How much service do you appreciate when staying in a hotel? For me, this isn’t a matter of price, rather it’s a matter of taste. I expect a particular level of service when checking in, but by that I mean courtesy and intelligence at the reception desk. But really, I can open doors by myself, I travel with only one medium size rolling bag and a courier case slung over my shoulder and in my room I can usually find the bath and closet myself, and I recognize a tv when I see one.
I consider myself thrifty, not cheap. I tip well, probably too well overseas, for service that I want and need. But I bridle at being waited upon unnecessarily. I don’t need someone to turn down my bed covers—no one does that for me at home if I’m the first one to go to bed—and I certainly don’t want or need a piece of candy before going to sleep. Nor do I want my bed sheets changed daily. I don’t do that at home, and unless the hotel is letting someone else sleep in my bed while I’m out during the day, I see no reason for changing sheets after one use.
Bath towels are another example of unwanted service, but here I’ve noticed that many hotels are jumping on the greenwagon and giving guests a choice of daily towel replacement or not. Makes sense to me.
I no longer put any shoes out for shining overnight. I stopped doing that after an experience of having some gent’s freshly shined size 14 brown wingtips left at my door in the morning. It took about an hour for the hotel to find my shoes among the 100 or so pairs they had shined overnight, with the result that I was late for my first appointment.
And I now bring my own simple alarm clock, having had too many mornings when my wake-up call came anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes late.
So when you stop to think about it, there really isn’t much a good hotel needs to offer to keep guests like myself happy and coming back again:
- Clean, smoking-odor-free room.
- One set of thick, fluffy towels including a large bath towel.
- Clean sheets, soft pillows and blankets, not bedspreads for warmth when needed.
- Windows that open for fresh air (always stay on a high floor).
- Good bedside reading lights
- Comfortable chair and lamp for reading or watching tv
- Wide shower head with lots of water pressure
Is that asking for too much?
Let me know what you think/