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» Ship of Fools   »   » Oblivion   » What do you expect from your holiday hotel? (Page 2)

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Source: (consider it) Thread: What do you expect from your holiday hotel?
Amanda B. Reckondwythe

Dressed for Church
# 5521

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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  |  IP: Logged
Jengie jon

Semper Reformanda
# 273

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Clean and quiet make or break the place for me.

After that desirables are
  1. a table I can write at
  2. clean easily accessible washing facilities not necessarily en suite but down a flight of stairs and along a corridor is not good.
  3. a comfy bed and that means the ability to control the temperature more than the softness of the mattress
  4. 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.
  5. 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

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Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Jengie jon

Semper Reformanda
# 273

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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

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Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927

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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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Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged
Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454

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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  |  IP: Logged
monkeylizard

Ship's scurvy
# 952

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USA checking in
  • Clean, clean, and clean
  • en suite bath/toilet
  • An iron & board
  • Wi-Fi
  • Welcoming staff (smile [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  |  IP: Logged
monkeylizard

Ship's scurvy
# 952

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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  |  IP: Logged
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528

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Cleanliness and employees who give a shit. All else can be worked with.

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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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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  |  IP: Logged
Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772

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Odd for this site, no one specified the desired version of the Bible to be in the night table.
[Smile]

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  |  IP: Logged
Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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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  |  IP: Logged
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128

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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  |  IP: Logged
Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713

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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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(Paul Sinha, BBC)

Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
Aggie
Ship's cat
# 4385

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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  |  IP: Logged
monkeylizard

Ship's scurvy
# 952

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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  |  IP: Logged
Dormouse

Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954

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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  |  IP: Logged



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