I Can’t Believe These Aren’t in Every Hotel by Now

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Save for that one place that has a 7-star rating, hotels are generally graded on a 5-star rating system. Granted, the rating systems aren’t consistent throughout the world. (A project called “World Hotel Rating” was apparently trying to standardize global hotel ratings. But they’ve been working on the system since at least 2009 and right now their website essentially says “we’re in flux”.) But even if a hotel like Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands gets 5 stars on Google, four stars on Forbes Travel Guide and three stars on Frommer’s, between those and its reviews on TripAdvisor, you know the place isn’t going to be a dump.

Despite the lack of consistency between raters, you’d still think that, in this day and age, all but the cheapest flophouses would have these simple amenities:

Hydration stations

Some hotels include “2 free bottled waters” as part of their excuse for charging a resort fee. Gee…how nice of them. How about they skip the bottled water and install a hydration station? Granted, these are “newer” technology. But they’re also not THAT expensive.

For all the bottles they give away in a year, a hydration station would easily make up that money in less than a year. And for those who neglected to bring a reusable water bottle with them, sell them in the gift shop! Win-win!

Happily, some hotels are starting to add hydration stations as part of their “green” initiative. But not nearly enough hotels are.

Blackout curtains

It’s hard enough to sleep in a hotel; the comfort of the mattress and pillow may not be great, you may not have as much control over the heat or A/C as you’d like (psst! Here’s how to override some of those electronic thermostats), and there could be unfamiliar noises outside your room. If you have a room from hell that’s exposed to the street lights, or if you’re trying to catch a quick nap during the daytime, wouldn’t it be awesome to know your room is going to have blackout curtains so at least the room can be dark? And sure, I bring an eye mask just in case, but when I have a room with blackout curtains and don’t need to wear it? It’s heavenly.

QR code to tip housekeeping

Hey, if Wyndham can do it, ALL hotel chains can do it.

Plugs/USB/USB-C ports by the bed

Nearly all of us live and die by our cell phones. When we travel, they act as our alarm clocks, telephones, flashlights and a source of a myriad of information that we’d like to have at our fingertips 24/7. And yet I still feel the need to bring an 8′ extension cord with me every time I travel because I have no idea if my hotel is going to offer me an easily accessible power source (USB-C, USB, even a regular outlet is OK) next to the bed so I can charge my phone and keep it near me overnight.

And while we’re at it, could we please have these on both sides of the bed? Sometimes there are two of us in the room, y’know?

Larger trash cans

If hotels are going to not offer daily housekeeping (or at least daily trash & tidy), it would be nice for them to give us trash cans that will hold more than one day’s worth of garbage. More than one hotel we’ve stayed in had a recycling can that could hold 2 soda bottles and was full. After 3 days that was a whole lot of bottles on the desk.

Decent Wi-Fi

It’s 2024, y’all. Wi-Fi isn’t THAT expensive. Why do I go to some hotels and my Wi-Fi speed just CRAWLS?

Full body mirrors

Need I say more?

Two suitcase stands and 2 chairs in double rooms

Granted, some solo travelers get a double room in order to have more space. Or maybe they like having a larger bed. But if a room is made to hold 2 people, would it hurt hotels to include 2 suitcase stands so one of us doesn’t have to leave our luggage on the floor, the desk or the sofa? 2 chairs would be nice too, so one of us doesn’t have to sit on the bed.

Motion sensor nightlights

Funny how hotels can afford motion-sensor thermostats but not motion-sensor night lights, so if you have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, you don’t practically kill yourself while trying to navigate an unfamiliar room in the dark (although if that’s the case, they probably have blackout curtains. Yay)

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary