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News shopping Travel

Man sues Hotel over “free” Newspaper

USA Today
USA Today

Web Watch likes staying at hotels, especially nice ones.

The rooms are typically clean, comfortable.  Staff service is friendly and they go out of their way to make us feel welcome and safe when travelling in an unfamiliar city.

One recent hotel stay even had the front desk manager give us a complimentary bottle of wine when we checked in after the “complimentary wine hour” was over.  Granted, while it was drinkable wine, it wasn’t anything overly high-end.  Still, the thought was there and the wine was certainly enjoyed that evening.  We’ll definitely be back to that hotel again.

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10 Things Travel

Have you ever stolen something from a hotel? Or just leave your underwear behind?

Bates Motel Sign
Bates Motel Sign

Have you ever stolen anything from your hotel room?  We’re talking more than just taking the courtesy soap and shampoo.   We’re talking major or minor felony theft.

Have you?

Novatel Hotels have released a list of their MOST STOLEN ITEMS FROM HOTELS, based on their own room inventory replacements, and found that the following were the leading missing items:

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10 Things Travel

The winner of the 2010 dirtiest hotel in America is in San Francisco. Are you surprised, or not?

Hotel Sleep Sack

We’ve all been travelled a bit across the country and have been disgusted by what we’ve found in a dirty hotel room, right?

Web Watch recalls one hotel we stayed at that was so disgusting that we did everything we could to avoid touching anything in the room (we didn’t have much choice as to where else to stay, and it was only for one night – we figured we could stick it out for a few hours. Of course, we didn’t have a hotel sleep sack to use at the time — that would have been most awesome!).

One year, a travelling companion of ours found a used condom on the floor of her off-strip hotel in Las Vegas. You’d think the cleaning folks would have noticed it was there and destroyed the evidence. (She ended up getting her night comped, but not before subjecting the hotel manager with some very harsh words.)

Even the local news stations have run reports on how you’re not supposed to drink out of the in-room glassware or use the in-room coffee pot at even the fanciest expensive hotels, because those items may not be cleaned in as regular a time period (or in a sanitary way) as a guest would like.  Just saying…

The point is that TripAdvisor has released their list of the TOP 10 DIRTIEST HOTELS IN AMERICA, based on survey results they have received from world travellers.

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10 Things Travel

The Ten Most Unusual Hotel Guest Requests, Ever

The hotel concierge.

The good ones are always in demand and usually underappreciated for what they do for their guests.

But the exeptional concierges are those who will go above and beyond to make their guests’ stays as enjoyable as possible.  They will do anything….  ANYTHING…. that the hotel guest asks them to do, and will end up doing it well.  

Here are 10 MOST UNUSUAL HOTEL GUEST REQUESTS, and well-deserved thanks that the concierges who managed to pull these off with success:

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Funny Travel Websites

Come Jump On The Bed With Me

The best thing about checking into some of the newer, higher-end hotels is that they really are promoting their “high-thread count linens” or “superior mattresses” (which some hotels will even sell to you at the end of your stay, if you absolutely loved your mattress so much that you just had to take it home with you).

The Radisson chain, for example, is promoting that they have the SLEEPNUMBER bed.  The last time I stayed at a Radisson, I didn’t find the SleepNumber Bed that remarkable, especially since the maid had lodged the controller between the bedframe and the headboard amongst all the evil hotel room dustbunnies that never seem to get vacuumed up. 

Ew.

Perhaps if I had tried the bed at the SleepNumber store at the mall, like everyone else does, I would have had a better night’s sleep.

Categories
Disney

Progress City – A Response

I enjoy reading Michael Crawford’s PROGRESS CITY, USA blog – it offers well-researched, well-written commentary and analysis of the history of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and other aspects of the Walt Disney Corporation.   If you’re a Disney theme park fan, you will be well served by bookmarking the site and reading the updates as they come in.

I do want to respond to one paragraph written in the most recent posting, TEN WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR, #9.   In it, Michael says…

“What’s more unsettling are the areas in which the rest of the industry has not only caught up with Disney but surpassed them. These days, pretty much any run-of-the-mill chain motel has free wi-fi, or at least internet service. Not only does internet access at Disney require calling room service for an Ethernet cable, but using the service costs the guest ten dollars per room, per day. This blatant price gouge puts Disney not only behind its high-end competition, but also far behind even its most lowly lodging competitors. It might seem like small potatoes, but considered in the light of the resort’s once-unparalleled level of service it looks shabby at best.”

 

 

 

I do agree with the sentiment being expressed in the overall article, in that there appears to be a small decline in the amount of service at the Disney hotels when compared to the service level offered in years past.  However, to point out the Internet pricing on the Disney property as an example of a service decline is, I feel, misguided.