Jane stayed at an independent four-star resort this weekend and quickly became alarmed with her clock radio. Jane discovered the complex nature of her bedside device one evening upon coming back to her turndown-serviced room. Housekeepers in these types of hotels love to turn the radio on as they leave goodies on the pillow. As Jane prefers peace and quiet over music, she hastened to squelch the radio's emissions. But it took her five minutes to find the off button among the dozens of dials, knobs and related gizmos located all around the instrument of her madness.
Given the difficulty of turning off the demon device, needless to say, Jane didn't bother trying to set the alarm for the next morning. Nonetheless, at 7:00 AM, that infernal music started playing again. Apparently, the last guest in the room had set the alarm to that hour. Given that it took Jane five minutes to find an off button in a fully-alert state, you can imagine how long it took her to find the off switch to the alarm in a sleep-hazed state. Actually, truth be told, Jane never found it. As a temporary fix, Jane simply turned down the volume (she had discovered the proper dial the previous night). When she got out of bed, she yanked the plug from the socket, which was, of course, inconveniently located behind the bed.
Jane notes that, as a rule of thumb, the more expensive the hotel, the more difficult the alarm clock. On the other hand, stay at a Days Inn or a Ramada or a HoJo's and it is likely to feature the same, easy alarm clock radio you have sitting at your bedside. Minimal buttons, minimal muss and fuss. Stay at a fancy-schmanzy hotel and you are likely to need Jeeves to make your alarm ring. As for that pre-set alarm affair, at the very least, Jane would have the hotel housekeepers set the alarm to off every time a new guest checks in. Is that too much to ask?
Jane does have some late-breaking and good news to report when it comes to time-keeping devices. Wyndham recently introduced a Michael Graves-designed alarm clock/radio to all upscale Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and to the business-travel-oriented Wingate by Wyndham brand. Guess what? The device is relatively foolproof. The large LCD screen features a glowing backlight, making it easy to read. Four buttons are pre-programmed by the hotel to radio stations of varying (and labeled) genres. There's an automatic connect iPod/MP3 line-in so guests can listen to their favorite music through speakers. And almost best of all, instructions on how to set the alarm are clearly printed on the tray device upon which the clock/radio sits. But absolutely best of all is this. Once a guest turns the alarm off (simply by pressing Alarm Mode OFF), the alarm will not activate the next morning, unless it is reset. Now, this is a clock radio Jane readily welcomes to her boudoir.
