The 13 most overrated, and 18 most underrated, things about hotels

One person’s breakfast buffet is another’s extravagant waste of food. And do we really need our hotel rooms serviced every day? Here are our picks for what’s overrated, and underrated, about staying in hotels and resorts.

OVERRATED

Too much food

To buffet or not to buffet: One person’s food feast is another’s wasteful extravagance. Credit: Getty Images

We love a good breakfast buffet, but the food waste is phenomenal, unless the buffet is not topped up toward the end of service, which results in a sorry-looking mess of picked-over food. Bring back the a-la-carte breakfast? Or, as the Mandarin Oriental in Greece’s Costa Navarino is trialling, display a limited amount of dishes and offer them made fresh, on order; proven to dramatically reduce food waste. See mandarinoriental.com

Poor power points
If you’re building a new hotel and expecting guests from around the world, why not install universal power points, instead of the one specific to your country? Hoteliers will save themselves bazillions in borrowed adaptors that never return to the front desk. Swinging in the opposite direction; your hotel is so new that it’s installed only USB-C power points? Thanks, but our devices haven’t all caught up yet.

Hotel toasters
Operated by malevolent spirits, mastering the hotel toaster is a dark art. Burnt fruit toast, undercooked crumpets, the slice that never arrives. And while you’re waiting, what do you do? If you wander away to fill over your plate, someone will thieve your (finally) perfectly done toast. Or you forget about it, returning once it’s cold and rigid.

No recycling bins in hotel rooms
We recycle at home, why not in hotels? It’s the simplest, most basic step toward environmental responsibility – a dual bin with signage; rubbish here, paper and cans there. If they can’t get this basic right, are all the hotels’ other eco-claims simply greenwashing? Melbourne’s Alto on Bourke was Australia’s first carbon-neutral hotel, and still a bellwether in green tourism. See altohotel.com.au

Single-plastic toiletry bottles

Some hotels still persist with tiny bottles of toiletries.Credit: iStock

Haven’t we moved past single-use toiletries yet? There’s no denying they make an easy souvenir if the toiletries are a luxury brand, but using refillable pumps in hotel bathrooms saves the hotel money when compared with expensive, disposable bottles, and sends the message the brand is genuine about cutting its environmental footprint.

Room tour
Beware the porter at an expensive hotel who offers to show you around your room upon check-in. They’ll point out where the fridge and light switches are, then perhaps they’ll fiddle with the TV remote or curtains, all while hovering for a tip. The worst offenders are in upscale US hotels. Could it be more awkward?

Hotel rooms with a view
You’ll pay significantly more for hotel rooms with a sea view compared to the same category rooms overlooking a city or gardens. But ask yourself how many minutes you spend ogling that view, and you might want to take the money and run to the nearest restaurant terrace instead and spend it on a scenic cocktail and lunch.

Daily cleaning service

Do you really need daily room cleaning?Credit: iStock

You never know when they’ll show up; usually when you’re in the bath or on the toilet (with just a quick knock before entering). They’ll rearrange your most personal items and tuck your sheets in so tightly you’ll sprain your toes creating room to turn over in bed. Do you really need your room cleaned every day? Reclaim your space, hang the Privacy sign on your door.

Retro motels
The aesthetic is impressive – plus the commitment to sustainability – but the reality is that many revamped retro hotels (particularly in the US) are on busy highways, have ancient, noisy air-conditioning and poor soundproofing. It takes more than a lick of paint to bring these beauties into the 21st century and up to the comfort levels guests expect and are paying for.

Smart lighting
Technophobic as it may sound, when it comes to hotel light switches, should one have to read a manual or download an app to learn how to operate them? If new technology isn’t intuitive, requires instructions, or defeats the average nocturnal bathroom visitor, it has no place in a hotel. Keep it simple for the weak-of-bladder stupids, please.

Overwater bungalows

Overwater bungalows: small, expensive and surprisingly noisy.Credit: iStock

Sure, they look great in the brochures, but the reality of staying in an overwater bungalow is often much less glamorous. Compared to a regular room, they’re smaller, more expensive and surprisingly noisy, particularly when it’s windy and the waves start slamming against the pontoon. Save your cash and go for a beachside villa where you’re still only steps from the ocean.

Credit card holds
A pre-charge of $US1500 for a five-night stay in LA is effectively someone’s total credit limit. That’s a lot of mini-bar gins – and quite frankly, sheer greed that put me in financial straits for several days after checkout. A $1 hold should suffice – that way the hotel has guest details and can charge for expenses without any inconvenience.

Bath butlers
Is it really that hard to run a bath? And what are the odds that a hotel employee (even a specially trained one) is going to get the temperature right and use the optimal amount of bubble bath? Above all, there’s the cringe-inducing awkwardness of having a stranger fussing around your bathroom when you’re trying to prepare for a soak.

UNDERRATED

Rooftops

Never underestimate the attraction of a great hotel rooftop; The Moxy Brooklyn.

You can stop worrying about the view from your room if your hotel has a rooftop bar/ restaurant. For nowhere is higher. A bar with a communal vibe and a killer view from the roof trumps any lobby bar or gourmet restaurant. And budget-priced hotels can offer five-star rooftop bars (try The Moxy in Brooklyn for a rooftop overlooking Manhattan’s skyline for a bargain rate).

A bath

Tubs can maketh the room.Credit: iStock

Forget the hotel spa or the gym. After trudging around all day exploring the destination you’re in, you won’t feel like walking back out again. A generous-sized bathtub (with bath salts) is your massage, body scrub and sauna all in one. And when you’re done, there’s no tipping, redressing or walking at all; pull the plug out and head straight to bed.

Water stations
We all want to cut our use of single-use plastics, and one of the easiest ways is to avoid buying bottled water in countries with undrinkable tap water. Here’s cheers to those hotels with water stations in the lobby, so we can fill our reusable bottles before we head out for the day.

Walking maps
A great concierge has walking maps of the hotel and its surrounds, with suggested five-kilometre morning runs and the best restaurants or sites marked in proximity to the hotel. It’s a simple touch of personalisation that puts the hotel’s location into context, and an easy grab if there’s a queue for the concierge or front desk services.

Local food and beverages
Hotels are the gateway to a city, so why not bring the city into the hotel’s facilities? Adding local dishes onto the restaurant’s menu is an easy way for instant cultural immersion; adding local drinks to the minibar and using a local brand of toiletries instead of a generic brand found the world over. Shout out to Greece’s The Modernist hotels and Hong Kong-owned Ovolo hotels (eight in Australia) for getting it right. See themodernisthotels.com ovolohotels.com

Boot camp holidays
Sometimes we don’t want to come back five kilograms heavier from a holiday, spotty-faced from too many desserts and hungover from too much liquid indulgence. So there’s a lot to be said for a week or two of good food, alcohol abstinence, lots of exercise and a little self-reflection. At the end of it, the healthy glow – and the aura of smug complacency – can be satisfactorily blinding.

G’day Discovery Parks
Holiday parks were once the domain of budget-happy family holidays – and they still are – but they now also include a range of accommodation and facilities to cater for everyone else. Who wouldn’t like a comfy cabin, with verandah, often ocean or lakeside, for far less than a single hotel room? It’s time to look again at what they offer and probably be pleasantly surprised. See gdayparks.com.au 

Hotel robes
You can measure standards of luxury by a hotel’s bathrobes: scratchy, thin robes are a lowlight, while a lush, tactile gown will have us stripped naked within seconds. Gold star goes to the heavenly Matouk bathrobes at Ambiente Sedona, Arizona. These are made from plush, grey long-staple zero-twist cotton to create the ultimate in snuggles.

Airport hotels

The Moxy Sydney Airport. Not your average airport hotel.

These were once daggy, soulless, the kind of place you would stay only if you really had to. However, airport hotels are becoming increasingly pleasant places to spend time, with comfort, style and convenience. Sydney’s Moxy hotel is a case in point: a sophisticated, well-appointed property with plenty of character, within an easy shuttle-bus ride of the terminals. See marriott.com

Free minibars
Note to high-end hotels: it won’t cost you much to provide a free mini-bar. Maybe $50 a night, on average. But we remember every single hotel we’ve stayed at that offers this, and we remember them well, because this small bonus gives you the feeling you’re getting something special, that you’re being treated like a VIP – and surely that’s priceless.

Epic stays

Willow Trees Estate – room for everyone.

So your book club wants to go away, or you need a getaway for a colossal family reunion? Just one problem – few holiday houses can accommodate large groups of grown-ups who are way past sleeping on sofas or blow-up mattresses. Thank goodness for places such as Pokolbin’s 12-bedroom/11-bathroom Willow Tree Estate in the NSW Hunter Valley. See willowtreeestate.com.au

Butler service
Some Aussies might baulk at instructing a butler. For those who discover their luxury hotel stay or cruise ship suite comes with butler service, try leaning into that extra assistance. Butlers can unpack luggage, arrange restaurant reservations and spa treatments, fix that loose button, and perform other miracles to help make your holiday stress-free.

Hotel loyalty programs
We’re all familiar with frequent flyer programs but, as business travellers have long known, frequent stayers can also reap rewards for brand loyalty. Accor, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, has amped up its All loyalty program. Points can be used to save on dining, room rates and entertainment, while status brings perks such as welcome drinks, room upgrades and free breakfasts. See all.accor.com

Room service
Room service meals often get a bad rap – but sometimes they’re worth the splurge. Case in point: you arrive at the Four Seasons Seoul at night and phone in an order for bulgogi and beer. The meal is set up so elegantly it feels like your room is a Michelin-star restaurant. Luckily, no-one can see you devour it with a silly grin on your face. See fourseasons.com

Maximalist hotels
Minimalist design can feel clinical. For travellers who think more is more, the good news is a growing number of hotels are boldly layering exuberant patterns, colours and textures. Revel in the sensory overload at Shakti Himalaya’s luxury properties in the Indian Himalayas and at boltholes such as Paris’s Christian Lacroix-decorated Hotel du Petit Moulin. See hotelpetitmoulinparis.com shaktihimalaya.com

Breakfast buffet highs
Remember the chatter during pandemic times that hotel buffets might not return? Happily, those forecasts were wrong. Many hotels present extraordinary brekky buffets that raise the bar (and even remove the need to lunch). Stand-out experiences were had this year at Athens’ Divani Caravel Hotel and Sicily’s Four Seasons Taormina. See divanicaravelhotel.com, fourseasons.com

Fly ’n’ flop
There’s a time and place for authentic travel explorations of local villages and bustling night markets. And there’s something to be said for escaping into the fantasy of a perfect hotel for a couple of days and not leaving the resort grounds for your entire stay. The real world and all its challenges can wait.

All-inclusive holiday packages
It can be fun to design your own holiday, book your own flights, find decent accommodation and work out what to see. But it can be even much more enjoyable to have someone do all the work for you, especially when it works out much cheaper. Some of the companies buying travel components in bulk and bundling them together offer almost unbelievable prices.

Contributors: Ben Groundwater, Belinda Jackson, Brian Johnston, Katrina Lobley, Kristie Kellahan, Rob McFarland, Julie Miller, Tim Richards, Sue Williams