This article explores the common misconceptions and hidden gems of hotel experiences. From breakfast buffets and power points to room cleaning and overwater bungalows, the author shares their candid opinions on what truly makes a hotel stay enjoyable (and what to avoid).
One person’s breakfast buffet is another’s extravagant waste of food. And do we really need our hotel rooms serviced every day? Here are our picks for what’s overrated, and underrated, about staying in hotels and resorts. We love a good breakfast buffet, but the food waste is phenomenal, unless the buffet is not topped up toward the end of service, which results in a sorry-looking mess of picked-over food.
Bring back the a-la-carte breakfast? Or, as the Mandarin Oriental in Greece’s Costa Navarino is trialling, display a limited amount of dishes and offer them made fresh, on order; proven to dramatically reduce food waste. See you’re building a new hotel and expecting guests from around the world, why not install universal power points, instead of the one specific to your country? Hoteliers will save themselves bazillions in borrowed adaptors that never return to the front desk. Swinging in the opposite direction; your hotel is so new that it’s installed only USB-C power points? Thanks, but our devices haven’t all caught up yet. Operated by malevolent spirits, mastering the hotel toaster is a dark art. Burnt fruit toast, undercooked crumpets, the slice that never arrives. And while you’re waiting, what do you do? If you wander away to fill over your plate, someone will thieve your (finally) perfectly done toast. Or you forget about it, returning once it’s cold and rigid. We recycle at home, why not in hotels? It’s the simplest, most basic step toward environmental responsibility – a dual bin with signage; rubbish here, paper and cans there. If they can’t get this basic right, are all the hotels’ other eco-claims simply greenwashing? Melbourne’s Alto on Bourke was Australia’s first carbon-neutral hotel, and still a bellwether in green tourism. Haven’t we moved past single-use toiletries yet? There’s no denying they make an easy souvenir if the toiletries are a luxury brand, but using refillable pumps in hotel bathrooms saves the hotel money when compared with expensive, disposable bottles, and sends the message the brand is genuine about cutting its environmental footprint. Beware the porter at an expensive hotel who offers to show you around your room upon check-in. They’ll point out where the fridge and light switches are, then perhaps they’ll fiddle with the TV remote or curtains, all while hovering for a tip. The worst offenders are in upscale US hotels. Could it be more awkward? You’ll pay significantly more for hotel rooms with a sea view compared to the same category rooms overlooking a city or gardens. But ask yourself how many minutes you spend ogling that view, and you might want to take the money and run to the nearest restaurant terrace instead and spend it on a scenic cocktail and lunch. You never know when they’ll show up; usually when you’re in the bath or on the toilet (with just a quick knock before entering). They’ll rearrange your most personal items and tuck your sheets in so tightly you’ll sprain your toes creating room to turn over in bed. Do you really need your room cleaned every day? Reclaim your space, hang the Privacy sign on your door. The aesthetic is impressive – plus the commitment to sustainability – but the reality is that many revamped retro hotels (particularly in the US) are on busy highways, have ancient, noisy air-conditioning and poor soundproofing. It takes more than a lick of paint to bring these beauties into the 21st century and up to the comfort levels guests expect and are paying for. Technophobic as it may sound, when it comes to hotel light switches, should one have to read a manual or download an app to learn how to operate them? If new technology isn’t intuitive, requires instructions, or defeats the average nocturnal bathroom visitor, it has no place in a hotel. Keep it simple for the weak-of-bladder stupids, please. Sure, they look great in the brochures, but the reality of staying in an overwater bungalow is often much less glamorous. Compared to a regular room, they’re smaller, more expensive and surprisingly noisy, particularly when it’s windy and the waves start slamming against the pontoon. Save your cash and go for a beachside villa where you’re still only steps from the ocean. A pre-charge of $US1500 for a five-night stay in LA is effectively someone’s total credit limit. That’s a lot of mini-bar gins – and quite frankly, sheer greed that put me in financial straits for several days after checkout. A $1 hold should suffice – that way the hotel has guest details and can charge for expenses without any inconvenience. Is it really that hard to run a bath? And what are the odds that a hotel employee (even a specially trained one) is going to get the temperature right and use the optimal amount of bubble bath? Above all, there’s the cringe-inducing awkwardness of having a stranger fussing around your bathroom when you’re trying to prepare for a soak. You can stop worrying about the view from your room if your hotel has a rooftop bar/ restauran
TRAVEL HOTELS RESORTS OVERRATED UNDERRATED SERVICE AMENITIES ECO-FRIENDLY SUSTAINABILITY VALUE
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