Hotel showers are throwing some hotel guests for a loop.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal gave frequent travelers a chance to share their gripes and confusions about hotel bathrooms and showers more specifically.
At first glance, I thought, "Man, are people really having so many problems with hotel showers that there's enough for a story?"
And then I read it and the comment section, which reminded me of several annoyances with hotel showers in the past. I think I've switched sides.
The article nicely sums up the transition from showers with tubs to walk-in showers, addressing the gross feeling from the touch of wet shower curtains and how much easier it is to build and clean walk-in showers, especially those without doors.
These newer designs, while more aesthetically pleasing than a boring-looking curtain, also have their drawbacks.
The article quotes Alan Benjamin, founder of Benjamin West, a hotel industry furniture, fixtures and equipment procurement firm, and a guy who knows hotels and hotel features pretty darn well. He recounted a shower issue during a stay at a luxury property in Washington, D.C. The water from his doorless shower was spilling out of the shower and onto the bathroom floor.
“I literally wound up taking two robes and making a dam so that water would not run out of the shower,” he told the newspaper.
I can't count the number of times I've had to worry about water escaping from the walk-in showers at hotels I've stayed at. There was one hotel in particular I stayed in several times for an annual conference that had a door where the seal wasn't quite tight enough, allowing water to leak under the bottom and onto the bathroom floor.
The other constant problem with hotels' walk-in showers is the dread of the initial blast of cold water until you get the temperature set. Some have solved the problem by having the knob on the opposite side of the shower, allowing some space in between. The other solution I encountered once in a smaller shower was a section of the glass cut out to allow you to reach your arm in from outside to turn the knob and give the water a chance to warm up before you stepped inside.
Give the piece a read. It's humorous at times, but it also gives you some insight into the things guests aren't likely to complain about directly to the front desk or in a review because these are things we all just accept as part of staying in a hotel.
Check out the comment section as well for some more guest insights. They're not all gold, of course, but still potentially useful feedback on actual guest experiences.
You can reach me at bwroten@hotelnewsnow.com as well as LinkedIn.
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