There are some things you’ll expect to find in a hotel room, no matter where you travel.
Fluffy towels. A comfortable bed with clean sheets. A TV with a whole host of cable channels.
Then there are the establishments that go above and beyond, offering their customers unique – if not unusual – guest room amenities.
Here are a few of the more interesting ones we’ve come across:
1. They called it “Guppy Love”
As hard as you try, your guest rooms will always feel a little impersonal when compared to home. That’s why Kimpton Hotels set up their “Guppy Love” program, which allows guests with children to keep a pet goldfish in their rooms.
Meanwhile, the Happy Guests Lodge in Cheshire, England lets guests keep Happy, the hotel’s pet goldfish, in their room for an extra five pounds each night.
2. Make your own lemonade
Check into the QT Gold Coast in Australia, and you’ll find a high-end lemon juicer, swizzle sticks and glassware. A quick call to room service later, and they’ll deliver ice and lemons, so you can make your own fresh-squeezed lemonade right there in your room.
3. Stargazing in D.C.
When we say “stargazing,” we don’t mean “hanging out and watching famous people.” We’re talking about literal astronomy lessons. That’s part of the Constellation Series established at the Capella hotel — which has since been bought out by the Rosewood chain — in Washington, D.C. University of Maryland graduate students would provide guidance as guests gazed at the cosmos through rooftop telescopes.
4. Porsche owner for a day
Owning a Porsche may not be practical, but you can at least experience what it feels like to take one for a spin when you stay at the Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in San Diego, which has an exclusive sponsorship with the luxury car company. You can have a Porsche for a day, and the resort’s concierge can offer up places to take a test drive.
5. Your own mobile phone at the Shangri-La
The idea of getting your own mobile device isn’t all that impressive in an era when everyone owns a smartphone. So what makes these phones – offered up at the Shangri-La Maldives – part of our list of unusual guest room amenities?
It’s because these phones are programmed with the number for each guest’s personal butler. No matter where they go on this sprawling resort, assistance is just a phone call away.
6. The golden iPad
Not to be outdone, the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai gives guest a 24-karat gold iPad upon check in, which lets them access hotel services and information. Guests who grow attached to this gadget can pick up their own version at the Burj’s boutique…assuming they want to shell out $10,000.
7. Rock out in your room
What better place to live out your rock star fantasies than at the Hard Rock hotel chain, where guests can choose to have rooms outfitted with either an electric guitar or DJ equipment and get in-room video guitar tutorials. And if you’re not into creating your own music, you can request the music of your choice be piped into your room.
8. The finest honey in New York?
When you hear the words “artisanal honey,” you picture it coming from some quiet, rural farming community, not from the City That Never Sleeps.
But guests at the Towers of the Waldorf Astoria – the VIP section of New York’s fabled Waldorf Astoria – can count artisanal honey among the hotel’s unusual guest room amenities. The honey comes from one of the apiaries the Waldorf keeps on its roof. Guests can also get recipes for incorporating honey in meals or their favorite cocktails.
While these unusual guest room amenities are sure to get people talking – or at least get your establishment a mention on lists like these – they can’t compete with the essentials of a good overnight stay: a restful night’s sleep on comfortable bedding.
And at InnStyle, we’ve made it our goal to provide those essentials for your guests. Visit our online catalogue today to learn more about our large selection of wholesale amenities for hotels, inns and B&Bs or, contact our sales team at 1-800-877-4667. We can help make the right choices. We may not carry a 14-karat iPad, but we promise our amenities are worth their weight in gold.