Would you like a room overlooking the dumpsters?
Oh! sorry, that room is not ready yet.
A business traveler’s and family’s last words they want to hear after driving countless hours or spending an ungodly amount of time in an airport or airplane. I know the “Travelers Bill of Rights” is struggling to “get off the ground”, but something needs to be done. With record delays, stressed economy, and out of control fuel prices the airline industry is sticking it to the consumer. There is no accountability for hours on the tarmac, lost luggage, canceled flights, and a host of other problems within the industry. We, as travelers are at their mercy, because we want to get to our destination.
Speaking of destination, I am not sure about the hotel industry. Check-in at 4:00pm, check out at 11:00am, does anyone else feel like, “Thanks for coming! Now get out!” More absurd, after traveling an entire day, the room is never ready. What I cannot figure out is how the hotels have all sides of the equation and inevitably rooms are not ready or they oversold the hotel. It should be simple math. They know how many rooms they have, they know how many people are checking in and out, they know how long it takes to prepare a room for the next guest, what am I missing? It’s a straightforward spreadsheet. On the flipside, I have encountered some pretty nice hotel employees over the last few months, so it’s hard to focus on negative experiences.
We always want everything to run smooth while on vacation, I guess we have to take these “bumps in the road” as they come. At the end of the day, it beats working!
But then again, this is just the way I see it…
If you have any comments, please visit my blog at www.thewayiseeit.net or email me at damarsh@bellsouth.net.