Tuesday, March 02, 2010

What's With Hotel Pillows?

Alright, anyone who has traveled on business lately will get this one. And you fellow travelers out there know that hotels have developed a fetish for pillows.

Right now I am sitting in a hotel room that had about ten pillows on the bed when I came into the room. In fact, there were so many pillows that there was no room on the bed. In a move that is now common in my hotel stays, I make a big sweep of my hand and knock all but two of the pillows onto the floor so I can actually use the bed. The pillows stay on the ground until the maid comes back and makes the bed, and later in the evening the pillow fight between guest and the help starts anew.

While some hotels go with volume, others go with "speciality pillows". They have a menu in the room with a variety of pillows (down, foam, firm, etc.) and you can call the front desk and have the proper one sent up to your room at no additional charge (I'm not making this up - this is really out there).

I am not sure where this is all coming from all the sudden - I can only surmise that some hotel market study came up with research saying that guests have a thing for pillows, and doing something in that area would be a cheap way to increase positive feedback of the hotel experience.

For me it isn't working - it just adds a hassle factor when I come back to the room drunk and just want to go sleep.