Tag Archive for hotels

Silicone + Hotel Latch = Less Noise Complaints!

August 10, 2010 / / One comment

Ultimate Annoyance.

That’s the sound you hear when you walk down the hallway of a hotel floor that is housing a group of teenagers. They put the bar lock on to prop the door so they don’t need the key every time to get in and out of the rooms.

So why hasn’t a hotel chain come up with something that not only reduces noise, but is also more effective. A quick search on Google for “hotel door latch” to find that picture and I was bombarded with links to videos showing me how I could get around them and break in. (Scary how easy it is.)

Here is the idea, line these things with a silicone or rubbermaid sleeve that will soften the blow of the door nailing them so hard and echoing down the hallway. It is an easy fix and I bet you could probably find an easy installation without having to re-do all the hardware.

As far as the ease to getting into them, why not make a patch on the door a magnet? When the door is shut and latch on the guest would turn the deadbolt on which would activate the magnet that lines up with the latch and holds the latch in place with some strength.

Believe me, if you’ve stayed in hotels with a group of teenagers or have been a guest while a group of teenagers/college students are on your floor…the BANG! Bang…bang….bang of a door left to shut itself is enough to drive you to call the front desk and complain especially when it is 1 in the morning.

Simple idea. Simple Solution.

That’s my idea for the day – who says it couldn’t happen?
Rock on,
Joe

A new kind of mini-bar.

August 9, 2010 / / 3 comments

Throughout the summer I stayed in a a variety of hotels and campgrounds up and down the east coast. As I thought about the charges and fees included in flying (we drove everywhere) I couldn’t help think of how the airlines nickel and dime the customers on some flights. Charges for blankets, headphones, pillows, a drink, a snack, the list goes on and on.

Could this be coming to the hotel industry? Would a low-budget hotel offer rooms for $39 a night but then you need a $1 to get a pillow. $2 for a towel. $0.50 for a face cloth. $0.75 for each additional roll of toilet paper you use.

Would that be a new business model to offering great hotels, at cheaper prices, but leaving customers to pack more in their bags? Or would it make consumers more conscious of what they are wasting when they want new towels every night? Would it make them want to pack their own shampoos to save some money instead of taking the shampoos from the hotel to use at a later time?

I can’t help but think that it would be a genius way of saving money at a hotel. Book at “budget” room that has all the same decor and quality but when it comes to small conveniences that we often take for granted, they aren’t there. Instead, they are in a new type of mini-bar, in the bathroom.

An under the sink or in the wall vending unit that offers everything you would need for the bathroom. Think a small, trial sized CVS there for your convenience. No running out to the store or the hotel lobby in the middle of the night. Swipe your card and your toothpaste/toothbrush pack is in your hands for $5.

Everyone room would come with one hand towel, one shower towel, one face cloth. Two pillows. One bar of soap. The bare bone essentials. Everything else would be up to you to bring. All lights would be on timers to ensure that they aren’t left on all day for no reason. TV would have a sleep timer so that if you left it on, it would shut it self off. Showers would be timed so you knew how long you were in there. Perhaps they would have a gauge as well so you knew how much water was being used.

To save $20-$40 a night in a hotel by eliminating these simple options, you’d find me packing smarter and being an even more conscious consumer.

That’s my idea for the day – who says it couldn’t happen?

Rock on,
Joe

 
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