Switching Hotel Rooms - What Would it Take

What would it take for you to change hotel rooms after checking in and possibly unpacking? Some things on my list:

• bugs in my room
• elevator noise
• noisy airconditioning or heating
• dirty room

The reason I'm asking, I'm in a four star luxury hotel and fairly disappointed...not enough to switch rooms but this experience got me thinking. Here's my complaint with my room in this hotel:

• lousy internet connection
• sheets so threadbare they're not suitable for cleaning rags
• hair (someone else's) on the bathroom floor and in bathtub
• tissue pieces left on bathroom floor
• comforter well worn

I know I can be fairly picky, so just trying to put this in perspective.

Thanks for your feedback

 

Not the internet connection, but the other things you've mentioned as well as a running toilet would have me switching rooms.

 

Are you talking about changing rooms (within the same hotel) or changing hotels?

 

Changing rooms within the hotel, however I did change hotels once...what a dump!

 

I changed rooms once due to a noise AC unit, but I have never been in a room where it was obvious the room had not been cleaned (hairs in tub and or sink, and tissues on floor). That would make me change rooms right away. The sheets and comforter not so much. If it was a high end property that had worn sheets and comforters I would not change rooms but I would write a review indicating what I experienced in an alleged 4 star facility as long as they were clean, the review would just indicate the tired worn appearance.

 

Good reasons to change rooms would be:
bugs
broken toilet
dirty room
lousy internet connection

 

In addition to the reasons listed above, I've changed rooms due to:

• being on a low floor in large cities (higher floors tend to be quieter)
• a smoking room
• close to the ice machine (noise being the factor there)
• not having a view (panoramic view of parking garage roof vs. ocean view)

 

I'd not change room for the linen issue....I'd have them change the linens. But for hair in the room, bugs, etc. I would definitely change rooms.

 

Certainly not a room suitable for Holly Golightly, that.

 

For me it would be:

• Bugs in the room
• Smoking room or a room that reeks of cigarettes
• Dirty room
• Street noise, possibly a higher floor as someone mentioned
• Noisy AC/heating unit or one that isn't working
• Dirty bathroom with toilets not working
• Broken television

The biggest problem for me would be bugs too...

 

I'd be changing rooms in a heartbeat there! For me, the list is:

• Unsafe location (I've been in some oddly configured hotels where there are blind corners with rooms next to stairwell entrances completely isolated from the rest of the floor)
• Bugs
• Cleanliness
• Noise
• Internet (if wireless)
• Smoke
• Inoperative heat/AC

So, what was the result?

 

I would change for a rooms that:
a) was dirty - sheets not changed (once in 20 years of around 100 nights pa)
b) was dirty - bathroom not cleaned (again, twice in the same period - one time was in Gyantse in Tibet; next room was just as bad so gave up at that point - all drains backed up and changing hotels wasn't an option as there wasn't another one for about 100 miles!)
c) non-smoking room that smelled like an ashtray (lost count of the number of times)
d) non working AC in hot place
e) amorous couple in room next door if I were in my own!

Borderline reasons :
a) flaky internet - would the next room be any better?
b) noise - would have to be extreme (see e above)
c) non working TV (I tend to only use my room to sleep in and check EMails etc)

Wouldn't ask for change for:
a) smoking room (unless I'd specifically asked for a non-smoking room and been told my room was non-smoking (I always ask)
b) shabbiness - if one room is shabby, chances are others will be as well
c) worn sheets etc
d) view (unless I had specifically booked a 'room with a view'

 

The only time I changed rooms was at one of the Atlanta airport hotels were not only my room but most of the hallway reeked of cigarettes. The air had a disgusting, heavy quality to it.

If I encounter them, other reasons I would ask to switch include:

Bugs
Hadn't been cleaned/clean well
Significant noise due to a localized source such as highway, pool, many children/teenagers in adjacent rooms, etc.

 

I've changed rooms for a variety of reasons.

The following come to mind:
1.) Strong smell of what I believed to be carpet cleaning fluid inside room - Sofitel San Francisco Bay
2.) Room way too small - Bayerischer Hof Lindau
3.) Strong smell of carpet cleaning fluid outside room but strong enough inside room - Imperial (Vienna)
4.) Room flooded from rain (I walked into the LR of my suite and the carpet was very soggy) - Sofitel San Francisco Bay
5.) Banging noise from air conditioner on roof - I forget where but in the U.S.
6.) No heat in room in February - Waldorf Astoria NYC

 

I would change rooms for most of the above things, but have only ever changed rooms because of a residual smoke smell and an inop shower.