I wrote of 6 Hotel Pet Peeves and How Hotels Should Solve Them last year, but this trip has given me 3 other hotel pet peeves; fortunately, other hotels on this trip also illustrate how these can be solved.
1. Poor Bathroom Design with Inadequate Light and Sound Insulation From the Bedroom
So many hotels seem to think it hip to have either an open plan bathroom with minimal separation between the bathroom and bedroom, or clear or frosted glass that means that anytime the bathroom light is on, light will also flow into the bedroom. I hate this with a passion, although I've seen it way too many times, not only at airport hotels such as the Crowne Plaza Singapore Changi Airport (where at least there's a privacy screen that helps mitigate the issue) but also at luxury brands such as the Rosewood Abu Dhabi, where it's just frosted glass, and light will definitely seep through into the bedroom when the bathroom light is turned on.
Some of us have a kid or spouse who occasionally gets up to go to the bathroom during the night, and once woken up by this, I often don't get back to sleep or take over an hour to get back to sleep. That wouldn't happen if there was good sound and light insulation between the bathroom and bedroom.
Hotel Solution: At Amanemu in Ise-Shima, Japan, I liked the sliding wooden doors that separate the bathroom and walk-in closet from the room and entry way, and the additional door to the toilet. It was easy to work in the spacious walk-in closet area without disturbing my sleeping family. Similarly, I appreciated at Cheval Blanc Randheli in the Maldives, there was full separation of the bathroom area from the bedroom with panels that closed and prevented any light seepage into the bedroom, and the toilet was additionally separated by a separate wooden door.
2. No Extra Bed Set Up, and Delays Getting the Extra Bed Delivered
I usually remember to tell hotels that we need an extra bed for my son. But I feel that even if I've forgotten to do this, the hotel knows that 2 adults and a child are staying in a room with a king bed, and I'd expect a luxury hotel to at least ask if an extra bed is needed. And indeed, some hotels do this, but not as many as I'd expect.
My more serious pet peeve is, upon finding there's no extra bed in the room, asking that an extra bed be brought up, but having to wait 45 minutes or more for it, and perhaps having to call again for it. This happened to us at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, where no bed was in the room, and it took 3 requests to get a bed brought up.
Hotel Solution: Any time a family or more than 2 people are staying in a room, the hotel should proactively ask if an extra bed is needed, and if so, have it set up before the guests arrive (unless it's a sofa bed that is made up during turndown service). For example, The Peninsula Tokyo, Aman Tokyo, and Mandarin Oriental Tokyo all had our son's extra bed already set up when we arrived at the room, which was much appreciated.
And if for some reason this has not been taken care of prior to the guest checking in, Hotel Reception should proactively ask about this when a family is checking in, so that the call to Housekeeping can be placed right away and the guests can receive the extra bed sooner.
3. Any Factors Contributing to a Poor Night's Sleep: Uncomfortable Mattress, Loud Environment, Lack of Temperature Control
Given that most of us spend roughly a third of our time sleeping, you would think that hotels would take that to heart and prioritize the sleep experience. Unfortunately, in my experience, it's not focused on enough, even at many luxury hotels (with the notable exception of Four Seasons). Beds, apart from the new Four Seasons bed that is customized to your sleep preference, are still “one size fits all” in terms of sleeping firmness, even though guests have vastly different preferences for mattress firmness.
Temperature, at least at luxury properties in temperate climates, is usually not an issue–but be careful if you need a very cool sleeping environment somewhere hot such as the Maldives. I'd never recommend the Park Hyatt Maldives Water Villas, for example, in that case, since the air conditioning units are insufficient to really cool down the villas during the heat of the day, and could be too warm for some guests even at night.
And a loud environment is a distinct possibility at some hotels, depending on the street they face, the level of window sound-proofing and thickness of the walls, and the degree to which the client prioritizes group events and parties over individual guests' need for quiet at night.
Hotel Solution: Restful guest sleep should be made a priority at all hotels, and is an absolute must at any true luxury hotel. While hotels can't of course control all the external sounds, particularly in a busy urban setting and guest sounds, they can take steps such as improving sound insulation via double paned glass and thicker walls between rooms and suites. And naturally a hotel should not be creating guest sleep problems by hosting loud parties that can be heard by guests in any of the rooms.
It also is high time that other luxury hotels, beyond Four Seasons, look at customizing their mattress offering. While I understand that many Asian and European guests prefer very firm mattresses, other guests, such as us, rely on ergnomic pillowtop mattresses to sleep well, and super firm mattresses have us tossing and turning, leaving us tired the next day.
What are your top hotel pet peeves, and how do you wish hotels would solve them?
Recommended Posts
Top 10 Hotel Downgrade Compensation Tips
Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits
Why Switch to Four Seasons Preferred Partner from an AMEX FHR Booking
Need Award Booking Help? Our fee is as low as $75 per ticket if you book your hotel through us.
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: please follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book Your Hotel with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits!