My shower complaints are getting progressively worse…

By: Ben Schlappig

Published: August 26, 2012

46 comments

I think most that read my trip reports will recognize that I have positive or at worst neutral reviews of flights and hotels at least 95% of the time. This week I seem to just be having really bad shower luck. On Friday I mentioned the showers at the Grand Hyatt Santiago, due to the difficulty of controlling the temperature and pressure. Yesterday I mentioned the showers in the “Cool Corner Room” at the W Santiago, which aren’t at all enclosed or separated from the room, which is frustrating because your whole room shouldn’t heat up when you take a shower, in my opinion.

But here’s my greatest shower complaint of all. After the upgrade “issue” yesterday at the W Santiago I got a suite, which featured the single most poorly designed shower I’ve ever seen anywhere. Take a look:

Who on earth thought it was a good idea to have the shower be a raised platform above the bathroom floor, with no barrier preventing water from flowing down? After showering for a few minutes (which is how long it took for the water to build up), probably half of the water drained where it was supposed to, while the other half flowed into the bathroom.

It really blows my mind. Surely someone designed this hotel, so what was going through their head when they made that decision?

Funny enough most of the reviews I’ve read about this hotel are glowing, though it’s one of the few hotels on my “no way in hell am I returning” list (and it’s because the hotel is all style and very little substance). The Grand Hyatt, on the other hand, I love.

Anyway, just my two cents, though maybe I’m off base…

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Miles Member

August 29, 2012, 7:45 am

Those shower heads with electrical current connections are informally known as "suicide showerheads." A friend of mine encountered one in Mexico, but fortunately only got a tingle from the electrical leakage. I'm irritated enough at toilet rooms and showers with windows into the rest of the room, and would be really mad if there were no separation at all. Unfortunately, that seems to be the style these days.

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Simon Guest

August 28, 2012, 2:18 am

@LR: Five things: "Is this serious?! All of this complaining is ridiculous... No one cares about the shower." #1) I do. And from the comments, others do as well. "Your blog is usually spot on because it’s so helpful." #2) Allow me to apologize on behalf of Lucky for failing to consistently post content that caters to you. "The point is the blogging about it in a quasi-rant post accomplishes nothing." #3) It was informative. Therefore, it accomplished something. Also, Lucky is complaining (expressing dissatisfaction), you are ranting (hostile tone, and you shouted, comment 19). Of course, you apologized, which is good of you. ("I apologize for the tone of my prior post.") "Nor should it be about the poor design of the hotel shower." #4) And yet, that's precisely the subject of this post. #5) Perhaps you should be more gracious and appreciative. Some may find it off-putting seeing you complain about free content that you've found to be 'so helpful'.

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J R Guest

August 27, 2012, 9:07 pm

At least it didn't have 220 volt wiring attached directly to the showerhead to provide the hot water, as in much of Latin America. Or did it? Those always make me a little bit nervous...

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John B Guest

August 27, 2012, 1:32 pm

I had a similar problem when I flooded out the shower in The Wing in Hong Kong.

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Dax Guest

August 27, 2012, 12:47 pm

@Cranky Scott: That's exactly what I was thinking as well. As much as any of us customers may complain about these silly designs it's the cleaning staff who really suffer as a result. All the extra work that they have to employ to make up for the hotel's own design flaws seems rather pointless to me. I'm not sure if these issues are being missed entirely by the architect or if some of it is being modified by the builder but somewhere along the way this train is running off course. Now, don't get me wrong, having a few rooms with kooky designs may be fun if that's what you're into. Maybe even as much as half the hotel could have funky designs, but it should remain an option, just like King vs. Double. What are you supposed to do if you're traveling with a non-intimate friend or family member? It's like everyone gets stuck with the honeymoon suite, even when it's entirely inappropriate.

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