Worst Hotel Innovations
Monday May 1, 2006
I recently stayed in an otherwise very nice hotel whose designer sinks took up the entire bathroom basin, requiring me to leave my folded clean clothes in the wet sink -- or the floor -- while I took my shower. But hey, they looked cool. No doubt some designer got a round of applause and a big fee for dreaming up that design.
Hotel Online lists a few of the worst hotel innovations, and while oversized designer sinks aren't on the list, they've got some good ones. Vote for the one that annoys you the most. Did they miss one that really irks you? Let me know in the comments below.
- Decorative balconies with sliding-glass doors to fake you out.
- Towel racks inside the shower that get your towels soaked.
- The “undercut” guestroom door, the three inches cut from the bottom of your door to let air into the corridor -- and bugs and sounds in your room.
- Plastic-bag liners for the ice bucket that are two sizes too small.
- Self-collapsing luggage racks that sink in the middle.
- Motion detectors wired to the HVAC system so the room heats up while you're gone.
- Twenty-three throw pillows to trip over in the middle of the night.
- The combination alarm clock, AM-FM radio, CD player, personal digital assistant and oscilloscope you're never going to program correctly.
- The swivel nightstand mount for the TV remote just to make sure you don't steal it -- and can't use it.
- The unitary shower mixing valve that never gets the mix just right.
Comments
I voted for the univalve, but what I hate most of all are the rainforest/waterfall shower heads. I’m not sure who thought they were a good idea. Zero water pressure, and the water comes right down into your eyes. Makes it impossible to wash your hair.
I hate the towel racks in the shower. I haven’t had problems with them getting wet - yet! The shower mix is also a problem - the last 2 hotel stays at expensive hotels I ended up taking lukewarm showers because I couldn’t get hot water. In the latest room I figured out there was some sort of catch in the swivel before you actually get to “hot” which I mistook for it getting to the highest setting. Bad design. I test very high for understanding gizmos, spatial reasoning, etc. If I don’t “get it,” most people don’t.
I dislike the new ideas that many hotels have now about ‘taking care of our planet’ by NOT changing the sheets except for every 3 days and towels only if they are put on the floor. I always use a particular upscale chain and love everything about it but recently stayed at Wyndham and it was a disaster. I stayed for 8 nights and they kept to their word about not changing any towels unless they were on the floor, but actually did little else in the room. Sheets didnt change at all during that time and housekeeping only pulled the top sheet over the bunched up bottom sheet and mattress pad each day. The only thing i could see that they actually took time to do was to change the cool room that i liked to a hot fan full speed each day so that when i got back to the room it would take considerable time each night to make the room tolerable.
Those non removable clothes hangars that allow you to remove part of it but not all of it.Also the don’t hold or grip slacks very well or anything with thin straps. If you want to hang something in shower to dewrinkle forget it.If you need to leave the room for a car excursion forget using the hangar for that jacket or extra top.