I stayed at a hotel in Charleston this week. After several hours of driving I finally got to lay down. Not to sleep, but to check email and catch up on a few jobs on my MacBook Pro. You know the drill.

I booted my laptop and needed to plug it in. Adapter in hand I looked on the little bedside table for an outlet. Nothing. So I followed the clock cord down behind my bed, between the mattress and the wall. Finally I had to get up and pull the bed from the wall to gain access. Surprisingly, there was only a single outlet, that was, of course, taken with the clock.

After looking around on the wall next to the bed, I realized there was no outlet anywhere close! Finally I resigned myself to plugging in by the desk. Instead of relaxing, I had to sit in a hard desk chair.

Finished, I returned to my bed to watch TV. Someone texted me. As I picked up my iPhone, I saw that I was low on battery. I had to plug it in. Ugh.

And, since I use my iPad for my alarm clock, I needed to plug it in too. Having it plugged in on the opposite side of the room was not convenient (especially when it goes off in the morning). My iPhone ended up plugged into a bathroom outlet.

What madness. Especially since the hotel was just newly-renovated and “updated”.

I wonder if the management or owner has ever stayed in a room!

Have you walked through (personally!) what you put your audience through? If not, you may be overlooking essential “services” that they notice. Every time.

Like having the shampoo across the room by the sink; or the towels under the sink away from the shower, or…