5 of my biggest hotel pet peeves

I’m all about making the destination a priority on my trips, taking in the culture, and making the most of my time there. However, I do love a good hotel, even if I don’t spend all of my time there. I think there’s something very comforting in knowing you’ve got a gorgeous, clean room to return to after a day of sight seeing. While hotels can provide comfort, convenience, and safety in a strange city, there are a few superficial things that bug me about them. Here are five of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to hotels:

1. Revolving doors

They may look high tech and eliminate the need for a doorman (or do they?). But they’re annoying and impractical for many reasons. It’s like somebody thought, “Let’s reinvent the wheel and make it square”. It looks cool but makes a simple thing more complicated, thus defeating the purpose it was created for. People get stuck walking through them all the time and sometimes you have to wait longer than it would take you to walk through a regular door until another slot opens up for you to jump in.

And did I mention getting through one with multiple bags is a pain in the a**? How about we make walking into a building simple again and everyone just learn to open their own doors.

2. Trash can with no plastic bag

I can’t get myself to throw an empty frappuccino cup into the trash (never mind that there’s often no recycling bin). Even if cleaning it isn’t my responsibility, I don’t like the idea of dumping my trash in a bin that doesn’t have a plastic bag. Plus, it makes me think of the germs that must be present because other people’s trash has been in the same bin. It may be the hotel being environmentally friendly, but in that case, have a communal trash can down the hall that everyone can use. Maybe I’m being neurotic, but it’s the small things that annoy me.

3. Not enough power outlets

I recently stayed in a Balcony Suite at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, which didn’t have a single working power outlet in the living room. There were two coffee machines, yet no place to plug them in. Even the bedroom had just two outlets tucked away in a far-off corner with no place for an appliance, let alone your cell phone. This tends to be the case with older hotels or ones that aren’t targeted towards business travelers. Splurge on an extra outlet or rearrange the furniture.

4. Slow in-room wifi

Maybe this is meant to drive people out of their rooms and into the lobby, where they’ll hopefully spend money at the restaurant or bar. If you’re going to offer in-room wifi, make it faster than the wifi in the lobby. Especially if you’re charging for it. Also, don’t give me two or more wifi speeds to choose from. Average out the price and charge everyone the same thing for the highest speed.

5. Monotony

While consistency is a key part of the chain hotel business model, it would be nice if hotels switched it up a bit in terms of decor. I think Club Carlson does a nice job at this. This is especially annoying when the hotel’s decor is mundane to begin with. There’s something depressing about walking into a hotel room in a different country and feeling like you’re in a hotel in the suburbs of your hometown.

Also, I don’t want to eat the same dishes everywhere I go. Switch it up and offer regional specialties at your on-site restaurants. Even breakfast seems mundane when the restaurant menus look identical.

These are just a few of my pet peeves. Popcorn ceilings, badly done renovations (which are particularly noticeable in the bathroom for some reason), stained carpets, and dusty furniture are a few others that I personally think are better suited to prisons than places where people pay to sleep.

Rant over. What are some of your hotel pet peeves?

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