blogcutter

Just back from my Swedish adventure, I thought I'd launch a new series of entries dealing with travel in this day and age. It seems fitting to launch it today, September 11, as we all know that that date in 2001 ushered in a whole new set of procedures and protocols for travellers. And the 2020s mark the beginning of yet another age of new procedures and protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So today, hotels. I've learned a few things recently about what it means these days to be a hotel guest.


1. THE KEY IS KEY

Time was, when you booked into a hotel, you would get an actual physical key. That was the case even early in this century, particularly in the hotels I frequented in the U.K. In fact, there was one time in a very nice character-filled hotel in Edinburgh, when I returned to my all-made-up room to find a whole raft of keys on my coffee table. Goodness knows what they were all for, but the room cleaners had obviously left them there by mistake and I duly returned them to reception the next time I went downstairs. But there was certainly some good fodder for a story there!

Anyway, when they gave out physical old-fashioned style keys, they often wanted you to leave your key at reception if you were leaving the hotel even briefly. I suppose this had some advantages for both hotel management and guests. It meant that if the room was unoccupied, the main desk could take messages for you while you were out. It also meant that hotel staff would have a good idea of when to make up the room.

Nowadays we usually get a little plastic key card (the size of a bank card or credit card) that can be programmed (and later de-programmed) for the assigned room and guest(s) and number of nights booked. It's pretty efficient - when it works the way it's supposed to.

I've had that style of key which has suddenly stopped working mid-stay, which can be frustrating if you're trying to juggle luggage, parcels or whatever. During my latest trip, I did have that experience in Malmo at the very start of my stay. I was given a key-card at registration and when I got up to my room and tried it on my door, the little light flashed red but didn't go green and release the latch like it's supposed to. So down I went again with my luggage so they could re-do their magic with my key-card . And that time it worked.

But even when the key-card opens the door like it's supposed to, you're not quite home-free! Which brings me to the next thing I've learned:


2. LET THERE BE LIGHT!

I discovered this little hitch in July 2022, settling into the Mayson Hotel in Dublin. My key card opened the door like it was supposed to. I flicked the light-switch just inside the hotel room. Nothing. Then I went into the bathroom and flicked the light switch in there. Still nothing. I drew back the curtains as far as I could to get a maximum of natural light in the room and then tried as many other switches as I could find. Still no joy. I left my suitcase in the room and trundled back down to reception. A woman there took pity on me and accompanied me back up to my room. Turned out that I had to leave the key-card just inside the door whenever I was in the room, in order for any of the electricity to function.

I can see how that would be an ecologically sound measure. But if you're a woman alone, going into a dark hotel room from a dimly-lit corridor and your night vision is not the greatest, it doesn't make for the most disability-friendly accessibility experience. The woman who had escorted me up there saw the problem and gave me a spare key-card that I could keep there all the time (even when I wasn't in the room) so I wouldn't have to grope my way into the unknown. She said it wouldn't work to open any doors in the hotel (I didn't try) but would serve its purpose in terms of keeping the lights on. Now that was one enlightened hotel employee!

Even once I had that spare card, I noticed that lighting in that hotel room was not great if you wanted to read in bed, for example. So while in Dublin, I invested in a little battery-powered book-light, which has proved quite the godsend ever since.

In Sweden recently, my hotel room in Stockholm worked the same way but with my trusty battery book-light in my purse at all times, I was able to confidently navigate my way around, both during the day and in the evenings.


3. DO YOU WANT YOUR HOTEL ROOM CLEAN OR DIRTY?

I think perhaps the desired answer is "dirty". Well, not really.

It's been a thing with many North American hotels for a while now. If you're staying more than one night, they give you the option of not having your room serviced again until after you've checked out. In return for that, they offer you some paltry reward like maybe a free drink at their already overpriced bar. And they paint it as doing something wonderfully great for the planet so you can feel virtuous claiming your miserly discount.

That policy annoys me and I always nix it. I see it as taking jobs away from chambermaids who are already low-wage employees (at least in most North American hotels). I also see it as a tacit admission that hotel management doesn't value its staff, seeing the worth of their work as, well, small beer.

To be clear, I don't see the need to change my sheets every night of my stay. But I do like to have my bed made up, my wastebaskets emptied, the soggy or grotty towels replaced as needed, the coffee and tea-making supplies replenished. To me, that's just a normal part of the hotel-room experience in a 4-star hotel.

Anyway, in Sweden they didn't try to bribe me with a free drink. They simply asked if I wanted a "cleaning" done on subsequent days of my stay. No extra charge, but I did have to specify that I wanted it done, once I had ascertained that "cleaning" to them meant any (or maybe all) aspects of servicing my room.


4. BREAKFAST ON THE HOUSE!

I arranged my Sweden jaunt through Nordic Visitor. NV sent me vouchers for hotel accommodations in Stockholm, Malmo and Gothenburg, as well as train tickets between those places. I could pick any start date or end date I wanted and then within those limits, my time was my own to do what I wanted (though they did offer suggestions).

Anyway, the hotel vouchers all indicated that breakfast was included. I pictured what's often known as "continental breakfast": you know, a couple of stale croissants, coffee or tea, maybe a glass of orange juice if you're lucky. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the breakfast included was an extensive buffet, with hot food - omelettes, home fries, grilled vegetables, pancakes - as well as an array of fresh fruits, yogurt, cheeses, cereals (both hot and cold), multiple kinds of breads and rolls and even little cakes. I quickly learned to make breakfast the main meal of my day.

My Malmo hotel was even more generous that way. Not only was breakfast included, but also fika (coffee or tea break, with cake), served between 3 and 5PM, and an evening meal, served between 6 and 9PM. Alcoholic beverages were available at an additional charge (I got my first taste of Aquavit!). The one downside to all that was that there were no coffee-making supplies in my room, so I had to go out if I wanted tea or coffee after (or before) hours.


5. OTHER HOTEL AMENITIES

All of the hotels I stayed at were centrally located, enabling me to explore the cities on foot. And I have to say that all the places I went to were very pedestrian friendly.

Although European hotels often don't have swimming pools, I had learned in advance of my trip that the Gothenburg Clarion Post (located right beside the train station) had a rooftop pool and was looking forward to unwinding there with a good view of the city sights. But in the end, it seemed too complicated. There was an extra charge for using the pool and you had to book a 2-hour time slot in advance. I didn't know how long I would be out exploring the sights or what time I'd want to enjoy the pool, so I decided to give it a miss.


So that's my capsule summary of my experiences with hotels in the 2020s. More entries will be forthcoming in my Travelogues of the 2020s series.