“I’ve stayed in so many hotels this month I barely know my own bedroom any more, but I’ve used the experience to compile a hospitality gripe list,” wrote our columnist Jo Ellison back in June. Her ensuing rules for better hotels (“No weird lights”, “Kill the quilt”) became our most viral piece of the year to date, proving so popular with you, the dear reader, we felt honour bound to revisit the topic.
And as so many will be on holiday now, suffering the thousand-times-magnified discomfort that only a bad mattress on a dream break can provide, we thought we’d cheer you with some true horrors. I, for example, have just returned from two nights in an otherwise entirely delightful Italian hotel. Arriving at night, I entered my room in the dark; it was only when I awoke the next day that I discovered a wall-dominating version of “The Last Supper”, featuring a gigantic Donald Trump, at the foot of my bed. I can confirm that will affect your dreams.
So here, our favourite FT writers present their own hotel nightmares, with perhaps one to remind you that Airbnb is no reliable indicator of a good time either. https://archive.md/8UJPJ