Winston Aldworth: A smalls problem for the traveller

It can be cheaper to find a department store and buy yourself a three-pack of new socks and undies than to pay for the hotel's laundry service. Photo / Thinkstock

I don't think I'll ever understand why it costs so much to get basic laundry done when you're staying in a hotel.

Most places a traveller rests their head will sting you somewhere around $5-$10 to get one pair of underwear washed. There ought to be a rule that no laundry charge can exceed the average price of the garment in a budget store.

Often it's cheaper to find a department store near your hotel and buy yourself a three-pack of new socks and undies. Perhaps this is a good thing, given the tendency of most Kiwi blokes to wear their undies until they are basically a collection of holes held together by a startled and begrudging piece of elastic.

But we know there's a large commercial laundry in the hotel - that's how we get to rest out heads on beautifully fresh linen and dry ourselves with crisp, clean towels.

Can it really be so difficult to run a load of guests' personal garments through the machine? I don't need them folded and ironed, but a convenient and cheap system for cleaning a few small items would be a major help on the road.

Net deficit

Speaking of first-world problems, a friend recently touched on another bugbear of the modern traveller: poor quality and expensive wifi.

"Good wifi is up there with air and water for anyone in the modern world and, if I'm staying at your property, it's your duty to provide me with wifi," he said.

He might be overstating things (no one ever died from not being able to make a Facebook post), but connectivity is essential to getting the most out of any journey. Travel businesses - be they hotels, airlines, restaurants or bars - should treat it with the same importance as basic amenities.

The point was underlined for me a couple of weeks ago when I was having a drink in a well-regarded Auckland bar with a US travel industry character. I told her I was on Twitter, and pulling out her phone, she said: "Oh, I'll follow you."

She pressed a couple of buttons on her phone, found no wifi, then shrugged her shoulders and said: "Oh, you guys don't really do internet, do you?"

With the travel industry so important to New Zealand, we can't afford to not do internet.