1. catdynamics
  2. in search of the perfect hotel

in search of the perfect hotel

By catdynamics on April 23, 2007.

it may be immodest, but there are a small number of things a hotel should do to achieve perfection...

Free broadband internet connection. Preferably Wi-Fi and Ethernet, but if only one can be done, then provide Wi-Fi. Suck the cost up in the room charge, don't split it out. Federal grants don't pay for hotel internet connections and breaking out the charges is annoying, it is also petty.
The more expensive hotels are the worst about this - I suspect they signed bad long term deals when having internet connections was a big deal and they are either stuck on inertia (already did this internet thing) or stuck with a binding contract.

Have MSNBC AND the Comedy Channel! Not just one or the other.
I mean, HBO is ok, but really it is just a distraction.
Oh, and the Weather Channel of course.

That's it.

An exercise room is good, doesn't have to be fancy; restaurant on site can also be useful, depending on location.

You should also read the Female Science Professor's perspective very, very carefully and take notes

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1) If you're going to have open WiFi, have open WiFi. I write this from a net that forces you to log in on a (V E R Y S L O W) splashpage where you must enter the username and password combination "fairmont" and "fairmont". But you have to ask to discover this, and wait while they find someone who knows what WiFi is.

2) Don't be evil. Grabbing people's SSL or START TLS encrypted requests and forcing them into your domain is NOT NICE. I will use a proxy to defeat this.

That negative correlation between room rates and probability of free internet is a bugger. And Marriott hotels suck.

Best hotel I stayed in recently was a Marriott Residence Inn.

But the rather more expensive Hilton and Westin's sucked - in particular they flunked the "free internet" test.
Not only do the moron ISPs redirect browser requests, they try to force resizes to go full screen (LOOK ONLY WE EXIST! GO TO OUR SPONSORED DESTINATION SITES).
I hate that.

Actually a mini-fridge is another hotel amenity that I rank very highly.
Anything that improves the odds of dinner not involving fried food, coffee or alcohol...
For strategic reasons I've decided to cut sodas to one-per-month or "emergencies" only, and I have to have some fluids other than coffee at some point during dinner.

My current strategy is to find Whole Foods and get their mini ready-made salads, but they only come in so many varieties...