tanithryudo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tanithryudo) wrote2012-10-12 10:43 pm
tanithryudo) wrote2012-10-12 10:43 pm
European Tour - Hotel Comparison
I figure I've seen all I need to see of all the hotels we've been staying at on this tour to give a ranking of them. Unless there's something really abnormal at breakfast tomorrow, there's not likely to be anything that will change my mind. Now, given that I haven't been noting down the names of the various hotels we stayed in, other than noting that all except the current/last one were local brand names and not international chains, I'm going to reference them by the city instead. I guess they can serve as a starting point in the city comparison that I'll do later.
So here they are, from best to worst.
1. Paris - Had everything, including complementary slippers, which no other place had. Also had the most fluffiest bedding/pillows.
2. London - Best breakfast of all the hotels, with the most choices and omelettes!
3. (just outside of) Florence - Only downside was that the water pressure was a little weak but that seems to be true of all of Europe. The keys were heavy brass keys instead of normal keycards, but I'm not sure if that's supposed to be on purpose as a flavor thing. WIFI was a wee bit fidgety but not too bad, and the service was really good/responsive. There was no cable TV, but I don't watch TV so it doesn't affect me.
4. Lucerne - Only downside was that the WIFI was only available in the lobby and seventh floor. However, since the room we got was on the ground floor right next to the lobby, I could still get online from the room. :)
5. Milan - Main complaint here was that the staff was pretty unresponsive and took forever to get around to servicing you even when you're the only person at the counter.
6. (just outside of) Venice - Only place where there was no flatscreen TV in the room but the old style TV. The front desk could not provide any adapters for US style plugs into Italian style outlets. There were stuff that was broken in the bathroom such as the step-button thing to open the trash can lid. Also, breakfast only had one warm dish and that was eggs.
7. Rome - This was the only US brand hotel - Holiday Inn. Also no adapters available at the front desk. Only hotel that didn't have a safe either (wtf!). WIFI is 14 Euros per 24 hours so I may or may not even be able to post something tomorrow. Also, the power went out for like 5-10 minutes while I was in the shower just now, which was awwkwaaard... EDIT: Also, the walls are paper thin and it's hard to sleep while listening to your neighbors talking and watching TV.
Some general notes...
Breakfast in general in Europe seems to suck a lot. There appears to be no attempt at all to make it "international". In London we started with warm dishes at breakfast including eggs, sausages, ham (bacon-like), potatoes, omelette station. Then in Paris it was just eggs, bacon, sausages, but at least they had some yummy croissants that are a specialty of the French. In pretty much everywhere in Italy there was just eggs and bacon. In the hotel outside Venice in particular there was just eggs, and that was it for the warm dishes.
I can't believe a lot of these hotels which are in tourist hot spots can't go the one small step further and offer something like pancakes or waffles (for US tastes) or something Asian-y to cater to the burgeoning Chinese tourist population. It seems to be very backwards to me. Or perhaps ethnocentric? Or maybe they just don't care about food as much as the Chinese do (going by any international breakfast offered by a Chinese hotel in a major city...)
So here they are, from best to worst.
1. Paris - Had everything, including complementary slippers, which no other place had. Also had the most fluffiest bedding/pillows.
2. London - Best breakfast of all the hotels, with the most choices and omelettes!
3. (just outside of) Florence - Only downside was that the water pressure was a little weak but that seems to be true of all of Europe. The keys were heavy brass keys instead of normal keycards, but I'm not sure if that's supposed to be on purpose as a flavor thing. WIFI was a wee bit fidgety but not too bad, and the service was really good/responsive. There was no cable TV, but I don't watch TV so it doesn't affect me.
4. Lucerne - Only downside was that the WIFI was only available in the lobby and seventh floor. However, since the room we got was on the ground floor right next to the lobby, I could still get online from the room. :)
5. Milan - Main complaint here was that the staff was pretty unresponsive and took forever to get around to servicing you even when you're the only person at the counter.
6. (just outside of) Venice - Only place where there was no flatscreen TV in the room but the old style TV. The front desk could not provide any adapters for US style plugs into Italian style outlets. There were stuff that was broken in the bathroom such as the step-button thing to open the trash can lid. Also, breakfast only had one warm dish and that was eggs.
7. Rome - This was the only US brand hotel - Holiday Inn. Also no adapters available at the front desk. Only hotel that didn't have a safe either (wtf!). WIFI is 14 Euros per 24 hours so I may or may not even be able to post something tomorrow. Also, the power went out for like 5-10 minutes while I was in the shower just now, which was awwkwaaard... EDIT: Also, the walls are paper thin and it's hard to sleep while listening to your neighbors talking and watching TV.
Some general notes...
Breakfast in general in Europe seems to suck a lot. There appears to be no attempt at all to make it "international". In London we started with warm dishes at breakfast including eggs, sausages, ham (bacon-like), potatoes, omelette station. Then in Paris it was just eggs, bacon, sausages, but at least they had some yummy croissants that are a specialty of the French. In pretty much everywhere in Italy there was just eggs and bacon. In the hotel outside Venice in particular there was just eggs, and that was it for the warm dishes.
I can't believe a lot of these hotels which are in tourist hot spots can't go the one small step further and offer something like pancakes or waffles (for US tastes) or something Asian-y to cater to the burgeoning Chinese tourist population. It seems to be very backwards to me. Or perhaps ethnocentric? Or maybe they just don't care about food as much as the Chinese do (going by any international breakfast offered by a Chinese hotel in a major city...)