In our contest last week, we asked you to share your biggest hotel pet peeves. We had more than 100 responses and some amazing upgrade suggestions, so we decided to take some time to analyze  your responses before we announce the winner.

Turns out lack of cleanliness was the number one concern posted. Many of you wrote about sticky carpets, smudged remote controls and, of course, the infamous stray hair. One of the clever fixes provided was from mehar who posted that hotels should provide antibacterial wipes in rooms.

Another concern was the lack of customer service provided by hotel employees. If you make a special request before showing up, and it isn’t provided upon arrival (or ever), that could snowball a rough first night to an unpleasant stay. As Peter likes to say, good customer service isn’t about the mistake but the recovery.

The other three recurring themes were noise complaints, Wi-Fi concerns/problems and a lack of bedside outlets in rooms. Ebtorres26 suggested that hotels invest in “octopus outlets” that provide more places for guests to plug in their electronics without requiring the hotel to rewire the building.

CCORD suggested that hotels management should add a checklist for maintenance to check that the room’s electrical components operate on an every other day basis. This would provide more work for maintenance employees whose working hours are in danger of being cut back due to the implementation of eco-friendly options that require less daily washing services.

Cindyl and Ryan also provided two other ideas we liked. Cindyl said hotels should put nightlights in every room to light walkways during the nighttime. This could be helpful given the darkness of some hotel rooms when the curtains are pulled. Ryan said that hotels should offer a late-checkout option during non-peak times of the year. This would give the slow starter a bit more time to get back on the road.

saravangeloven won the contest with a post that suggested hotels provide an in-room, informal guide to the best local spots around, as suggested by their employees. This would provide local insight to uninformed travelers and provide a boost for area businesses.

Thanks for participating! The contest fun continues with a family challenge with a 2-night give-away.

By Charles Edward Hicks for PeterGreenberg.com