There have been lots of recession-related suggestions that families are going to start returning to old fashioned seaside holidays, rather than travelling abroad.
I grew up by the seaside on the south coast and I've always had a soft spot for the big skies and the faded grandeur. I like the piers, the seafronts, the way it veers between seedy and scenic.
But any return to the seaside promenade needs a bit of a reality check. First of all, there needs to be a bit of back to basics on hotels. Too many really average hotels in this country are ridiculously over-priced, particularly for a family. What makes this even more annoying is how bad they are at the basic stuff.
The hotel experience, apart from the breakfast, is really a glorified bedroom. So getting a good night's sleep is pretty fundamental. So why are so many hotels so uncomfortable for sleep? Why do they have radiators which seem stuck on some pre-set temperature? Why are they so exhaustingly hot? Why do so many hotels hum like ship's engines all night?
Not that long ago, I stayed in a fancy-ish hotel where the heat was pumping out like a furnace. When I opened a window, I was deafened by some kind of extractor fan a few yards away.
Maybe you might fancy a drink to cool down? But the mini-bar has tiny bottles of industrial wine being sold at prices more suitable to vintage champagne. Bottled water is sold at insultingly inflated prices. This isn't hospitality, it's just ripping people off.
End of rant. But if you can't even get a decent kip, what are they selling?
Hotels and Hospitals are institutions whose staff and inmates conspire to rob you of a decent sleep.
ReplyDeleteMy 350$ a night hotel in Africa has tiled floors which echo every chair scraping guest for miles around. The fridge, safe and air con rarely work.The electric cuts out whilst your in the morning shower, and at least ten times a day after that.The doors get jammed shut and it takes the staff three hours of drilling and levering to force back in, much to the annoyance of the guests either side.Anyway, at least its memorable, and worth every cent.