I have a peeve about hotels. When you reserve a room, they always ask you what kind of bed you want — double, king, or suite. If it’s just me in the room, or just me and The Wife, I prefer a king; the bed will be centered in the room so it’s easy to watch the TV, and there is more space to move about in the room. Usually such rooms have larger desks to work on, which is convenient for me in a situation like the one I am in now, when I am travelling for business and need a desk upon which to write and use the computer.
Reservations agents for even halfway upscale hotels also usually ask if you want a smoking or non-smoking room. Not being a smoker, having a non-smoking room is of paramount importance to me.
So why is it that when I check in to a hotel, having requested a non-smoking king, I inevitably find that there are none available? Am I not timing my check-in correctly? Do hotels not realize that people want what they ask for? I don’t particularly mind the double bed so much — at home, I sleep on a queen, and hotel doubles are almost that size. But here’s the thing. If you don’t have a non-smoking room with a king-sized bed available, don’t offer it to me. That way, when the only non-smoking room with a king-sized bed in your entire hotel is taken at the time I check in, I won’t be disappointed.
On the other hand, the Cool Springs Marriott does offer “free” wireless internet access. You need to get a code and I think that is now a cookie on my computer, but the cookie is easy enough to delete later and in the meantime, the access here is just as good as if I were at home or at a public wi-fi hotspot. One annoying thing about road computing is mouse interface. I don’t have my comfortable ergonomic mouse with me; I have cute “mini-mouse” (bad pun on the picture, I realize, but if you don’t like it, go start your own blog) but it’s not the same thing. Neither is the notebook’s keyboard nearly the equal of my big ergonomic wireless keyboard; I’m slowed down about ten words a minute and I can see how users of keyboards like this develop CTS. But, it’s only for two days and then I’m home again.
I don’t think they actually track requests, kind of like a rental lot.
Bastards!
The persistence of two-bed rooms is puzzling. Who sleeps two to a decent hotel room anymore, unless they’re people willing to share a bed anyway?Maybe the extra bed is for a kid too small for his own room? Stick him on a rollaway, I say.
Yea, how many business travelers share a room?
There may be a need for hotels to have double beds — for instance, when our friend who is in the UT band had to travel to away games, they stick ’em four in a room. And like I say, I don’t have a problem with the double beds being offered, or even a particular problem with being given such a room (although it seems like a waste for a single traveler). My issue is why does a hotel offer a particular room and then not deliver it? Same thing with the rental car lot — if they have no convertibles, then why offer them?It’s one thing if the last guy they rented the convertible to hasn’t returned it yet. Or if the last guy to rent a king non-smoking room hasn’t checked out yet. And, it’s okay if you tell me that — that’s beyond the merchant’s control and I understand they have to provide service to the other customer, too. But if people keep asking for king non-smoking rooms, or convertibles, or any other variety of product or service a company offers, why do these companies still persist in not having enough of it to meet customer demand?