The Crowne Plaza City Centre, Tel Aviv
I’ve been in and out of three different hotels this month. And it’s really got me thinking about my ideal hotel must-have list.
Because…you start to experience the features of one particular hotel, and you think, “Now really…why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?” For example, at the Crowne Plaza City Centre in Tel Aviv, there was an electric outlet IN THE SAFE. I never realized I needed an electric outlet in my in-room safe until I found myself with a dead laptop and a day’s worth of meetings. No problem. I just locked the laptop in the safe, all plugged in, and when I came back to the hotel, it was all charged up. (Thereby freeing me to work from the bar downstairs, with a glass of Israeli white.) I repeated this in-safe charging experience with my Canon G11. And my Canon 350D. And my iPhone. And my iPad. It was awesome.
Another example: At Tel Aviv’s Crowne Plaza City Centre, the hotel was right across the street from a grocery store. A big one. This was fantastic because I was able to buy a box of granola bars and a bunch of bananas and–voila–no disgustingly expensive hotel breakfast to worry about.
Ah, and did I mention that this hotel had a full Holmes Place gym on the 10th floor? No dinky hotel gym here. This was the real deal. And IT WAS FREE.
The only downside to the Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv? Internet was expensive. EXCEPT if you listened to Bernie at the front desk and learned that there was an unsecured wireless hotspot in the hotel bar, but only if you sat close by the windows. Unfortunately, the signal strength was such that it took 36 hours to download The Life of Brian. But it was fine for e-mail.
In Chile, I stayed three nights at the Sheraton Vina del Mar. As you can see, the hotel rooms are a bit old-school. Clean, but old school. (That being said, the bathroom shower suffered from poor tile work. And mildew.) I liked it here because the hotel gym was free and the spa was open until 10:30 pm. Unfortunately for me, they couldn’t fit me in. I also liked it here because they provided slippers. I am a sucker for hotel slippers.
And of course, I liked it here because after a very long day of work, I could just hang out in my hotel room and check out the view. Pretty fantastic, huh?
The last place I laid my head this month was the Radisson in Santiago. I got an awesome rate of $135 per night, and given that it was the #6 hotel on Trip Advisor, I thought I would give it a whirl. Here’s why I liked it:
1. Seamless free wifi everywhere. Honestly, I was always connected. Some hotels say free wifi, but the moon needs to be full on the 3rd Thursday of the month for the stars to actually align and the wifi connection to be clear. Not so here at the Radisson. Seriously…totally free wifi, totally everywhere. The gym, the breakfast room, the elevator. Someone at the hotel knows what they’re doing.
2. A very good gym with fantastic views out over Santiago and the mountains.
3. Free breakfast. With tortilla. I am a sucker for breakfast tortilla. Ah, and queso fresco.
4. Some of the nicest hotel staff I’ve ever encountered. And you know I stay in a lot of hotels. I checked in around 9:30 am on Thursday and my room wasn’t ready. They told me to head to the breakfast room and help myself. (I have an oil painting of that happening in America, the land of supposedly good service.) I questioned my bill at the end of my stay and they immediately gave me the hotel manager’s card and told me that if I got back to the US and had any questions or problems, I should contact the hotel manager immediately. And most importantly…they remembered my name. This has not happened to me at a hotel since I stayed at the Four Seasons in San Francisco a few years ago. I love it when hotel staff remember my name. (Although it weirds me out when they call me Mrs. N because I start looking around for my mother.)
5. THEY SENT ME A PERSONAL E-MAIL AFTER MY STAY. Thanking me for my feedback. (I filled out their standard hotel survey online.) No form letter here. This was the real deal.
So–I’m in the midst of compiling my list of hotel must-haves. Omnipresent wifi, a good gym, FREE SLIPPERS, free breakfast, a safe that fits a laptop…
What else? What are your hotel must-haves? (Or well, the hotel things that you think are super cool.)
11 comments
It reminds me when I arrived at Constance Ephelia for our honey moon and I told myself ‘Oh, it looks like the one I have been to when I was in Mauritius” and then I realised it was part of the same group.
So I have decided to go to every hotel of that same group before i die
Good to see that you are still living the life, Krista! I love a big fluffy dressing gown and good soaps (eg. Aesop packs at The Prince in Melbourne). I just blogged about my stay at The Scarlet in Cornwall which was pretty much idyllic (lying back in bed looking at a sea view helps). I don’t usually use hotel gyms, but the views from the gym at The Standard in New York get me up there every time. Not essential, but I had a roof top pool at a cheapish hotel overlooking the Colosseum in Rome once – definitely pretty cool.
The plug point in the safe is brilliant, a money innovation. That really should be standard in all hotels going forward. Ditto on free internet; seriously the most important thing in a hotel. Years ago when travelling in the US a lot I loved Marriott Courtyards as they had HBO, large desks and free beer/ wine in the evening. I wasn’t ever there long enough to worry about luxuries.
Good point. Kimpton hotels have free cocktail receptions every night from 5 to 6 pm. Love that! A good excuse to get out of your hotel room!
Ah…I am a sucker for good bath products…Four Seasons and Sofitel does L'Occitane. Nice.
This is a small thing, but in addition to everything you’ve just described/listed, I love when hotels provide real hair dryers. By “real,” I mean full-sized powerful ones that you’d use at home. Not the dinky travel-foldup ones or (the worst) the hair dryer attached to the wall that gets really hot but never seems to blow out any air (and which never seems to hook back into the wall properly).
Totally with you on fab toiletries. For a while, the Ritz offered Bulgari bath/shower products. That was the life. : )
Well, I really like the travel sized bathroom products most hotels have. What can I say, I’m a simple girl lol.
I used to be one of the cheapy travellers that was happy staying anywhere so long as it was cheap and relatively clean (I loved the easyhotel, for example, and didnt even mind how orange it was because of how great the price was) I didn’t care about gyms or slippers or robes or anything like that, until I discovered hotwire and priceline, and started to travel more in the US, and then stayed in a Kimpton hotel…. and now I’m truly shaken of this idea of “cheap and cheerful” – if a hotel doesn’t leave me a handwritten note welcoming me back, I’m upset! The Palomar in Washington DC is so so good. I almost cried the day I had to check out!
Love love love Kimpton! Stayed at the Eventi in NY in July and honestly did not want to leave.
Most of my travel over the last two years has been work-related, so it’s little comforts that really make me smile. Love Bliss (W Silicon Valley) and Fresh (Baccara Santa Barbara) toiletries. If wifi is weak, I really love an ethernet outlet that’s close to the bed (no desire to sit at the desk, thanks). And, since I don’t have cable at home (way too distracting for me) I really love to veg and catch up on Bravo reality shows after a long day of shooting. So few hotels have Bravo!! One of my favorite exceptions is the Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara which not only has Bravo, but it also has a nice tub with a flat screen tv (and too many other sweet details to list).
Universal power sockets — it seems you get these in Asia, they automatically take any shape plug. But I’ve never seem them in the EU or the US (although perhaps I stay in too cheap hotels there).
Optional breakfasts — I don’t always eat breakfast so I don’t really want to have to pay.
And mirrors that have anti-misting sections always impress me.
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