Dear hotels around the world,

I am writing to you out of pure frustration.  You see, you seem to think that every one of your guests is going to be a couple that like to sleep in the same bed…. and some of you seem to think that your guests are going to enjoy being able to see straight into the bathroom from all areas of the bedroom via a curtainless glass wall.

I’m sorry, but this unacceptable!

Well let me tell you that there are many people who enjoy travelling who are not in a coupled partnership and prefer to sleep singularly in a bed and I’m sure there are singles and couples alike who prefer a bit of privacy when it comes to ablutions.  I travel with friends, but mostly I travel with my Mum and whilst we’re close, we like our own space and I tend to feel that as a woman in her 40s, I’m entitled to have my own bed and a bit of privacy in the bathroom for the love of god!

Now, some hotels will provide two beds without question – sometimes they’re singles and sometimes there are even 2 x queen size beds – the jackpot!   Some will split a king size bed apart by about 1.5mm which is better than nothing as it means then that you have your own bedding, but some hotels will advertise that they have twin rooms and simply unfold a sofa bed, or roll in a roll away bed big enough to fit a medium to small sized child – this letter is aimed directly at you.

When you reserve a twin room – you are assuming that there will be two beds – two actual beds, not some makeshift, thin mattressed, pokey out springs, pole in your back sofa bed.  I find it hard to believe that you have to ask the question “You know the twin bed room I’ve just reserved, could you clarify that it actually has two beds in it please?”  I mean, the main function of a hotel is to provide beds for customers which is why I’m perplexed that this issue keep arising.

This is NOT a bed

I recently stayed with my lovely cousin in Berlin in a hotel that had no rooms at all with two beds in them – none!  All the rooms had one bed that couldn’t be split – in this day and age where a lot of single people are travelling, are they not halving their market?  This hotel – after specifically requesting two beds in the room waited until we had actually arrived in the reception before letting us know that they couldn’t accommodate our specific request – didn’t think that information could have been handy earlier – giving us a chance to book somewhere else that suited our needs?  No – you are taking our booking under false pretences, knowing full well that you can’t/won’t deliver what you’ve promised.

Well I’m a bit sick of it.  I don’t ask for much – All I ask is that there is a room with two beds, a reading light for each bed, an easily accessible power point, a private bathroom that I can swing a cat in (preferably with a shower with a screen rather than a curtain – curtains give me the creeps, you know when they touch your legs… spine shiver!) and a towel that’s bigger than a face washer.

Oh…. and one more thing – why is there only ever one place to put one suitcase?  You are offering 2 robes, 2 slippers, 2 towels, 2 beds (sometimes), but apparently the two people in the room are sharing a suitcase?  This has never made any sense to me.

Before I finish my rant, I want you to know that I do realise that this is a great big first world problem and that we could probably get away with sharing a bed – but I don’t want to.