The view from your room
When on vacation, your hotel room acts as your home away from home, or at least, that’s the thought behind hotel accommodations. It is designed to be comfortable, with obliging staff and luxurious amenities. Concierge services provide guests with activity plans and day trips, food is available, from continental breakfast to an upscale evening with cocktails. But it seems as though, often times, we are amazed with the grand entrance, the customer service, even the décor or layout of the hotel. And once we get up to our room, we open the door and… it looks the same as the last hotel we were in. We act as though we’re going to get a surprise when we walk through the door of room # 2304 when in fact, hotel rooms tend to be identical in look, just slightly varied with wall paper colors or shampoo scents.
The next thing we all are eager to discover is the view from our hotel window; especially if you’ve paid top dollar to ensure a good one. But how much are we willing to pay for a view? And is it really even worth it?
For some people, vacation means lounging in and around the hotel. Relaxation for these folks means not having to go anywhere, do anything, or have any type of agenda. My guess is that the amount of time spent in the hotel room is equal to the amount spent away, so a view of the tropical ocean or the lush garden would be ideal. For this reason, I understand why people would pay that extra bill per night. When you’re reading a good book on the couch, feet propped up and your drink within reach, there’s nothing better than the cool ocean breeze on your face or the sight of palm trees dancing in the wind. It just sets the mood that much deeper.
If vacation time for you means activities, exploration, and a lively day-to-day schedule, then I would image the view means much less. Especially because downgrading from an ocean view room to a poolside view room will save you enough money to book that catamaran cruise you wanted to splurge on initially. For the go-getter type of vacationer, time spent in the hotel is either for sleeping or a quick rejuvenation for the next activity. To spend an extra arm and a leg on a beautiful view is frivolous and unnecessary, unless budgeting isn’t an issue. Also, most kids don’t really care about the view, let alone understand its significance. Sure, when they walk into the room they’re ooooing and aaaaing, but soon it is forgotten and mom and/or dad is left with a huge, meaningless bill.
When dealing with Hawaii hotels, especially in Waikiki, your view will be one of two things; the ocean, or the city. Neither are bad options. In fact, a city view might be more exciting and colorful anyways. But prices vary, at the lowest, $50/night more to book the room with “the view”; that is, the ocean view of course. When you’re spending a week in Waikiki and renting two rooms for the family, $50 a night sure adds up real quick.
I personally have enjoyed my stay in a hotel room with NO view just as much as I have a hotel room with a sweeping ocean one. I believe it is not the VIEW that makes the vacation. Plus, I’m not much of a lounge-in-the-hotel-and-dry-out-in-the-AC type of vacationer anyways. But I will say, that when you’re not the one footing the bill, a bit of spectacular ocean scenery from your hotel window always does sound much more… aaahhhh.
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