Top 10 most annoying things about hotels

MELBOURNE - No matter if you are staying in a 5-star hotel or a sub-standard budget lodge, there will be many things you’ll find wrong as far as the place’s services are concerned.

Many establishments seem to get it wrong when it comes to basic parts of their service.

And here are 10 of the most annoying things hotels consistently get wrong:

The Age reports, “1. Breakfast is served … from 7.30am to 7.45am

You’re on holiday, but if you actually want to get that breakfast that was included in the room rate, you’ve got to be up at the crack of dawn or risk missing out. Some hotels have gotten the message in recent times and extended breakfast hours through to 11am, but plenty of others are lagging behind.

2. Bathroom nightmares

A decent bathroom should be a simple thing for a hotel to achieve, but consistently hotels fail on little details that become major pains. Poor design is one. Some places offer no space to place your toiletries in the bathroom, other than on the floor, or put the soap holder outside the shower, instead of in it.

3. Hidden fees and charges

This is a speciality of North American hotels - the fees are there to cover certain ‘extras’ that the hotel provides, but there’s no way to opt out.

4. Do not disturb? What does that mean?

Many hotel cleaners ignore do not disturb signs.

5. Internet is free, unless you’re paying 400 dollars a night

It’s slowly beginning to change, but one of the big pains with high-end hotels is their expensive Internet charges, whether in-room or at the business centre. Rarely can you pay by the minute or half-hour - it’s normally a 24-hour minimum at an exorbitant price. The irony is that if you stay in a cheaper place - like a backpacker hostel - there’s normally free wireless or at least a couple of free computers available for use.

6. Check-in/check-out times

Late check out is becoming increasingly common in the hotel industry and this is a welcome development. But plenty of places still want you out by 10am on the dot, regardless of how busy the establishment is. Even worse are the places that threaten with charging you for a half-day’s stay if you happen to oversleep and overstay by 30 minutes. And the downside of more late check-outs is that check-in times have also become later. 2pm used to be standard but increasingly this has been pushed back to 3pm.

7. Bigger doesn’t mean better

With so many guests, personal service often goes out the window. Stay in a mega-hotel with hundreds of rooms and you may find yourself stuck on hold when trying to contact the front desk or queuing up for ages in the lobby to ask a simple question.

8. Thin walls, noisy corridors

This is a real problem in buildings that were not designed as hotels. That grand old room that is now three separate guest rooms is likely to be divided by a paper-thin bit of plaster, meaning you can hear your neighbours rolling over in bed - or worse. And the location of windows facing loading bays, foyers or bars can lead to a sleepless night or rude awakening in the early hours.

9. We hear your complaint, but we’re not going to do anything bout it

They’ll thank you for bringing it to their attention, but you’re crazy if you think they’re going to do anything about. After all, you’ll be gone in a day or two and then a new guest will arrive - and they might not notice what you were complaining about.

10. How many pillows do you need?

It’s a more minor gripe (which is why it comes in at number 10), but why do high-end hotels insist on burying their beds beneath so many pillows?” (ANI)