Back in the era of Fawlty Towers, it was cold food and lumpy beds that hotel guests feared most.
But 40 years on, the complaints are very different – with poor wi-fi the No 1 gripe of modern travellers.
Also on the list of top ten grievances today is the lack of vegan food – and given how John Cleese’s irascible hotelier couldn’t even rustle up a Waldorf salad, it’s easy to imagine his exasperated reaction to a request for a quinoa and tofu burger.
Back in the era of Fawlty Towers, it was cold food and lumpy beds that hotel guests feared most. But 40 years on, the complaints are very different. (Above, Basil Fawlty with difficult guest Miss Richards in the 70s’ classic sitcom)
The list of gripes has been compiled by The Good Hotel Guide, which first appeared in 1977, two years after the launch of Fawlty Towers, inspired by Cleese’s stay at the inhospitable Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay.
While the complaint about no fixed-priced ‘table d’hôte’ menus from 1977 might baffle modern guests, some whinges are universal.
‘Language problems’ would once have conjured up Andrew Sachs’s hapless Manuel sputtering ‘I’m from Barcelona’, but nowadays the staff are more likely to come from Eastern Europe.
As for entertainment, the omnipresent curse of annoying muzak has supplanted the disappointment of finding there’s no television in the room, with flat screens now almost always standard.
Adam Raphael, co-editor of the guide, said: ‘Forty years ago muzak did not exist and we certainly don’t like it at all.
Poor wi-fi is the No 1 gripe of modern travellers. And the omnipresent curse of annoying muzak has supplanted the disappointment of finding there’s no television in the room, with flat screens now almost always standard. File photo
‘Our readers also loathe dim bedroom lighting. It may be fine for a romantic couple, but if you want to read sometimes, it is irritating if the lighting is poor. People also comment about too many pillows and cushions. Some hotels overdo it.’
But he said the industry has come a long way in the past four decades. ‘Lots of places have Sky TV. Dogs and children unseen in hotels 40 years ago are welcome and have set a new trend. Spas are big, too.
‘Food has improved enormously. Forty years ago we did not get the food we wanted.
‘But today people are very pernickety. There are lots of vegetarians and hotels take care to provide for them. There are also people with allergies. But now the complaint is not enough vegan dishes on menus.’
Mr Raphael said the hospitality industry relies on foreign workers as ‘hotels find it difficult recruiting local staff’. He added: ‘But we like a mixture of locals and foreign staff.’
The Good Hotel Guide 2018 is out now.