Hotels

Do you sleep well at hotels on the road?

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Can you get a good night’s sleep in a hotel?

If you travel for business or pleasure, you likely spend a few – or many – nights at hotels. And, like many travelers, no doubt you are more loyal to one brand over others.

Free Wi-Fi, free breakfast and a generous points program towards free night stays may be important to you. But, according to the just-released J.D. Power 2019 North American Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index, what hotels really need to focus on are the quality of the beds.

The study found that while sleep quality is one of the most important components of a hotel guest experience, most hotels don’t deliver better-than-expected sleeping conditions.

“Delivering a superior sleep experience—from the quality of the bed, linens and pillows to the ambient sound and temperature of the room—is a huge opportunity for hotels to differentiate themselves from the pack and earn significant goodwill with guests,” said Jennifer Corwin, Senior Manager of Consumer Insights for Travel & Hospitality Intelligence at J.D. Power.

Here are some key findings of the 2019 study:

  • More zzzs, please: Overall satisfaction scores increase 114 points (on a 1,000-point scale) when hotel guests experience a better-than-expected quality of sleep.
  • The anatomy of a good night’s sleep: The top contributors to quality of sleep and, therefore, higher satisfaction scores, are comfort of bed; quietness of room; comfort/quality of pillows; room temperature; and comfort/quality of linens.
  • Satisfaction is higher when hotels offer extras such as such as white noise/sound machines, earplugs and robe/slippers.
  • Quality of sleep vs. the price of room: No surprise, really: the highest rate of better-than-expected sleep quality is in the luxury hotel segment.

The hotels guests love

These hotel brands rank highest in guest satisfaction in their respective segments:

Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton (for a fifth consecutive year)
Upper Upscale: Hard Rock Hotel
Upscale: Best Western Premier
Upper Midscale: Drury Hotels (for a 14th consecutive year)
Midscale: Wingate by Wyndham (for a fifth consecutive year)
Economy: Microtel by Wyndham (for a second consecutive year)

Is there a hotel or hotel brand where you sleep like a baby?

Let us know by leaving a comment below. And let us know if you travel with a sleep aid such as ear plugs, a favorite pillow or, perhaps, a stuffed animal.

4 important questions to ask before you rent that Airbnb

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My story this week for CNBC offers advice for issues to consider, and questions to ask, before you hit “rent” on a Airbnb or other type of homeshare property.

Here’s the story:

The note taped to the TV in the Airbnb rental in what turned out to be a questionable apartment building in a sketchy neighborhood in New York City was the first clue.

“It said, ‘Anyone ask, you say you friend of Jay,’ remembers Washington, D.C.-based documentary producer Richard Paul, “We never met Jay.”

The note wasn’t the weirdest thing about the apartment.

“You couldn’t open the front door because it hit the ‘fridge,” said Paul, “The A/C didn’t work. The girl from the live sex show up the block smoked on the front steps. And we think a guy got pushed off the roof as we were leaving.”

Not the kind of vacation rental you want to end up in?

There’s always a chance the swank-looking, well-reviewed home, cabin, apartment or castle you book through a home-sharing site such as Airbnb or Vrbo (which includes HomeAway.com and a handful of other companies) will have some problems or not end up being as advertised.

Worse, you could end up booking an illegal short-term rental and, like some recent vacationers in Miami, having to vacate the property in the middle of the night.

Home-sharing companies post advice, rules and tips on their websites to help minimize problems for both renters and hosts. And they all encourage potential renters to be sure to read the reviews, rules and rental offerings carefully.

Millions of people have no problems with their home-share stays. But as the summer travel season comes around, CNBC asked a real estate lawyer to share some extra, ‘bonus’ questions to ask yourself and your host during the booking process and during your stay.

“Friend of Jay?”

If you worried about or unwilling to having to pose as a “friend of Jay,” ask the host directly if their landlord or the rule and regulations of their condo allow short-term rentals.

“If they lie and say in an email or a text that everything is good and it turns out not to be the case, that’s your legal basis for voiding that rental contract and possibly getting damages if you have to move out in the middle of the might and rental another property,” said Scott Reidenbach, the founding principal of Reidenbach & Associates, a Philadelphia law firm that concentrates on wide-variety of real estate-related issues.

If they say “Tell them you’re a friend of Jay,” and you go along with that, “Then you’re complicit,” said Reidenbach.

And while that happens all the time, the danger is you take the risk of being kicked out in the middle or your trip.  

Who you gonna’ call?

Be sure to get contact information for someone you can contact if you show up and something doesn’t work, the place is dirty or is otherwise not as advertised.

And – bonus question – ask if that contact person lives nearby.

“A lot of these Airbnb or Vrbo-type owners aren’t professional landlords and many don’t live close by,” said Reidenbach, “I’ve heard stories about people not being able to get anything fixed because the owner is a 1000 miles away,”

Read the fine print

A good vacation rental listing will not only include great photos and a list of property amenities, it will have some “house rules” that might include a curfew time for noise and/or parties, the number of overnight guests allowed and an age limit for children.

“You may have very young children, but the very fine print says a guest is not permitted to have children under 12 or 16. Or that the property is not safe for children under a certain age because of safety reasons such as being on a cliff, having an open fire pit or a pool that’s not safe for small kids,” said Reidenbach.

Ask yourself if you’re willing to flout the fine print. 

When in doubt, turn off the Wi-Fi

There have been recent reports of Airbnb guests discovering hidden cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms of the properties they’ve rented. 

Airbnb now requires hosts to disclose the presence of security – or other – cameras – in their listings, but in the spirit of “Say you’re a friend of Jay,” dishonest property listers may not always comply.

“Ask the question,” advises Reidenbach, “And to really protect yourself disable or unplug the Wi-Fi,” as many home security system and cameras are wireless and Wi-Fi-powered, “We’ve heard of people doing that and immediately getting a call from the owner asking if the Wi-Fi is down because the cameras stopped working.” 

Have you dealt with any of these issue in your homeshare rental? Tell us about it in the comments below.

World’s Best Airport Hotel: Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

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Just like Singapore’s award-winning Changi Airport, there are plenty of reasons to love the award-winning Crowne Plaza Changi Airport.

For starters, it is attached to Changi Airport. That makes the hotel a convenient and very welcoming place to land after, or before, a very long flight.

Amenities such as superb service, deep soaking tubs, an outdoor pool and some rooms with bonus views overlooking the runways are truly delightful.

I’ve just checked in for my second stay at the property. The welcoming vibe after a 17-hour journey is another reason why it is easy to understand how the hotel snags the Skytrax Best Airport Hotel in the World year after year.

Even better, the hotel’s USB press kit comes in the shape of an airplane! That garners the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport another award: Stuck at the Airport’s occasional award for “USB Press Kit of the Week.”

Visting the Bankside hotel in London

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I’m in London this week for a few days to be part of the judging panel for the second annual Travel Retail Awards program for TRBusiness. 

My assignment: evaluate spirits, cosmetics, chocolates, small electronics and other products sold in airport shops.

Tought job, right? But I’m taking the testing and evaluating very seriously.

While in town, I did take the change to stop by the Bankside, a new very fun and “design-forward” hotel in a cool neighborhood on the the south bank of the River Thames. (Sea Containers London, another swank London hotel I’ve had the pleasure of staying in before, is just a few doors down the street.)

I wasn’t able to spend the night at 161-room Banskside (part of Marriott’s Autograph collection of properties), but I did get a tour around the art-filled lobby, a look at a room and a lovely (hosted, thank-you!) dinner in the Art Yard Bar & Kitchen.

While I couldn’t try everything on the menu, I can heartily recommend the dishes I tried, especially the Monkfish Catapanla, (a hearty fish stew for two with several types of seafood), as well as the Pear Parfait and Dark Chocolate Fondant desserts.

The Bankside has several ‘bonus’ amenities that seem unique and/or quite amusing.

Guests find marshmallows on their pillows at turndown. Bars with taps to dispense several types of water (sorry, not beer) are in each hall. And just outside the elevator on each floor is a vending machine where guests may purchase small bottles of pre-made cocktails, wine, liquor and other ‘necessities,’ such as an emergency engagement ring, and handmade sparkly pants.

Harriet’s hotel stay

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A big Stuck At the Airport thank-you to the Hilton Los Angeles Airport hotel, which hosted me for a night recently while I was in town to tour Los Angeles International Airport for a story about the best places to eat in each terminal and a visit to the brand new United Airlines Polaris lounge.

I hadn’t stayed at this property for quite some time and was pleased to find upgraded rooms, strong WiFi and live music in the lobby, which is evidently a regular Wednesday evening feaute.

This hotel has a variety of dining options, but I tried out Andiamo, the onsite northern Italian restaurant, where the staff made a solo diner feel welcome and which has a great scallop dish on the menu.

This hotel may also have the hardest-working shuttle bus driver. He was driving when I arrived in the evening and there again the next morning and he was super-pleasant to every single rider, even though few of them gave him a tip for lifting their super heavy suitcases on and off of the bus.

Have a favorite place to stay near Los Angeles International Airport? Please share your recommendations.