Rapid Travel Chai

Recent leisure and business trips in the US have shown me four small touches that I wish were standard.

I am not fussy about hotels and in addition to cost savings I like the roll of the dice of Priceline bookings because I land in hotels I would otherwise never visit, almost always with a fine experience. The occasional exception I shrug off, like the Monte Carlo Inns Markham in Toronto which somehow is categorized as a 3-star property despite having creaky fold-out beds and surroundings to match.

Hoteliers, take note:

1. Drape clip at the Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley. A universal law of travel physics is that curtains do not properly close. Pearls of Travel wisdom suggests good alternatives for everywhere else.

2. Pillow cases labeled ‘firm’ and ‘soft’ at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Marathon. The pillows were in proper rectangular shape, too.

3. Two luggage racks at the Sonesta Bayfront Hotel Coconut Grove (this re-purposed apartment complex leans toward high-end, but the Priceline rate was decidedly midrange). So many times wife and I travel and we each have a piece of luggage, so mine ends up on the coffee table or similar. Why luggage racks always need to be hidden in closets rather than tastefully built into the furniture is a topic for another day. How many people would say “Why on earth did they install this luggage rack, who would bring luggage here?”

4. WSJ Weekend at the Courtyard Miami Homestead. Yes it is a cost for hotels to have newspapers on weekends when business travel is down, but on weekends I actually have time to read through a newspaper and weekend/Sunday editions are newspapers at their best. I still remember the Continental in SkyTeam days when I could get the full range of Sunday newspapers at the lounge in Newark before departing for China.

Readers, what small touches at hotels do you wish were in every room?