THE FINAL WORD
top ten... bizarre hotel requests
View to a thrill
Laura Gelder scours the world of travel for some alternative news, from demanding divas and cheeky fare dodgers to some lofty pilot recommendations
A
re you a window seat fan? Always clamouring to get a bird's eye view of
whatever your plane is passing over? Well consider this: British Airways pilots have been consulted on their favourite views from the air – and they should know, they have the best view. The views are chosen from 180
different routes and range from urban cityscapes to majestic mountain ranges. British Airways’ chief Boeing
pilot, Captain Al Bridger, says: “We get some spectacular views from the cockpit but many of these can be seen by everyone on board, especially on our new 787 aircraft which have much larger windows." Cities on the look-out list include
Cape Town from the north (especially early in the morning); Venice's canals; and Dubrovnik. London is also a winner, since it is approached from the east, meaning the whole city is covered on the way into Heathrow.
The new Heathrow Airport Operations Manual might not sound much fun, but this classic Haynes guide
reveals the secrets behind an airport that transports 70 million passengers a
76,000 staff in 160 organi- sations. And did you know that each A380 'super jumbo' has
35,000 items loaded on it!
74 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
year. That's a fl ight every 45 seconds, helped by
Specific instructions need to be
followed for views of Sydney Harbour, which is best seen from the right hand side of the cabin, while San Francisco rewards no matter what. "You get great views of the bridge on the left hand side of the aircraft, Alcatraz from the right, and the bay from both," says Captain Simon Scholey. Natural wonders include Mont Blanc en route to Pisa. "A breath- taking view of the Alps and of Mont Blanc comes around an
hour into this two-hour flight," says First Officer Caroline Robinson. While Captain Dave Willsher says "the Northern Lights are well worth staying up for on long North America flights." But TBTM's favourite has to be
Greenland, en route to Canada. "The tips of mountains can be seen poking through the snow which is over a mile deep," says Senior First Officer Peter Nye. "You can even see icebergs carving off glaciers."
From Mariah Carey famously demanding 20 white kittens and 100 white doves to to be released when she turned on the Christmas lights at Westfi eld, to Justin Bieber politely asking that no one speak 'directly at him', we've all heard of diva demands. But Skyscanner has revealed a list of ordinary guests' appeals to their hotels, revealing some extraordinarily imaginative requests. Strange food requirements and unusual
bathroom habits were the most common occurrences in the survey of 400 international hotel staff. It also uncovered the unusual complaints that hotel staff have been subjected to, ranging from guests asking for a refund because their dog hadn’t enjoyed its stay, to a Mayfair hotel having to placate guests who were disappointed their room didn’t have a sea view. But the top ten strange hotel requests are as follows:
1
One glass of water on the hour every hour, throughout the night
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 15 cucumbers a day
Toilet to be fi lled with mineral water A bath fi lled with honey
The sound of goats bells to aid sleep Only the right legs of a chicken A dead mouse
A bath of chocolate milk
16 pillows (for a single guest!) Crocodile soup
Nice nails – but where's your ticket?
and the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has now revealed some of the rather pathetic excuses that have been used by the offenders. From vanity – “I’ve just been getting my nails done and I’m not going to get them broken by buying a ticket” – to downright cheek – “I've never paid before so I don't see why I should pay now," – the list reveals what train conductors have to deal with on a daily basis. More inventive excuses included
I
“I fell through the door and landed on a seat,” and “I only got on the train to use the toilet and
t is estimated that some £240 million is currently lost every year due to fare dodging on our railways,
it left while I was in there,” as well as the classic, “I thought it was free on a Sunday" excuse. Blame was a common theme, including one person who accused their deceased relative, claiming, "My mum’s got my ticket and we buried her this morning," and another who claimed that, "the guy at the station said you don't need tickets for these trains." Those who choose to travel without buying a
ticket are estimated to be making more than 120,000 train journeys each year, so £21millon has been spent on installing new ticket barriers and making random ticket checks to foil the cheats. If you're thinking "I don't really care" at this point just consider that all that lost revenue
could be spent on 1,500
extra carriages, leasing around 920 extra inter- city carriages for longer distance journeys, or paying for the upkeep of around 450 stations for the next five years!
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