Female business travellers are on the increase and the good news is, in the main there are plenty of great city hotels for us to choose from. So why is it that so many still don’t have the foggiest about how to win our loyalty? Here are just some of the hideous things that hotels do to us every day.
1. Give us non-removable coat hangers
Not because we are too intellectually or physically challenged, or too short to navigate our clothes into the wardrobe, but because we like to hang our dresses in the bathroom so that the creases fall out. Have you ever considered how frustrating it is for us to try and hang a coat-hanger, without an actual hook, anywhere except its intended place? And no, really, we won’t pinch them!
2. Give us a push button hairdryer
The average time it takes to dry our hair to perfection is around 15 minutes using our high-voltage, salon-standard, ceramic, super turbo-charged gadgets at home. The reality often is that when we stay with you we have to wrestle a hairdryer on a 60 cm leash from the back of a drawer and operate it by permanently pushing in a button, only to find that it generates little more than a puff of tepid air. Needless to say, we resemble nothing like perfection and we’ve lost the circulation in our hand too.
3. Announce our room number to all and sundry
We shouldn’t have to explain this, but really, man or woman, please don’t say our room number out loud , discreetly circle it on the key card and we’ll repay you by not asking for another room.
4. Dress us up to look like Hong Kong Phooey
Yes! We are talking about robes designed for 7ft tall, 150kg men that we have to wrap around us three times, the belt hangs somewhere down by our knees and we have to roll the sleeves back four or five times just to get our hands out!
5. Invade our privacy
On a recent visit to a well-known UK spa, a gentleman brandishing a glass of hot water with a lemon floating in it let himself into my room without so much of a cursory knock. A strange thing to do and he looked more than a little surprised to find somebody in there – what was he really up to?
6. Give us combined bathing products
It might cut-it with the boys, but please keep it well clear of us. We spend time and money looking after our tresses and a combined hair and body wash won’t be going anywhere near them.
7. Put us somewhere inappropriate
On the ground, floor, in an annexe, at the end of a long, windy corridor, or right next to the lifts. Just a nice simple room, that we can feel comfortable walking to after a client dinner will do perfectly.
8. Take forever to serve us
It’s bad and boring enough dining alone in a restaurant and dealing with those around us (who are even more uncomfortable with our solo dining dilemma and the fact that we have read the words off the menu), besides the obvious question of “where do I lay my eyes”, . We’d just like a quick dinner – in and out so that we can get on with our evening.
9. Inflict Spaghetti Carbonara on us
OK, its not that we have anything specifically against Spaghetti Carbonara, but we prefer not to have to choose from uninventive, high-carb, meaty room service menus. Give us some light, healthy options, delivered hot, and call us before you deliver so that we don’t do the ‘bathroom- robe- should I/ shouldn’t I’ jiggle and you will spare us a trip to the deli before checking-in.
10 Charge us an arm and a leg for Wifi access
The reality is that women like to talk, and if you are lucky we will talk about you. Aside from the fact that we will be busy multi-tasking; shopping, Skyping with the family and sending the odd work e-mail , if you are doing something well we might check-in on Foursquare or Facebook or Tweet about your excellent customer service. So please don’t charge us to give you some free PR.
Are these your worst nightmares ladies, or do you have more to add? Share your stories with us below.
Carolyn Pearson, Founder of Maiden-Voyage.com
Further Reading
How often have you arrived at a hotel and found that something you expected to find was missing? It could be as simple as a shower cap or a peppermint tea bag – one of those home comforts that you assumed would be available.
You may have left something essential behind, like hair straighteners or tights – I’ve been known to leave my entire make-up bag at home. One of our members, who shall remain nameless, once set-off on a business trip without packing a single piece of underwear.
When we travel frequently, we can become blasé; it’s all too easy to forget those little essentials. What many of us don’t do is ask our hotels for help. As one hotelier put it “people don’t ask for what they can’t see”. Simple things like a note on a courtesy tray that says “fresh milk is available on request” makes all the difference, as does a note in the bathroom itemising a list of other items that are available, such as a toothbrushes and toothpaste or a comb.
I asked some of our hotel partners what they had available if we only knew to ask.
- The St Pancras Renaissance hotel in London offers guests travelling to France a city map and a guide to Paris, so that they can start planning their trip while enjoying their journey on the Eurostar.
- The Egerton House hotel in London has a box called ‘you forgot it – we’ve got it’, which contains items, such as hairspray, hairbrushes, vanity kits, nail varnish remover, hosiery, make-up remover and more – and, if they don’t have it they will do everything they can to source it.
- Lots of premium hotels don’t provide tea making facilities as standard, but the Sofitel Le Grand Ducal Luxembourg will provide a kettle on request, and for those of us who like to keep in shape while travelling, there are also yoga mats and light dumbbells available.
- For some serious in-room grooming the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh has curling irons, hair straighteners and salon professional steamers available on request.
When asked about the peculiar requests they had received from guests, Joseph Warren, Sales Director at Raithwaite Hall said: “Perhaps the strangest request was for a shotgun! A gentleman turned up to shoot at the nearby Mulgrave Estate and was so excited to be shooting at such a prestigious venue that he left his gun at home!
“Not only did we have to source him a gun through one of our contacts, we spent half an hour ringing his neighbour to get them to remove his gun from his porch where it was on display to anyone walking past.”
So next time you are travelling don’t be shy, your request is unlikely to raise an eyebrow, in fact, according to Joseph Warren “that’s the point of travelling to a luxury property, you’re allowed to forget things – in fact, it’s your right to”.
Tell us what important items you have forgotten and how you resolved it.
Carolyn Pearson, Founder of Maiden-Voyage.com