You’re going to think I’m food obsessed, but anyway…… whilst we’re waiting for a resolution, it gives you a little time to think.
I’m not normally a person who’s given to ordering room service when staying in hotels. It’s expensive, for starters, and it’s rare that there isn’t at least one other option available.
I had a stopover in London a few weeks ago on my way to New York, and the lateness of the hour combined with the tiredness of my body caused me to relent. I was a staying at a well known hotel chain near Heathrow thanks to a good value, last-minute internet deal and I figured the money saved would be reasonably spent satisfying my growing hunger.
The menu looked reasonable, however given that they’ve got you over a barrel at these just-remote-enough airport hotels, it was also rather expensive. I ventured down to the restaurant area but there wasn’t any reasonably priced relief there, either. Somewhat chagrined, I reluctantly opted for the comfort of a late dinner in my room, ordering one of the hotel pizzas, which you can order to your own specifications from a limited number of ingredients.
To say the result was disappointing would be an understatement of significant proportions. At a cost of around 15 pounds, I was expecting a base overflowing with my chosen toppings. As it turned out, I had more fingers and toes on my extremities than I had bits of ham on my pizza. It was more like bread parmagiana (which, if you’re unfamiliar, is a tomato and cheese topping popular on Australian pub meals).
While I was waiting for my ‘pizza’, I thought it a good opportunity to log in and check my email. I work on the web and it’s my main method of connectivity. I can’t recall the price to connect, but given my exasperation at the price of my dinner, the sum they were asking for internet access was sufficient to make me think twice. I was only going to be awake for another two hours at most, so the thought of ploughing another double-digit sum into the hotel’s coffers wasn’t overly appealing.
My hotel in New York offered a similar deal, only this time you got to pay an exorbitant amount for your room (hey, Manhattan’s expensive) and then you can add an additional fee for a scratchy internet connection that doesn’t work if others in the hotel are also trying to access it.
Why is it that small hotels, like the one I’m typing from in Sweden right now, can offer fast internet access for free when the big hotel chains, who pride themselves on reputation and hospitality, feel empowered to charge like wounded bulls for the same service?
And what, I hear you ask, does any of this have to do with cars?
Continue reading What can we learn from a really bad pizza and an absent internet connection?