Preface
Each morning, on my way to work, I pass a billboard for Holiday Inn Express, bragging about… their showerhead. The statement being something to the effect of, “#1 guest rated showerhead.”
Each morning, I think two things:
- Is their showerhead really the best thing they have to offer?
- What new innocuous item in a hotel room can I come up with today to mock them with? (#1 guest rated doorknobs or acoustic ceiling tiles for example)
I also frequently wonder why I never get to participate in a comparative review of hotel accomadations.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived at our hotel in Flagstaff, I looked in the bathroom and there was the showerhead I see each morning on the billboard staring back at me!
The Review
My first impressions of the showerhead are that it is big and sturdy-looking. While neither of those criteria immediately seem like something that make much difference in the performance of its duties, I can see how a hotel chain could value durability.
The showerhead has three settings, a traditional spray, a more stream-like configuration and water masage. The controls are simple, almost intuitive, the entire outer ring of the showerhead rotates changing the settings, each position “clicks” into place with firm resitance, providing the user with positive feedback that they have set the control correctly.
The showerhead itself is very large, promising a very large water pattern; however, the actual area of the spray appears no larger than a traditional showerhead. As the controls move from spray to masage, the area actually decreases, moving from the outer spray ring inwards.
Performance was acceptable in all settings, although the spray mode was its best performer. I find the stream mode rather useless, but that’s true with all showerheads. The masage was adequate, but hampered by a lack of water pressure.
The ball-joint for adjusting the position of the showerhead was fluid and held its position with ease.
The unit itself appears to be custom-made for Holiday Inn, the words “Stay Smart” is molded into the unit. There are no other obvious identifying marks. There also appeared to be no anti-theft devices incorporated into the design – that surprised me.
Some years ago, hotels started puting alarm clocks in the rooms. I don’t know if, long ago, hotels used to put clocks in rooms and finally removed them because too many jackasses stole them, or if they just never had them, but when they did start putting them in rooms, many of them had stickers on them that said something like this:
This clock is placed here for your convenience. For the convenience of other patrons who come after you, please leave it here. If you would like to purchase a clock just like this one, they are available for sale at the front desk when you check out.
I’m really surpised Holiday Inn doesn’t sell their showerheads. Even if they aren’t as great as they might like you to believe, they are good, and they have been bragged up a lot. I would be good advertising/merchandising if they sold them to weary travellers who have been sold on their magnifigence.
Conclusion
I wouldn’t stay at Holiday Inn Express just for the showerhead, but without doubt, it is the finest hotel showerhead I’ve ever used.
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