The ONCE JournalLifestyle · Hotels
The room, not the hotel.
A great hotel is the start. The trip is decided by the room: its floor, its view, its size and what comes with it.
Sunlight pours through tall windows onto a polished floor and ornate columns in a grand hotel lobby.
People choose hotels. The trip is decided by rooms. Two guests in the same hotel on the same night can have very different stays, depending on the floor and the view. The difference rarely shows in the hotel's name. It shows in the room category, and in asking for it.
Read the room names
Hotel room names carry the information that matters. Take one hotel on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City, as its own website lists its rooms. A Superior Room with a city view is 34 square metres. A Luxury Room is 42. A Junior Suite on the executive floor, with club access and a view of Reforma, is 50. A Prestige Terrace Suite looking onto the Angel of Independence is 80, and the Imperial Suite is 315.
- 34 m²Superior Room, city view
- 80 m²Terrace suite, Angel view
- 315 m²Imperial Suite
Every word in those names is a decision: the floor, the view, the terrace, the lounge. The rate follows from them, and so does the stay.
What to ask for
Ask for the view by name, not by adjective. Ask which floor. Ask whether the club lounge is included, and what it serves. For a race weekend, ask whether the room faces the circuit or the city, and how early the hotel fills.
Ask for the view by name, not by adjective.
Why a desk helps
A desk reads the categories so you do not have to, asks the questions above for you, and holds the answer before it books. Rates and availability are quoted by the desk, room by room.
