Friday, January 11, 2008

Soap (and Coffee) Opera

As a fairly frequent traveler, I fall into the extra congenial category and rarely vocalize about various indignities, especially those where complaining will do little to push things forward. However I do have a pet peeve about hotel staff and their process of replacing amenities during my stay. I usually travel with my own shampoo but, on occasion, will use the ones provided with my room. My guess is that the average bottle would last me at least three weeks if not a month. So a replacement of them is definitely not needed for a four night stay. And the same bar of soap, which is being used by no one else in my single occupancy room, is also more than sufficient for my entire stay.

However, I greatly appreciate being able to have two cups of coffee in my room as I prepare for the morning especially since I'm two hours ahead of home in California. So, when the next day I discover that my coffee was not replaced and it's assumed that the remaining container of decaf will do the job, I get a bit miffed. I caved in and drank the decaf, which is the one thing that is more disgusting than sweet iced tea. Decaf is brown boiled water with the taste of, at best, braised cardboard. So the second time this happened and I was left with decaf I hid it and returned to my room this afternoon to find that my coffee pot was left with...nothing. At the top of the post is the collection of shampoos and conditioners that were left for me during my half-week stay. (They threw out the first set I used.)

I was close to going to the desk but hate to complain about service workers. Fortunately a member of the room cleaning staff was in the hall the second I was ready to storm out of the room and politely gave me a packet of coffee.

(Sorry, this has been an unusually routine trip beyond the work accomplished.)

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10 Comments:

At 6:17 AM, Blogger Reya Mellicker said...

You are so NOT a southerner. We wouldn't think of drinking anything but sweet tea ...

You're much more of a traveller than I am, but I always bring my own coffee. Who cares about shampoo? I need my caffeine!

 
At 6:45 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Reya - Sorry, but sweet tea is so BLEH!!! I may take all the shampoo home with me out of protest.

 
At 6:54 AM, Blogger mouse (aka kimy) said...

you make my day. there's something for you at the mouse.

 
At 7:27 AM, Blogger jason said...

mmm...I'm hankering for a sweet
decaf iced tea right about now.

(are you still there?)

 
At 7:47 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Kimy - Thanks!

Jason - Can't hear you; I'm washing my hair.

 
At 7:56 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love the soaps, the conditioners, the shampoos, the body lotion. I love too the coffee. I bring it all home with me, the ones I don't use or drink. I leave a tip for the maid, and she almost always remembers to refill my stash. If she forgets the coffee, I call the front desk and retrieve the money I have to tip for the door delivery from the maid's tray.

 
At 9:01 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Seraphine - Tip and shampoos are being left behind in the room.

 
At 9:30 AM, Blogger WAT said...

Are the staff Latino? HAHA. I'm assuming they are. Maybe they need some encouragement in Spanish or something.

"Decaf is brown boiled water with the taste of, at best, braised cardboard."

Wow. I don't like or drink any coffee at all (I do love the smeell), but I'll take yer word for it. ;)

 
At 9:33 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

WAT - "Were the staff Latino?" Ha! Don't drink coffee. Are you NOT Latino?

 
At 11:33 AM, Blogger Salty Miss Jill said...

Ugh to in-room coffee. That's some nasty shit. I usually forgo the coffee and buy it elsewhere.
The shampoos and soaps, however, if it's a nice hotel, always end up in my suitcase. My favorites are from the Sofitel and W...

 

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