AS the travel team at the Sun, it’s fair to say we’ve stayed in our share of hotels around the world.
Racking up thousands of hotel stays between us all, it also means we’re pros when it comes to what works – and what definitely doesn’t.
So we’ve rounded up 20 of the things we despise in hotels… and you’ve most likely experienced most of them too.
Lack of teabag choices
Everyone loves a strong cup of English Breakfast tea – apart from me, that is.
Personally, when I can’t sleep after a long flight, I want something like a chamomile or a mint tea.
Yet hotels seem to forget this and simply give a few – cheap – bags of your classic brew, forgetting about us herbal lovers.
I’ve had to become that person who takes my own teabags on holiday – and I’m not the only one, apparently. – Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
No plugs near the bed
In 2026, it astounds me that you can still get a hotel room without plug sockets next to the bed.
Okay, if you are a tiny guesthouse then I appreciate you don’t necessarily have the cash to be rewiring all your rooms.
But I’ve been to a number of 3-star and upwards properties that have
clearly renovated their rooms in the last 10 years and STILL didn’t
decide to put a phone charger-friendly socket next to the bedside
table.
I really don’t want to be wandering through a pitch black room in the
middle of the night to turn off my alarm or check texts. Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital)
Complicated air conditioning
We all love a sunny, hot holiday, but sometimes it gets too much and you are desperate for a bit of air-con to cool you down as you unpack.
Only to be faced with a room that’s hotter than hell and an air-conditioning display that would challenge even a Mensa champ.
No matter how many times you press the inexplicably-labelled buttons the room temperature remains stubbornly hot. There’s never any instructions and all the displays seem completly counter-intuitive.
While I’ve done battle with air-con systems to cool me down regularly, in some rare cases it works so efficiently you are walking into a fridge every time you return to your room, forcing you to go to sleep in a jumper just to keep warm. Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
Glass walled showers
There’s nothing more embarrassing than booking a girls trip away and discovering that a room shared between three friends has a see-through shower.
This happened to me on a recent trip, when my friends and I could see straight from the bedroom into the shower.
I understand the design choice, generally it makes the room look bigger.
But in practice, who really wants to be on full display while having a holiday wash whether or not you’re with your partner? Alice Penwill, Travel Reporter
Early swimming pool closing times
One of the best ways to stave off that all-inclusive bloating is a beautiful morning swim. So why do hotels have such strict opening and closing times for their pools?
I’ve been told off on multiple occasions for trying to have a few quick pre-breakfast laps at 7am, despite it only opening at 9am.
And don’t get me started on those 6pm pool closures too… Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
Confusing lighting
It’s been a long, hard day of travelling and you are finally ready to settle down for the night and enjoy that lovely big bed.
Exhausted, you begin the lighting lottery, randomly turning unlabelled switches off and on again in an attempt to lose the light.
In most cases, the ones you have by the bed bear no relation to the lights in the room and you’re forced to rise from your comfy bed in the semi-darkness in an attempt to unplug random lamps or work out how the one pesky light in the doorway can be turned off.
Of course, the minute you finally have the room in total darkness you realise you’re no where near the bed – forcing a comic caper of feeling your way back without bumping into unfamiliar furniture. Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
Overeager luggage handlers
I’ve dragged my luggage from taxi to train, up a steep set of stairs, through the airport and out the other side again without a single helping hand.
So what makes you think that I’m incapable of carrying it several yards from the hotel reception to the lift?
Despite my polite pleas that I’d rather take it myself and that I really can manage, so many are way too insistent.
The simple truth of it is, I don’t want to have to wait for my case to be delivered to my room – I want to be able to freshen up and shower or get changed straight into my bikini to catch the last of the sun without unnecessarily wasting time waiting around in my room.
Plus, I find the whole thing rather awkward from he hovering in the door – does this mean I need to tip – to the unnecessary explaining how the safe works. It’s a hard no from me. Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Lack of clothes hangers
I’m both an unpacker and an overpacker – even if I am only staying in a hotel room for a couple of nights, I like to get all my clothes hung up and put away, just like they would be at home.
Suitcase open, you swing open the wardrobe doors to be confronted by one of my least favourite things – those fiendish attached hangers you have to thread back onto a built-in contraption.
Cue frustrating minutes that should be spent enjoying the view or testing the comfiness of the bed instead doing battle as you try – and fail – to attach them in a move similar to threading a needle.
Not only that but what also drives me nuts are miserly hotels that provide you with just four or five hangers for a week-long stay – forcing me to work out a complicated phone system to call housekeeping to ask for enough hangers to put all my clothes away! – Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
Breakfast toast conveyor belts
There’s no doubt about it, hotel breakfasts are one of the best parts of being on holiday – but can we acknowledge the toaster of doom?
Every hotel seems to have adopted the same conveyor belt toaster, which barely warms your bread on its first cycle, and burns it to a crisp on the second.
I don’t understand why hotels insist on this method of making toast. Why do I have to commit five minutes of my life to watching a piece of bread spin around, only for it to get spat out and land in a pile of everyone else’s crumbs?
So I’ve permanently ditched the toaster of doom – I’d much rather pop my poached eggs on top of some crispy potatoes instead. Jenna Stevens, Travel Reporter
Tiny dressing gowns
I have a question for hoteliers: what’s the average clothing size of guests at your hotel? Because when it comes to dressing gowns, it seems you only provide sizes that could fit a small child – and I can’t see the point in offering an amenity that is simply unusable.
For every hotel with complimentary dressing gowns that I’ve visited in my time on the travel desk at The Sun, I’d estimate that four out of five of them come up short when it comes to gowns – literally.
Rarely is there enough material to wrap around my entire body in the cosy fashion that any proper dressing gown should.
And it’s simply not sexy looking like a sausage sandwiched into too tight a casing. Sort it out, please. Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Loads of bed cushions
I have no issue with cushions on a sofa, or even on a bed at home. But on a hotel bed? Gross. You have no idea what people have done with them.
At best, the crime would be multiple guests using it as a pillow and
it never getting washed. At worst? Well… what human beings get up to behind closed hotel room doors will never cease to stun me.
There is no need for a cushion on a bed. Four freshly-laundered, white pillows are the perfect amount for both propping yourself up to watch TV and also getting a good night’s sleep.
Any decent receptionist should be happy to send up a couple more if needed. Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital)
Filtered water taps in hallways
In a bid to be more eco-friendly, there is a new hotel design being rolled out that I despise – filtered water taps in hallways.
They cite the change as being one to reduce water bottles, often providing free glass bottles in rooms to fill up instead.
But I hate waking up in the night and having to throw a dressing gown on to leave me room, wander down the hallway and find the damn tap because I ran out of water.
It was certainly no help during an unlucky bout of stomach flu when I was dehydrated but unable to even leave the room – and with tiny bathroom sinks, barely able to fill a water bottle. Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
No bathroom doors
At home, you wouldn’t put your toilet behind a sliding, often frosted glass door.
So I don’t understand why this would be any different on holiday.
In fact, with people having various reactions to travelling when it comes to toilet habits, I’d argue that doors are more needed than ever in a hotel.
Just like with glass showers, it comes down to a matter of privacy. I’d definitely settle for less space in a hotel room if it came with a solid bathroom door so I’m able to use the facilities in peace. Alice Penwill, Travel Reporter
Family lounger hoggers
This is not a hotel fault – it’s all about the guests. It’s the families who reserve four-plus sun loungers by the pool each day, for both the parents and the kids – but the kids never actually use them.
Last summer, I looked around the hotel pool and there were scores of sunbeds reserved with kids’ towels and inflatables.
Mum and dad would spend both morning and afternoon making good use of their beds, while the kids went off for hours at a time.
Come on guys, surely Flipper the inflatable dolphin doesn’t need its
own lounger… Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital)
Receptionless hotels
Commonly seen in city aparthotels, it seems receptionists are a thing of the past.
I’ve stayed at a number recently which brag about having a contactless check in, meaning everything is done via the app.
This might be a joy for some people, but I cannot explain how helpful it is to have a person to ask, often known the best places for dinner, nearby bars or even helpful transport tips.
Google only goes so far, and I miss the personal experience that is sadly being lost. Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
Confusing spa locations
If I’m booking a spa break and it’s advertised as such, I don’t really want to be walking through the reception and restaurant in my bikini and barely-there dressing gown – especially while other guests are fully clothed.
It feels a little like that common nightmare where you’re in a crowd and suddenly realise you’re the only one that’s naked.
Ideally the spa should be positioned within easy access of most bedrooms and not in an area where guests have to shuffle uncomfortably through public areas.
It’s even better if the onsite lunch spot is for spa guests only. Dining in your dressing gown doesn’t feel so odd when everyone’s doing it – and it’s a proper luxury. Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Telephones with bright lights
You’ve managed to do it all – suss out the six light-switches on the wall, turn the air-conditioning down, and lay down ready for a good night’s sleep, turn the final light off, and all of a sudden – your room is aglow.
Why oh why do hotels choose to put a telephone on the desk opposite your bed with a bright light on it? They’re always coloured red or green and are ridiculously bright. It seems completely necessary to light them up like that.
If the hotel is that concerned you need to use the phone during the night, put it by the bedside table within arms reach.
I always end up having to put a towel over it to dull the glow, or use an eyemask to block out the obnoxious light. Alice Penwill, Travel Reporter
Noisy adjoining rooms
For big families or friend groups, rooms with adjoining doors are a godsend.
For an often-solo traveller, they are my worst nightmare.
I’ve had to ask to move rooms on multiple occasions when I’ve been put in one, due to the lack of noise-insulation they have when next to very loud strangers.
I’ll never forget my 3am pyjama walk to a new room after my neighbours VERY interesting yet noisy argument on the phone. Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
TVs that barely work
I get it. Updating TVs can be pricey, but at least give me basic channels that actually work.
I like having some background noise when I’m getting ready in the mornings and the TV helps me unwind after a day of exploration.
In an ideal world, every hotel TV would be fitted with chrome cast so that guests can stream their favourite shows straight from their phone. And perhaps I sound a little spoiled when I say that a lack of smart tvs is my biggest bug bear.
But if you can’t afford to buy more modern TVs then give us the Freeview channels as a basic, otherwise your telly is just a very ugly accessory Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Gyms with barely any equipment
When you book your hotel stay and see that it has a gym, it feels like an absolute win, and for those who work out every day – it’s a must.
But there’s nothing worse than turning up with your gym gear on, only to see one exercise bike and some sad dumbbells in the corner of a windowless, carpeted room.
Then it’s time to come up with some sort of makeshift spin class that completely throws you off your schedule, or walk away with the guilt of missing your workout for the day.
I’d almost prefer if there were no gym at all – but I wish hotels were at least honest about their ‘fitness centres’ so it would save me packing my gymwear. – Jenna Stevens, Travel Reporter