BusinessTraveller - 16/02/2012 15:48 GMT
What's the best hotel room amenity you've ever come across - I'm stuck between a rubber duck in a Movenpick, personalised business cards in Zurich or a microwave...
Best hotel room amenities?
Posts
FredMoshe - 16/02/2012 17:23 GMT
Hangover cure pack in a Las Vegas hotel - or iPads at Eccleston Square, London
excessbaggage - 16/02/2012 17:25 GMT
Apex Hotels also have branded rubber ducks in all their properties, as do some of the rooms at The Stafford in London.
Quack quack.
PhilGroves - 16/02/2012 17:29 GMT
"I'm stuck between a rubber duck in a Movenpick, personalised business cards in Zurich or a microwave".
Sounds painful.
BeckyBoop - 16/02/2012 18:09 GMT
Right all you lot who have never posted before delete your posts not you excessbaggage! x
LuganoPirate - 16/02/2012 21:33 GMT
Matches. Sadly hardly ever given anymore.
Decent notepad (paper variety) and pencil
Bowl of fruit on arrival
MartynSinclair - 16/02/2012 21:45 GMT
had to check the definition
"amenities are any tangible or intangible benefits of a property"
*pen that works smoothly
*paper of a useful size
*bowl of fresh fruit and knife (so common no to cut up ones fruit before eating, LP)
*a self closing silent door
SimonRowberry - 17/02/2012 00:04 GMT
A pen at all these days (former Brussels Hilton often gave a pad but nowt to write with)
Free mineral water where consumption from the tap may be suspect
Matches (I'm with LP - rarely if ever seen these days, even in hotel bars in the EU)
Bowl of (edible) fruit
Plastic (better than rubber) ducks if travelling with kids
A bottle (even small) of something alcoholic and complementary if you are a premium member of the hotel's loyalty scheme
Free wifi
Coat hangers with a proper hook, instead of those that fit into a fixed attachment - I mean, if you're paying GBP 200+ for a night, why would you want to steal a GBP 3.00 coat hanger? Actually - I've noticed that more and more hotels are now providing decent hangers
Air conditioning controls that are a) logical and b) don't require a higher degree in ICT to be able to operate
Simon
Ian_from_HKG - 17/02/2012 02:49 GMT
The Grand Hyatt in Singapore has power sockets in the safe - brilliant idea
Decent multisockets
I haven't come across this yet, so it is a wishlist item - different toiletries for morning (citrus or something else to wake you up and energise you) and evening (lavender or something else to relax you)
SimonRowberry - 17/02/2012 02:54 GMT
Ian,
If I may be slightly tangential to the thread - the corollary of the power point in the safe really racks me off. That is when you have your phone, laptop and iPad on charge, go to bed and switch the master off and it puts off all the power sockets and you wake to dead ICT hardware.
This is increasingly common now also, with having to put the key card in to power the room - the same happens obviously when you go to the bar or for dinner. I guess the only way is to ask for two key cards and keep one plugged in, and to switch all the lights off manually at bedtime. Not very green, but c'est la vie, it seems.
Cheers, Simon
Ian_from_HKG - 17/02/2012 03:05 GMT
I entirely agree, Simon, but the great thing about keycards is that they are all the same. You only need to keep one in your hand luggage and it will work wherever you go! As to the bedside master switch turning off the sockets - I haven't encountered that, but I agree it would be massively annoying. Wouldn't help with the laptop, but I now travel everywhere with two self-contained mini-chargers (a bit like a PowerMonkey - i,e. they are rechargeable batters with sockets) each of which is enough to give my phone or blackberry a complete charge. They are very small (thicker but with a smaller footprint than my BB), fairly light, and incredibly useful!
SimonRowberry - 17/02/2012 03:08 GMT
Ian,
Thanks buddy - sometimes I miss the obvious! I will "borrow" a spare key card or two over the next couple of hotel stays and try to remember to keep them with me. Thanks also for the tip re mini-chargers. Do they also work with Apple gear, or did Steve manage to lock alternative power sources within the Cupertino supply chain too?!
Cheers and thanks, Simon
Ian_from_HKG - 17/02/2012 03:22 GMT
I haven't tried with an iPhone (because we don't have one in the family) but they work with iPod Touch, so I see no reason why they wouldn't work with iPhone as well. Unfortunately I can't give you a brand name, since they were a premium I was given at a recent event (I picked up a couple, and was so impressed I wrote to the firm in question who kindly gave me five more to distribute around the family!). They are white, 6cm along each side, and on one edge have a torchlight, micro-USB input socket and standard USB output socket, and on one of the faces they have four lights (showing charging and discharging battery state) and a button to switch on/off/torch. The other face states "Portable Smartphone Battery. Lithium-ion battery: 1900mAh, Input 5V/600mA, Output 5V/1000mA" and then has the usual safety logos and "MADE IN CHINA"
SimonRowberry - 17/02/2012 03:40 GMT
Ian
Thanks mate. I'll do some research on the basis of the info you have.
Simon
Ian_from_HKG - 17/02/2012 09:19 GMT
Simon, I just stumbled across the instructions. It is called (or possibly made by) OMT-Power. I can also tell you it weighs just 60g
samanthah - 17/02/2012 09:51 GMT
Haha Simon, "bowl of (edible) fruit". Unfortunately I haven't come across that during my stays which is a pity. More hair straighteners would be a nice thing to come across.
Recent coat hangers, iron and ironing board, smooth pen and pad paper [and microwave!] for me is a standard at most hotels.
I could imagine that the hotels in Vegas would pull out some pretty interesting amenities ;)
Ian_from_HKG - 17/02/2012 09:57 GMT
samanthah - "Recent" coat hangers? As opposed to what?? LOL
As for hotels in Vegas - you remind me of a stay in the W New York some years ago. I was most amused, looking through the in-room dining menu, to see that one of the dessert options involved fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, a rubber sheet and a condom.... (!!!)
MartynSinclair - 17/02/2012 10:43 GMT
matches are probably disappearing due to the increase of non smokers!!
Be interesting to see what % of us are smokers / non smokers
Regards
Martyn
Reformed
now NS
