Buffet breakfasts, 10am checkouts: Six things hotels get wrong

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This was published 7 years ago

Buffet breakfasts, 10am checkouts: Six things hotels get wrong

By Michael Gebicki
Checking in? Be prepared to hand over a credit card for pre-authorisation.

Checking in? Be prepared to hand over a credit card for pre-authorisation.Credit: iStock

1. Pre-authorisations are a daily charge that your hotel deducts from your credit or debit card to cover the cost of any incidentals. It can be anything from $30 to more than $100 per day, your available credit balance takes a hit, a payment or cash withdrawal might get knocked back then when you check out it can take several days or even weeks for the balance to be restored.

2. Unless you have the morning appetite of a Kodiak bear you will not get your money's worth from the breakfast buffet, which can easily run to $35, plus tax.

3. Some time ago, someone invented the rubber sink plug. Cheap, durable and low-tech, the rubber plug is a no-brainer. Since then we've mucked about with the concept, inventing weird push-down and pop-up constructions and little levers on the back of the spout, and they leak. The rubber plug wasn't broke, and doesn't need fixing.

The 10am checkout time is cruel and unnecessary.

The 10am checkout time is cruel and unnecessary.Credit: Tamara Voninski

4. Wi-Fi is mostly free in airports, often free in cafes and restaurants and even in some public spaces, but I'm honouring your hotel with my presence and you want to charge me $20 per day for using it?

5. The 10am checkout, abundant in Australia, is cruel and unnecessary. I get that you need to service the room but not every arriving guest is going to be here smack on the dot of 2pm.

6. The power socket in the bathroom says shavers only, you've just washed your hair and the only electrical socket is nowhere near a mirror. So let's have a power socket close to a seat and a wall mirror.

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