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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: What do you expect from your holiday hotel?
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nickel
Shipmate
# 8363
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Posted
As an American, if I were visiting France (*sigh* maybe I will some day!) the things most important to me would be: clean room, clean bathroom (attached or down the hall, I don't really care), pillows and bedding other than feathers or wool (I'm allergic to both). Free wifi. Power outlets for recharging cellphones, laptops, etc. Ideally the room would have decent sound-proofing and an individually-controlled heating and/or cooling system. A small refrigerator/microwave would be very welcome but not mandatory. No need for a coffeepot or tea in the room, assuming there is coffee and food available in the lobby or close walking distance. No need for an ironing board -- I'd be on vacation! but an in-house washer/dryer that guests could use would be nice.
What I would not like: dirt, bed bugs, vermin of any sort; anything that made me feel unsafe, such as a door with no lock, or thin curtains on the window that made me wonder about my privacy, or faulty wiring, or stuff like that.
Posts: 547 | From: Virginia USA | Registered: Aug 2004
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
The coolest amenity I ever had in a place I stayed was at a cabin motor court in New Mexico when I was a kid. My family had driven half the day from Carlsbad Caverns right into a noisy thunderstorm in mountainous Ruidosa, NM. The manager recommended an excellent Mexican restaurant. And when we got back he had set a cozy fire in the fireplace with extra wood to feed it and had turned the covers of the nice, clean beds. That was an altogether a delightful day! ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
1. It must be clean. I'd hope that would go without saying but I've been disappointed and I'm hardly obsessive.
2. Bathtowels. If I'm having a bath or a shower, I want a decent size towel. Bathtowels for preference but something larger than the kind one would take to the beach.
3. Space. A decent sized bed is a necessity, though we have a superking-size at home so choose twin beds in hotels and B&Bs, but some floor space is needed too.
btw, don't advertise 'Full English/Welsh/Irish/Scottish Breakfast' if it isn't a serious meal. One egg, one sausage, one rasher of bacon, half a mushroom and a slice of tomato does not constitute a full anything.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Dormouse
Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954
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Posted
Thank you Guys, this has been interesting and useful reading. Please keep it coming!
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What are you doing for Lent?
40 days, 40 reflections, 40 acts of generosity. Join the #40acts challenge for #Lent and let's start a movement. www.40acts.org.uk
Posts: 3042 | From: 'twixt les Bois Noirs & Les Monts de la Madeleine | Registered: May 2004
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
A number of comfortable chairs commensurate with the maximum number of people staying in the room. The number of Doubles I've stayed in which have ONE armchair and then the hard, upright one.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
btw, don't advertise 'Full English/Welsh/Irish/Scottish Breakfast' if it isn't a serious meal. One egg, one sausage, one rasher of bacon, half a mushroom and a slice of tomato does not constitute a full anything.
Without getting too tangential into breakfasts, as we had a discussion on this recently, if it doesn't include a sausage, and is just egg, bacon, a tomato and toast, it is not a full anything either and neither is the person eating it. And I don't care how good your homemade soaps and lavender bath essences are, they won't make up for it first thing in the morning.
Believe it or not, there are places advertising The Full English Breakfast that don't have any sausages on the menu!
Marmite would be nice, btw, as an alternative to jams and preserves of all kinds for toast. You can almost always get sweet things but rarely savoury.
[ 30. August 2012, 07:12: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
Have to join the Brit chorus and ask for kettle, cups, tea/coffee supplies.
I know this is rare outsde the UK (though getting more popular) but it is pretty much basic for us Brits. I am on a Disney forum and you would not believe the number of visitors to Disneyland Paris who complain at the lack of a kettle!
Many also moan if there is no hot breakfast available, but personally I love the 'cold meat and cheese' type breakfast buffets. Eating the way my host country eats is half the fun for me. But good quality food please (the cheaper hotels in Disneyland Paris serve cubes of supermarket Edam and Gouda! In the land of cheese, in a place ruled by a mouse! On the other hand the pain au chocolat is to die for...)
I have also heard some complain about lack of English channels on the TV. Again, not an issue for me. Watching something in French or German helps resurrect my language skills, and I enjoy it.
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
Although I love "a full English" if breakfasting in a UK hotel, I don't require one on the continent.
This is mainly because I can't resist them, and am then too full to eat lunch. Mr RoS can't survive without three meals a day, so no lunch is not an option - besides, I want to try all the local delicacies and a stomach full of fried protein limits my capacity.
My preferred breakfast is wholegrain cereal, a choice of fruit (not just fresh, but canned and dried for variety) and a selection of local breads.
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
I haven't fund that the size of the breakfast is any smaller outside Britain. The largest hotel breakfasts I have eaten in Europe (including the UK) have been in Eindhoven and Barcelona. Then there's American breakfasts ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) They are different, but not necessarily smaller.
The trick with a large breakfast is not no lunch but a small lunch. A cup of coffee and a piece of cake is enough, or in Spain a single tapa.
A hearty breakfast is part of what I'd expect from a hotel, but it should be local style.
But in the room, a kettle is good, coffee, tea, chocolate drink and a small packet of biscuits are so common in Britain that we've come to expect them. An iron is better, though I can press shirts in a trouser press.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
A clean bedroom with en suite bath and shower (he likes baths, I like showers). Tea/coffee-making facilities are a nice touch, especially if accompanied by little packets of Custard Creams (thank you to the hotel in Osterley where we stayed the other night before heading back to Canada).
Breakfast, if included, should have Proper Bacon™, as I can't get it here.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
I would really appreciate clean toilets, a clean room free of fleas and bedbugs. I shudder when I think about the colossal explosion of bedbugs around these parts. I once stayed at a hotel that provided plastic drinking cups for the guests. The cups were supposed to be clean in the bag they came in but I found traces of old lipstick on a few of them! Gross! I have a feeling this hotel was "recycling".
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
JediJudy: "Oh, and cleanliness is indeed a virtue! (Finding fuzz balls and hair on the bed sheets was a very disgusting discovery in one place.)".
Yeah! I found a clump of crotch hair stuck in the shower drain at the same hotel with the lipstick-covered plastic drink ware... you can bet I never stayed at that rat hole again. And the staff was indifferent. This place was rated highly on Yelp but maybe money exchanged hands in that regard.
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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chive
Ship's nude
# 208
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Posted
If you're going to put a tv in the room make sure it's somewhere you can watch it comfortably not hanging from the wall to high to see it unless you're standing on the bed. The nicest hotel I stay in with work has the tv on a trolley so you can move it about and even put it in the bathroom door and watch telly in the bath. That is luxury.
I'm not bothered about tea or coffee making equipment because I don't drink either but a bottle of water would be good because tap water can be minging.
If the hotel is in a noisy area good soundproofed windows are important because it's good to get some sleep.
The worst hotel I stayed in was in Romania where you couldn't sit for a beer in the bar without being approached by prostitutes every five minutes. I found that somewhat off putting.
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'Edward was the kind of man who thought there was no such thing as a lesbian, just a woman who hadn't done one-to-one Bible study with him.' Catherine Fox, Love to the Lost
Posts: 3542 | From: the cupboard under the stairs | Registered: May 2001
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by chive:
If the hotel is in a noisy area good soundproofed windows are important because it's good to get some sleep.
Yes -- and also drapes or shades to block out the light, please.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
I don't expect the Holiday Inn when I travel (*shudders at the thought*, but please, a wheelchair accessible room includes an accessible washing station. I still have nightmares about two hotel chains in the UK, one in Crawley and the other at Heathrow*. Outside the West, I cope with what I get. The nice thing about Asia is that a wet room bathroom is almost always available. Except for one hotel in Delhi which catered to Westerners. But even then I coped - an overnight stay doesn't bother me if I can't shower. But a body wash is always possible in those cases.
But Travelodge is wonderful ...
This is not quite on topic, but B&Bs are impossible for wheelchair users, Therefore, hotels.
(My favourite small hotel is in Munnar. It has the most beautiful flower garden in the world, and for that I put up with 23 inch bathroom doors.)
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
The whole "tea service in room" thing was rather odd when I stayed in B&B's in the UK (by the way, if Mary who runs the B&B in Caernarfon is reading this, I'm sorry I walked off with your room key!), since, in the States, the most you can expect is a rather tired coffeemaker and a few instant filters of preground coffee. If even the Dominican priory in Edinburgh has a kettle and tea for the odd guest of the friars . . .
The idea of serving an actual breakfast, complete with laverbread, was also odd—granted, there was the one chain hotel in Amish country that served Amish baked goods as well, but that's a rarity here in the States.
Cleanliness is a must. Even at the rather cheap student hostels I stay at, "clean" is the only amenity I expect.
Something quirky to remember the hotel by. At the best hostel I've ever been at (Hotel Caulaincort in Paris), the owner put up a cow statue in the stairwell. Ask the staff why there's a cow in the stairwell, and the only answer they can give you is that the owner wanted one there. Somehow, it made sense.
A front desk staff that doesn't repeat the information their sponsors tell them to parrot. If you want a good restaurant, they should tell you where they eat, not who paid for the brochure.
Oh, and reliable directions out of town. That's always important.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
The whole "tea service in room" thing was rather odd when I stayed in B&B's in the UK (by the way, if Mary who runs the B&B in Caernarfon is reading this, I'm sorry I walked off with your room key!), since, in the States, the most you can expect is a rather tired coffeemaker and a few instant filters of preground coffee.
hehe. Whereas I am going to insist that, for an American, a kettle to heat up water is simply not sufficient since it means you are expecting us to drink (*deep shudder*) instant coffee. A proper coffeemaker is essential. Instant filers of preground coffee is fine as long as its fairly fresh and good quality-- but no instant, please!
Now, if real, brewed coffee is available in the lobby that will do-- especially if it's of high quality. But it would need to be available and freshly made over a pretty broad period of time, which is why most American hotels find it easier to just let you make your own.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
Have to join the Brit chorus and ask for kettle, cups, tea/coffee supplies.
I know this is rare outsde the UK (though getting more popular)
Campanile seem to be the only chain in France to have grasped this. Their hotels are pleasant enough, but make sure when booking to ask for a room without an interconnecting door to the next one, othewise you will be able to hear the actual conversations going on in the next room (let alone anything else...).
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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ExclamationMark
Shipmate
# 14715
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Posted
Clean. Free wi - fi. A desk you can work at
(If a double) space and chairs . Tea and Coffee. (My real desire) - ability to have a nice hot bath and watch telly at the same time - either through an open door or combination of mirrors. Hosts and staff who smile and are ready to talk (our fav Hotel 4* in Falmouth UK is great for this).
Oh, cheap out of season deals and/or early booking discounts
Posts: 3845 | From: A new Jerusalem | Registered: Apr 2009
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
if a hotel is far away from any shops, then a little shop in the hotel with necessities - toothpaste, tampons, bandaids, aspirin.
for those of us who hail from the very high latitudes - openable windows is a must, and sealed shut windows is a deal breaker. We're generally sissies about heat and stuffiness. A/C is nice, but it doesn't fix the stuffiness. we need some outdoor air! when we arrive in December, we still may open the windows. forgive us. we're coming from the deep cold. your locale is probably like a tropical spring day to us. and yes, if you have a pool, we're jumping in. liquid water is a treat.
oh - on a serious note - I don't know how much difference this makes, but at least in Alaska, we take our shoes off at the door to our rooms, (or front doors if it's a private home) so the floors have to be very clean because chances are we'll be barefoot.
other than that, I second the votes for clean, quiet, and coffee.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by PeteC:
I don't expect the Holiday Inn when I travel (*shudders at the thought*, but please, a wheelchair accessible room includes an accessible washing station. I still have nightmares about two hotel chains in the UK, one in Crawley and the other at Heathrow*. Outside the West, I cope with what I get. The nice thing about Asia is that a wet room bathroom is almost always available. Except for one hotel in Delhi which catered to Westerners. But even then I coped - an overnight stay doesn't bother me if I can't shower. But a body wash is always possible in those cases.
But Travelodge is wonderful ...
This is not quite on topic, but B&Bs are impossible for wheelchair users, Therefore, hotels.
(My favourite small hotel is in Munnar. It has the most beautiful flower garden in the world, and for that I put up with 23 inch bathroom doors.)
Some B&Bs in the UK have accessible rooms, we have booked such accommodation in the past for family members - it just requires some research.
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
In priority order:
Clean.
Safe. Including adequate window coverings I can open for the view (if any) and close to change clothes privately.
Cheap. I like to stay in the cheapest possible places and save my money for the daytime activities instead of spending it on a room where my eyes will be closed.
Accessible wall plugs. Gotta recharge phone and camera and MP3 player and still plug in hair dryer and hair wand.
There needs to be a breakfast place nearby if not in the hotel. If it's in-hotel, please advertise honestly! To me "full breakfast" includes some eggs or meat, not just breads and cereals.
No bugs.
Two towels per person -- one for hair one for body.
A bar of soap, just because Americans are so used to hotels providing soap that we don't carry it.
Either climate control or (if it's cold) enough blankets. Please not those thick fluffy things that are way too hot for sleeping! Blankets. Two, so I can choose none or one or two! Many a hotel I have to ask for another blanket, so at least have that option to ask (some say "no" and I have to sleep in some of my clothes to be warm enough.)
Other than that,
I would far rather visit a place that reflects local culture than one that mimics my own home area. If French hotels usually do X, then do X. The rest of the things people mention maybe should be "available from the desk" -- coffee maker, bottle of wine, chocolates (I don't eat them, but I do have a weakness for the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies one hotel provided every afternoon -- but what made it special was that THAT hotel does it, it wasn't something EVERY hotel does.)
I carry my own plug in heat a cup of water device, and tea bags. I carry my own shampoo and blow dryer because one cannot be sure if these will be supplied.
Bath down the hall is just fine if it means the room is cheaper. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Things I have enjoyed in deluxe hotels the rare times that's been the only option -- fluffy bathrobe, extra pillows of various firmness, a pen and small pad of paper, some people want a TV in which case you need a TV schedule, a local phone book comes in handy sometimes like to find restaurants, literature about the local area, especially if it's a mixture of the must do sightseeing and some of the local things that don't get into most guide books. List of various kinds and prices of restaurants. An iron -- rarely needed but valuable when it's there. A place with washing machines and dryers for clothes, and laundry soap.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
I also like it when a hotel that advertises a buffet-style breakfast has more than just sweet cereals, pastry, and some fruit. I'm a diabetic and those things are just not something I want to shove in my craw--well, to be honest, they ARE things I want to eat but they do nothing good for my blood sugar. Especially here in the southern U.S., it seems that every breakfast buffet has the ubiquitous sausage gravy and biscuits. Usually good-tasting but again, not something that a diabetic is going to want to eat much of. Several kinds of eggs, toast of various breads, skim milk, healthy cereals, tea, coffee, sugar-free options are all appreciated.
Ohhh, no! Now I'm HUNGRY! I better go off and make hash browns and scrambled eggs... ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
quote:
Originally posted by Loquacious beachcomber:
Nice Shipmate name and avatar, Beachcomber!
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
In the meantiome I don't get this concept of "holiday + hotel". I sleep in the back of my car, or have occasionally stretched to a tent.
Oh, my. Really into roughing it, aren't you? LOL. Well, some of us are more... how shall I say it...civilized and would like to enjoy our holidays without the back strain of sleeping jammed up against the steering wheel of a car. It's supposed to be a holiday! Oh, Zappa, you're killing me! Next you'll be telling us that when you go on a holiday, you hunt for your own food in the parks of whatever city you're visiting. It's not a proper holiday unless you kill an animal, gut it and cook it on a spit. Do you pack up the extra meat for the rest of your trip and perhaps munch on deer meat jerky whilst visiting the Louvre?
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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St Everild
Shipmate
# 3626
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Posted
Pillows. Decent ones. Sufficient of them to be able to sit up in bed and read by the light of the decent reading lamp.
Everything else I expect has been covered by others on this thread, so I won't repeat myself.
Posts: 1782 | From: Bethnei | Registered: Dec 2002
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
We usually travel with our dog, which tends to limit our hotel experience to pet-friendly chains and modest mom-and-pops. That said, we still expect:
Decent (read: firm) pillows
More than one towel/washcloth per person
shampoo in addition to bar soap
Cleanliness that includes freedom from stale tobacco smoke in the room
WiFi
We hate chain-motel breakfasts and avoid them unless we're desperate, and we also never use the in-room coffee makers, so those aren't very important factors in our stay.
On those rare occasions when the hoomans do get to travel alone, and we can lodge at a bed-and-breakfast (our preferred choice for those trips), we expect:
Our own bathroom (not only for privacy, but because one of us has medical issues that require frequent bathroom trips and special supplies that we'd rather not bother other guests with)
Again, firm pillows
A proper breakfast (meaning something hot and protein-filled to go with the usual fruit, muffins and rolls)
A common guest space other than the owners' own living quarters
Our favorite B&B (in Omena, MI, if any readers are interested) is an old farmhouse that overlooks scenic Omena Bay on one side. The owners live on the third floor of the house, but also use the B&B kitchen and dining room for themselves. Cozy farmhouse bedrooms on the second floor, each with its own bathroom...a downstairs parlor with comfortable chairs. The breakfasts are hearty and delicious and use local products. We enjoy the balance of privacy and interaction with the hosts.
We'd previously spent a couple of trips at a B&B in a neighboring community...we had to share a bathroom with another party, and we also had no common space except for the hosts' living room, which was somewhat awkward, because they were very talky and didn't give us space to, say, sit and quietly regroup for the morning while waiting for breakfast. One spouse was a French-trained chef, so breakfasts were quite extraordinary, but we had a lot of boundary issues overall, especially when the tightly-wound host/chef was having a bad morning.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
Cleanliness
Free wifi
Good lighting
If breakfast is included, a good spread with lots of choices and especially fresh fruit
Staff who are friendly and helpful without being familiar or too chatty (sometimes awkward at a B&B as I'm quite a shy person -- I know that technically I'm a guest in someone's home, but as I'm a paying guest, I don't want to FEEL like I'm in someone's home and have to make small-talk with them).
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The5thMary:
quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
quote:
Originally posted by Loquacious beachcomber:
Nice Shipmate name and avatar, Beachcomber!
In the meantiome I don't get this concept of "holiday + hotel". I sleep in the back of my car, or have occasionally stretched to a tent.
Oh, my. Really into roughing it, aren't you? LOL. Well, some of us are more... how shall I say it...civilized and would like to enjoy our holidays without the back strain of sleeping jammed up against the steering wheel of a car. It's supposed to be a holiday! Oh, Zappa, you're killing me! Next you'll be telling us that when you go on a holiday, you hunt for your own food in the parks of whatever city you're visiting. It's not a proper holiday unless you kill an animal, gut it and cook it on a spit. Do you pack up the extra meat for the rest of your trip and perhaps munch on deer meat jerky whilst visiting the Louvre?
Not quite - I bludge off family or buy in roadhouses ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
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and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Eleanor Jane
Shipmate
# 13102
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Posted
Coming from New Zealand, I'm not so fond of the British 'full English' idea - especially when it means getting up at 8 while on holiday. I'd rather have more flexibility to sleep in and eat some lighter when I wake up (i.e. serve yourself coffee and croissants, cereal, toast or whatever).
I also don't like feeling like I'm in someone else's house when in a B & B. I prefer a more neutral hotel-like environment.
Quietness is nice in a hotel i.e. not too much noise from traffic, other guests thumping around the corridors all night etc.
Cheers,
Eleanorjane
Posts: 556 | From: Now in the UK! | Registered: Oct 2007
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Sighthound
Shipmate
# 15185
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Posted
Cleanliness is very important; and I insist on an ensuite, because I don't favour walking naked down public corridors at 3-00am, and getting dressed for the occasion is a pain.
Tea and coffee facilities are nice to have, but to be honest I can live without. We usually take extra teabags and milk, just in case.
If there's a TV, I prefer it not to be positioned 10 feet up a wall, as this leads to cricked necks.
Breakfast can be a let down or wonderful. A place we tend to stay at skimps on this, and it spoils the experience. Makes me want to say 'Look, just knock £x off the bill and we'll eat in town.' One el cheapo sausage, a small piece of overcooked bacon, a mushroom and and a small portion of beans does not a 'full' breakfast make.
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Posts: 168 | From: England | Registered: Sep 2009
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
Cleanliness is next to godliness
The only other thing I can think of that hasn't been mentioned is that I want to be able to hang my clothes up. Coathangers, please, and a cupboard tall enough to be able to hang up a dress without it getting rumpled at the bottom.
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Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by comet:
... for those of us who hail from the very high latitudes - openable windows is a must ...
Yea and amen, although air-con will do, and in some cases is a necessity (a choir trip we did to New York one July springs to mind).
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
Regarding breakfast buffets -- so many Americans are obsessed with nonfat or lowfat dairy products. It's so wonderful to find whole milk or even cream on offer instead of "milk flavored water" when I travel abroad.
You Brits will cringe, but during a London stay at what was then the Meridian Waldorf (but is now the Waldorf Hilton, I understand), I was thrilled to find one of my favorite cold cereals, Weetabix, among the breakfast buffet offerings. I asked the waitress for a pitcher of "good English cream" to have with my Weetabix. What she brought me was so rich in butterfat that its color was actually yellow. Absolutely delicious!
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Clean and quiet make or break the place for me.
After that desirables are
- a table I can write at
- clean easily accessible washing facilities not necessarily en suite but down a flight of stairs and along a corridor is not good.
- a comfy bed and that means the ability to control the temperature more than the softness of the mattress
- catering for special diets at breakfast (as milk intolerant, probably due to lactose) I do not want to be faced with having to have cereal with milk.
- tea making facilities
Jengie
[edited to sort coding, the difference a space can make]
[ 04. September 2012, 19:31: Message edited by: Jengie Jon ]
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Sorry should have put wifi on the end of that list.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
I'm just back from a weekend away. We've stayed in same motel for several years at this time of the year. Receptionist knows us when we walk in to make a booking a couple of months before. She's pleasant and courteous.
I paid more attention this time round to facilities. I had room with queen sized bed. Good linen and mattress.
There was a long bench for meals, although we eat out. A small fridge with milk and a jug of iced water. Tea making facilities with an electric kettle.
Space for luggage.
Both a fan over bed and aircon. Handbasin in actual bedroom with toiletries and tissues.
A space to hang clothes with proper hangers, not those nasty things which are fixed so they can't be stolen. They are hard to use.
Extra pillows and more blankets of varying weights. Electric blanket on bed. It was cold, well below 0° C, so I appreciated warm bed to get into, although I turned it off to sleep.
TV at sensitive level with remote control. Bedside tables each side, with lamps and a clock radio.
Tiny ensuite, very clean with toilet and shower with built up side to make a shallow bath if needed for a child.
All very clean.
Part of our weekend is eating out at good cafe. Much better breakfast than cold cereal and toast which is what motel provides.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454
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Posted
The exact facilities I expect will depend the reason for travel, how long I am staying, and how much I am paying.
For instance if it is a short city break or an long family holiday, do I know it is a budget hotel or a 4 star.
But the basic of all is cleanliness, the best facilities are no good if the room is not as clean as it should be. On top of that the means to make a hot drink are the basic.
If it is a longer family holiday then I expect more: wifi, tv, spare bedding in case it is cold, a comfortable seat, a reading light by the bed, enough towels, an ensuite.
Posts: 1905 | From: the back of beyond | Registered: Jan 2009
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monkeylizard
Ship's scurvy
# 952
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Posted
USA checking in
- Clean, clean, and clean
- en suite bath/toilet
- An iron & board
- Wi-Fi
- Welcoming staff (smile )
Condition and size of the room will vary by price, but there's no good reason for even a budget room to not be clean.
http://www.tripadvisor.com is an excellent resource. Check out your competition and yourself and see if there are any reviews. Respond accordingly.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
Posts: 2201 | From: Music City, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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monkeylizard
Ship's scurvy
# 952
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Posted
Americans are not normally accustomed to the hand-held shower wands common in much of Euro-land. A clip/mount allowing it to be placed higher up on the wall makes showering easier, but makes a mess on the floor, assuming a traditional tub with no shower curtain. I'm not sure what the right solution is to this, but there is no way my bare butt is sitting in some bathtub of unknown cleanliness. Squatting while showering is just weird. Washing one-handed (other is holding the shower head) is also weird.
Personally, I don't expect breakfast to be a traditional American breakfast when I travel abroad. I usually like to have whatever the locals eat.
Unrelated to any particular nationality, but here are some good hotel practices: - Empower every employee to make every guest happy. Examples: the housekeepers shouldn't have to ask permission to get extra towels, they just do it. If the breakfast runs out of juice, someone can go down the street to the market to get some. Petit cash should be on hand to make this happen
- No employee ever walks past a guest without greeting them.
- Always remember that you are in the hospitality business. It's your mission to make everything effortless for the guest.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
Posts: 2201 | From: Music City, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Cleanliness and employees who give a shit.
Feel there are two things working against each other there.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
Odd for this site, no one specified the desired version of the Bible to be in the night table.
My requirements don't include the Bible but a room should be clean, non smoking and not reeking of chemicals, Ensuite Bathroom, blackout curtains or shades and a telephone that allows a wakeup call or clock. Electric outlets, especially near the bed for my cpap machine.
Not having an AC room, elevator or ice maker humming next door is nice but that seems rare.
[ 06. September 2012, 05:53: Message edited by: Palimpsest ]
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
In France, out in the countryside, we expected normal sanitary facilities in 1970. This was not the case: rural restaurants were mired in the 16th century: I have seen better on a late 20th century construction site!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zacchaeus:
On top of that the means to make a hot drink are the basic.
In my experience, that facility is expected in Britain (can't speak for US), but quite uncommon in mainland Europe.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
In France, out in the countryside, we expected normal sanitary facilities in 1970. This was not the case: rural restaurants were mired in the 16th century: I have seen better on a late 20th century construction site!
It won't come as a surprise then that soap is derived from Old English while perfume is French.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Aggie
Ship's cat
# 4385
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Posted
Cleanliness above all whatever the price the hotel charges!!
However, the standards and facilities of hotels depend on where they are.
Last year, when I went to Zaragoza (off the beaten track to most foreign tourists) in Spain for a long-weekend, I stayed over at a hotel in London near where the bus to Stansted airport departs, as I had an early flight. The hotel I stayed at was £60 for the night - very cheap for central London - but it was a like staying in a doss-house! The place was an absolute flea-pit and the room was filthy and smelly, and the bathroom had broken mouldy tiles around the shower tray! Yuk!! I complained but my complaints were met by indifference, and an attitude of "what-do-you-expect-for-£60".
By contrast, in Zaragoza I stayed in a hostal (which is actually a one star hotel or the equivalent of a UK "bed and breakfast"). This was situated in the main square right opposite the famous Basilica.
I was given a double room with a balcony overlooking the Basilica, and the management very kindly only charged for single occupancy - 25 euros a night, no supplement. My room had its own bathroom,and both the room and bathroom were cleaned every day, and the towels changed (even though I asked them not to keep changing the towels!) The young couple who ran it were extremely pleasant and helpful, and nothing was too much trouble for them, the only thing that worried them when I arrived, was the fact that neither of them spoke English, so they were relieved that I spoke Spanish.
The only thing that I missed (and I always miss when I stay in hotels abroad) is the lack of tea and coffee-making facilities in the room.
A couple of years ago, I took my mother on a package trip to Cornwall, and the hotel we stayed at was "nice", but as a holiday hotel at a popular resort geared to tourists, it could have been better - there was no wifi, no gym or pool, terrace or outdoor smoking area. At mealtimes, everyone had to sit at the same tables to which they were allocated - why do British hotels do that?? However, it was clean and comfortable, which to me is the main thing. It seems that in the UK at least you very much get what you pay for.
[ 06. September 2012, 13:50: Message edited by: Aggie ]
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“I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.”
(Joseph Mary Plunkett 1887-1917)
Posts: 581 | From: A crazy, crazy world | Registered: Apr 2003
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monkeylizard
Ship's scurvy
# 952
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Posted
On the WiFi thing....it should be included, not extra. It's a pet peeve of mine that $69/night hotels have free Wi-Fi, but $500+/night resorts feel the need to charge an extra $10 or so for it.
[ 06. September 2012, 19:53: Message edited by: monkeylizard ]
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
Posts: 2201 | From: Music City, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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Dormouse
Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954
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Posted
Well, I've had the "interview" that this question was in preparation for - our language school was tendering for a number of hours teaching English. But it was very wierd, with three English teachers being asked to "prove" to French people who didn't speak very good English that they spoke their own language (!) We had to pretend to be Hotel owners and answer queries in English...
I was able to mention that I had carried out a "sondage" (survey) and that this was what I had found...I then told them what you lovely people had said, which led to the interviewers having a conversation amongst themelves, exchanging viewpoints. You'll also be interested to know (one of the facts that was shared) that, in some areas, asking for an extra pillow can be code for asking for a prostitute!
Thanks for your help. But do carry on with your opinions, should you wish.
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What are you doing for Lent?
40 days, 40 reflections, 40 acts of generosity. Join the #40acts challenge for #Lent and let's start a movement. www.40acts.org.uk
Posts: 3042 | From: 'twixt les Bois Noirs & Les Monts de la Madeleine | Registered: May 2004
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