I have a gripe (surprised?) about nearly every hotel.
It’s coffee and packaging.
Every hotel I have been to has in room coffee maker (which I love). But daily they only give me one regular coffee (which is about 20-20% of my daily consumption). Usually the housekeeping staff has no problem keeping me stocked. But what feels wasteful and annoying is the packaging of sugar, artificial sweetener (which is what I only use), creamer, stirrers, napkins into plastic wrapped sets, a blob of material I have to de-couple.
All I need is my one pink packet of Sweet n’ Low. I dump the sugar, the creamers, the straw, napkin. It sounds like trivial whining just writing this, but I hate the waste. In the name of quicker and “efficient” supply control, hotels are participating in typical American waste of materials.
But I am thinking about the lack of personalization in being giving a mass produced product, which gives me things I do not want or need, and forces me to participate in contributing to the stream of waste we send out of sight. I cannot unbundle the parts I need, and all of this is in the name of what is easiest for the large organization.
Is there a metaphor here?
And then do not get me started about the $4 can of 25 Pringle potato chips…
My favorite was when I checked out and had a ton of charges for all the $4 bottle of waters and oj….all week I was stocking and restocking the fridge with my own cheaper stuff bought outside but the bloody fridge was computerized!! Everytime I took out my own bottle of water I got a $4 charge! Better look closely at your bill!
Computerized fridge’s but no internet connection…something is definitely backwards there!