The mystery of the crew hotel

I can spend a great deal of my time away from home, and the biggest question I ask when I arrive in a new city is, “Will I have a decent hotel room?”

Unlike my friends in the airlines, the corporate aviation world doesn’t have arrangements with hotels, due to the fact that we don’t have structured routes and can end up in any part of the world. Therefore it is usually down to our operations departments to arrange hotels for the flight crew.

Normally I stay in 4 or 5 star hotels. This isn’t due to the fact that as flight crew we feel the need only to stay in premium rooms (but that does play a big part!), it’s actually a necessity, as I can arrive in a country at any time of the day or night, and I need to know that even if I get into my hotel at 3am I can still get some food in a quiet clean room. Unfortunately it is only the higher end of the hotel market that can offer 24hr room service.

This however, is not always the case. Again as corporate flight crew we are often taking passengers to big events, such as motor racing, other sports events, movie festivals etc. Booking a hotel at these busy events can be very difficult, especially if a charter is picked up at the last minute and all hotels are fully booked.

I recently went to a major motor race in France called the Le Mans 24hr. My operations department gave me the details of my accommodation: a Bed and Breakfast down the road from the airport/race track. At first I was a little disappointed - as always I had hoped for a nice 4 star hotel suite - but when I arrived at the airport and met flight crew from other operators I didn’t feel so bad about my Bed and Breakfast. The first crew I met were having to stay in a youth hostel, and apparently felt very lucky to have it confirmed. A little later I met another crew; their operations department had struggled to find any sort of hotel, and so, on the morning of their flight were given a tent! It’s not always a glamorous life in aviation! In the end my Bed and Breakfast was really pleasant, and the woman who ran it was most helpful - plus her husband had an immaculate ‘67 Ford Mustang, which is always a lovely view from your bedroom window!

About a year ago I did a cargo run from Scotland to Germany. It was a long flight in a small twin piston and at the end I was looking forward to reaching my hotel room. I wasn’t lucky that night. There was a international golf tournament happening in the town, so the only place available was a room in a well-known, budget hotel chain. It certainly was cheap so I suppose I can’t complain, but honestly, it would have been better sleeping in the plane. The shower (down the corridor and a flight of stairs) can only be described as a plastic box with a hose in the roof. The walls were black with dirt, and the bed wasn’t much better! Needless to say my company has promised me that this will never happen again!

My company is normally extremely efficient when arranging hotels; they understand the need for a quiet room, with food available at unusual hours, but nevertheless, you can’t help that pit in your stomach when you ask the taxi driver, “So, what’s my hotel like?” and you get the reply, “Ummm, its ok I suppose.”