OZCABINCREW
No offence mate, but it does get a bit annoying after a 14 hour sector to be treated like a 'second-class-guest' from hotel staff as well. In the hotels we stay at at QF Longhaul , with the exception of a few ( actually the Hilton on the Park in MEL is the only one that springs to mind - the staff there are fantastic)..... hotel staff definately treat us a lot differently to other hotel guests. Usually in a much poorer fashion than other hotel guests. Yep, I am sure QF gets real cheap rates for the rooms, but it is not the crew who arranges the payment, so we should be afforded the courtesy of any other guest ..... not placed in the crappiest rooms, and given poor service ..... but it happens all the time. Its a fact of life.
I too have seen crew treat hotel staff badly, and I pull them up on it every time I see it. But some of the treatment we get from the hotel staff we see in overseas ports is truly astounding! Have you ever waited for 20 mins in a line at a hotel reception, then asked if you are crew -- then told you have to wait for the 'real' guests to finish before you will be served?
I often request to be changed to a non-smoking room, and have often been told in many different hotels words to the effect of ' you are crew, you dont get to change your rooms' . Noice
We should not be treated any differently to any other hotel guest who's accommodation has been paid by their company, no matter how cheap the rate QF has paid.
But I agree, crew should not be rude to hotel staff, as no customer should be rude to a service provider.... but then again, we dont live in a perfect world do we? And when there is a service failure, then even as crew, we should still be allowed to point it out.... although not rudely.