and microwaves in the hotel room. I know that there are many who stay in a hotel for a weekend, and are not planning on doing any cooking in the room. But, even then, sometimes you have that yummy, left-over pizza or restaurant "doggie bag" that you want to store in a fridge (not an ice bucket) and warm up the next day.
and, minimally, hotels: If you don't have fridge's in the rooms - at least have working ice machines.

Now you have no excuses for not exercising in a hotel

Submitted by Wanderlust Andi

You are on the road in a hotel, have eaten too much, and are feeling sluggish - so, you really "should" exercise. But, there is either no exercise room in the hotel (or it is closed), or, if there is an exercise room in the hotel, it is either too busy, doesn't have the right equipment or, let's face it, you really don't want to get dressed up enough to go to the exercise room.

7 Feb 2015

2014: the year that more and more hotels heard our plea for free WiFi

Submitted by Wanderlust Andi

If you pay $200 per night for a 3-4 star hotel, the last thing you want is to pay $30 per day for Wi-Fi - especially when 2 star hotels usually don't charge for Wi-Fi. But - Virgin hotels has listened to you - and provides Wi-Fi free. Hopefully, other hotels, such as the Marriott, will pay attention and stop charging for Wi-Fi.

11 Dec 2014

Why don't more hotels have "convenience stores"?

Submitted by Wanderlust Andi

Basically, as the company Airbnb expands to new cities around the world, the share economy is really taking their toll on regular hotels. Executives have figured a way around this with lend and lease programs all around the country with critical ads like “Forgot it?

2 Dec 2014

Checking into a hotel? Don't be afraid to ask for what you want.

Submitted by Wanderlust Andi

The attached article is interesting, as it implies that the assignment of hotel rooms has less to do with computer assignments, and more to do with the "rooms controller". For, it is the rooms controller's job to review all of the variables, such as price charged, loyalty status, special needs and requests, VIP status, group bookings, etc., and to assign the rooms 3-5 days in advance, with the intention of balancing guest satisfaction with profit.

2 Dec 2014

Why wouldn't you want a hotel with a kitchenette (or at least a fridge and microwave)?

Submitted by Wanderlust Andi

Extended stay hotels are not doing a good job of figuring out how to break into a wider audience of clientele. They offer amenities that other hotels do not, such as kitchenettes. This could be really useful for a lot of different groups such as young families and business people who are trying to save money while traveling. Once people stay at extended stay hotels, they usually enjoy it and come back. But they have to get there initially.