It's The Little Things: #5 - Hotels

It’s the Little Things

#5 – Hotels

As we are a free-wheelin’-devil-may-care 30-something couple with no children, pets, or especially needy plants, we like to travel with some frequency. In the course of our travels, we’ve stayed in a number of Australian hotel rooms. We’ve run the gamut from bargain basement to fancy business hotels. Excepting our adventures in a B&B and in a youth hostel, there has been a lovely common theme with all of our hotels.

Every hotel we’ve stayed in has been fully equipped for its occupants to dine in the room. They each have a little station with a mini-fridge, plates, glasses, and silverware (actual silverware, not plastic packets). Sometimes there are even wine glasses! In addition, there is always a tea/coffee station with assorted tea bags, Nescafe, sugar, a plug-in kettle (they are very popular in Australia), and … get this … cookies! Wait – there’s more. Standard in the mini-fridge is also fresh milk for your tea/coffee, and the check in desk always offers that more is available, should you have a milk-related emergency.

I love the implication that part of your travel experience is probably going to include eating a meal in; that you may not eat every single meal in a restaurant.

Tea and coffee station.

The payoff for all this goodness is the lack of free Wifi. It seems to make little difference where we stay. If there is Internet at all, it is of the plug-in variety, and also of the pay-by-the-hour ilk.

But you know what … they give me cookies and milk. I have no complaints about Australian hotel service.

One more thing – because I would not want you (I’m talking to you, my fellow Americans) to be shocked and afeared, as I was. Hotels have 13^th floors. And you might end up staying on it, as we did.

No ghosts appeared or murders occurred during our stay on the 13^th floor - to my knowledge.