On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:23:51 +0200, Martin wrote in post :
:
> On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:14:41 +0100, d4g4h4@yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_
> chancellor (*)) wrote:
>
>>tim..... wrote:
>>
>>[]
>>> I have different priorities about hotels. Given that I usually stay in
>>> moderately priced hotels, I couldn't give a damn about "service". What's
>>> important to me is cleanliness and how comfortable the bed is. Get these
>>> two right and the staff can be as surly as they like. I'm often amazed at
>>> the number of bad reports that I see where the only complaint was something
>>> like "the check in staff were rude" and they use this single fault to give
>>> the hotel a "poor" rating. You interface with the check in desk for two
>>> minutes, you stay in the room for 10 hours, why give this single factor so
>>> much emphasis?
>>>
>>> I know I'm in the minority on this (through can't understand why). You
>>> probably don't get to see Channel 4's "Hotel Inspector"? Last week she was
>>> in a standard UK B&B (which for those that don't know is the bottom of the
>>> pile, cheap choice) and she derided an owner for not offering to carry her
>>> bags to the room. You don't expect this service in a B&B, FFS!
>>>
>>> The other thing is, as you mentioned - noise. But 30 years of travelling
>>> has told me that most hotels are in noisy locations. To be seen and get
>>> passing trade you have to be on a main road and being on a main road, makes
>>> it noisy. Whilst I do try to seek out quiet hotels and like to see comments
>>> upon it, I don't down rate a hotel for it if it's outside of the hotel's
>>> control.
>>
>>I generally have the same requirements as you, but I will try and avoid
>>noise whenever possible, and if the hotel is in a noisy location, I
>>would like it to at least have decent sound proofing. Most older
>>buildings with double glazing have this. We stayed in a hotel in Siena
>>recently with our room looking over the bus station, about the only
>>place in the city where there is any real traffic noise. But with the
>>windows closed, you barely noticed it. This was the hotel where a
>>tripadvisor complained the breakfast was poor just a month before. That
>>astonishes me.
>
> I like to be able to open the windows/balcony door in the room. I've never had a
> problem to find a hotel room that isn't next to a busy road. Most hotels have a
> back as well as a front.
It was about the first thing we learnt in Italian class, how to ask for a
quiet room facing into the courtyard. :-)
--
Tim C. |