Hotels

The subject of hotels when traveling came up in my mind today, so you get a hotel E mail. The good news is I am not charging you a room service fee or one of those hidden hotel taxes. You don't even have top pay me a booking fee. Ok, relax. I am just going to make some random observations about hotels and the travel hotel industry. It is an interesting one to me and one everyone comes in contact with. We all travel, either because we have to or like to.
One thing I notice that is different about hotels today is that most travelers use the internet to book their rooms. But rarely do we use the hotel web site. it's always more expensive to book there, thought I think most of us get our information about the hotel and then look for a budget rate booking service like hotels.com or Expedia. I like to spend a great deal of time searching for the hotel that is perfect for me. It's fun and I like the idea of saying after I travel, "I got a cheaper rate than you and with a nicer hotel". Every little success in life is important... I win the game then, and don't even mind that I spent endless hours searching many sites for the best deal. (I often stick out my tongue and say "na na na na, I got the best deal" too).
Another thing about hotels here and any other country in the world is that they are mostly the same in services offered and method of operation, and the vast majority of them are part of one hotel chain or another. I bet you if you stay in the President Hotel in China there is a President Hotel in at least 10 other countries and that each one is a part of the chain of President Hotels. One way to know if a hotel is ok is to stay in one of the chain's hotels. You can be sure the rest elsewhere are about the same as that one. Hotels used to be independently owned. You never knew what the hotel was going to be like, and it was often either feast or famine. But now, you can book a room in a Hilton or Holiday inn, for instance, and know the general comfort level you will receive when staying there.
I have my own preferences when finding a hotel in a new city. My first priority is location. I want to be in the area that is a short walk away from many places I want to see. If the hotel isn't centrally located I will not choose it. My next priority is price. I want a bargain. This means the 3 and 4 star hotels most of the time. They give the bargain rates because there are many of them and they do not fill as fast as the cheaper ones. The 5 star hotels are mostly over-priced and offer amenities I do not need or use. My third priority is cleanliness. And that's it. Nothing else really matters to me. I do not need to stay in "the best hotel" to enjoy my trips. After all, most visitors only use their hotel to sleep. I can sleep as well in a 3 or 4 star hotel as a 5 star, particularly when I know that I am paying $100 less per night to do it.
Here are some things I never make use of in a hotel.
- The hotel restaurants. If they give me a free breakfast I'll eat it. But I never order food in one of them. It is always way too expensive and the food is just so so. I like the environment outside the hotel because that's why I travel. Eating meals in a hotel is the same everywhere. I could eat a meal in a New Orleans hotel and get the same sense of being away as if I eat in a Melbourne, Australia hotel room.
- Room service is a no no. The food is even worse than when you eat in the hotel restaurant and the charges for that mess are about as much as one night's hotel room rate.
- The closets and dresser drawers in the room. I keep all my possessions in my suitcase and lock it every time I leave the room for security reasons. Who knows what someone else may have put in that dresser drawer. (maybe it was you that put it there)
- The hotel mini bar scams. Why would anyone want to eat the junk or drink the drinks in those refrigerators or min bars? Any traveler can buy there own and at one of the many convenience stores outside the hotel and then store it in the min bar or fridge after he or she arrives at the hotel. The mark-up in price on a bottle of water from the hotel is at least 200%. If I need water I'll drink from the tap , get diarrhea and leave a"message' for the poor maid who has to clan up the bathroom the next morning because I ingested a parasite. That should teach them not to mark-up those prices so high.
- I never make long distance calls from a hotel. The price mark-up for that is even worse than the other things that I have ranted about.
Feel free to give me your own "I never" list. Now for the things I always use at hotels.
- The shampoo, toothpaste and other grooming products. It saves me space in my bags to not have to bring my own.
- Newspapers. If they give them to me free, fine. If not I always buy them in the lobby. For some reason the hotel mark-up guy never raises the price on newspapers.
- Tourist information and literature. I also use the concierge for information. They are usually the most informed and friendly people at the hotel.
- Shuttle buses to and from the airport. price is no object here because I want to get and go as quickly as possible. Some hotels still have free shuttles as away to induce you to stay there. That's a plus for me.
I could go on about this but it would take you longer to read my mail than it would be for me to take my next trip. I'll stop here, but tell me your own hotel observations.