Of hospital and hotel rooms

(This is a reposting of one of my Friendster blogs posted in November 2008.)

I had a nasty bout with UTI very recently, and got confined for it… As such, checking into the hospital gave me a feeling of déjà vu over what had happened almost 15 years ago to the day. But then, that's another story.

After an almost two-hour wait at the emergency room where they processed my health card and called up my doc, I was finally wheeled into Room 315 with my husband, bags in hand, tagging behind the male nurse and me. The nurse said, "Here you are… It's just like checking into a hotel room." And I said, "Yes, except for the food."

Much later, I pondered on this exchange and thought more about the similarities and differences between hospital and hotel rooms. I think I can safely say that my two very different hospital stays in memory (my previous confinement was a traumatic 16-day stay while the recent one was a two-day I-did-not-feel-I-was-sick-at-all-except-for-the-IV-in-my-hand confinement) and hospital visits to the infirmed have given me enough to say on the experience. Of course, I consulted my retired-nurse mom for some of the other details. On the other hand, my work as a training manager entitles me to free [albeit official] stay in some hotel rooms in many parts of the country.

So, here it goes… And you're free to add to these light comparisons. Keep in mind though that I'm only talking about standard private hospital and hotel rooms, not executive suites!

Checking in

1. You can call for reservations at a hotel. Hospitals only allow reservations with instructions for admission from your doctor.

2. You can check into a hotel anytime you want, even at odd hours of the night. You can only do this at a hospital if you're an emergency case.

3. It takes eons to check into a hospital room: they ask for your healthcare details, preference, referring doctor and the list goes on and on. And of course, there's the deposit (if applicable). But you need only inform the hotel's front desk of your room preference and … voila! (Note: This goes true even for "non-peak" seasons. Yes, hospitals do have such.)

What you can find in your room

4. Sleeping accommodations in a hospital room are usually limited to single-size beds for the patient and one companion (sometimes). You'd be lucky to have a room where there's an extra chair/sofa that can act as an extra bed. Hotel rooms, on the other hand, have big-size beds, and can accommodate extra cots or mattresses for multiple sharing. You can end up sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Try doing that in a hospital room!

5. Hotel rooms usually have dressers, desks with drawers, nightstands, a comfy cushioned seat. Hospital rooms have dressers (sometimes), desks with drawers, IV stands, and uncomfortable guest chairs if any.

6. Each bed in a hotel room has its own linen (blanket, bedsheet, comforter) and comfy pillows. In a hospital room, only the patient often enjoys this. The companion has to provide his own pillow and blanket.

7. A hotel room's bathroom often has an extra towel to put on the floor, a bathtub or a really nice shower stall (or both), and granite sinks with working hot-and-cold faucets. A hospital room's bathroom has the standard sink, toilet and bath, a urinal or bedpan.

What to enjoy…and not

8. Enjoy the air conditioning in a hospital or hotel room without thinking of the electricity bill. If you're lucky, you also get to watch cable TV and listen to piped-in music to your heart's content.

9. Hotel rooms usually have free shampoo, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, toilet paper and provide towels for your use. You can ask for more when you use up your supply as long as you extend your stay. Hospital kits include rubbing alcohol, cotton, bandage tape, plastic glass (graduated), sometimes a roll of toilet paper, toothbrush, toothpaste, thermometer. You can rarely ask for additional supply once you use up those in your kit.

10. Hotel rooms often provide complementary breakfast for overnight stays. Hospitals provide three meals a day, sometimes even snacks. These are usually for the patient (except for those with NPO diets), and sometimes there's additional for the companion.

11. You can order whatever you want from the hotel's menu, whether it's sinful or healthful fare. But if you're a hospital patient, and depending on your medical condition, you're limited to what the doctor orders for your diet. In my recent stay, I had a low-fat, low-salt diet. Ugh!

12. You can entertain visitors in your hotel room whenever you want. Hospitals have visiting hours.

Charges

13. Many hospitals and hotels charge extra if you bring extra electrical stuff into your room such as flat irons and cassette recorders. You can easily get away with blow dryers and cell phone chargers, though. (Some hotel rooms even provide the former for free.)

14. Hotel rooms with telephone units charge extra for each outgoing call you make, none for incoming ones. Hospitals do not charge for outgoing local calls, or at least set limits for the number of minutes you consume per call. Incoming calls are also free.

15. Hotels charge differently for each room category, and so with hospitals. But in hospitals, different room categories also call for different rates in professional and laboratory fees (among others), and provide different types of food!

16. Hospitals and hotels overcharge for small items like toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, etc. that you buy from their mini-stores.

Room Service

17. In a hotel, room service courteously asks you what you want. In a hospital, they poke your body and demand to know what you feel. They make you do what they want (sit up, turn in bed, etc.)

18. In a hotel, you call for room service when you want. In a hospital, nurses and doctors barge into your room when they want… even at odd hours of the night, waking you up even if it's only to ask how often you've peed or poo-pooed during the past hour.

19. Service staff clean up your sleeping and bathroom areas daily in both hospital and hotel rooms. In hotels, they usually do this when there's no one in the room. This is rarely the case in hospitals. (Of course, the room's occupant – the patient – usually has no time or ability to get out of the room!)

Checking out

20. In a hospital, someone regularly barges into your room to ask for deposit, especially if you aren't an HMO member/health cardholder. Come check-out time, there are too many items to settle: professional fees, medicines, et cetera. In hotels, you settle the bill when you check out. The usual additional fees only include anything you consumed from the bar or the kitchen/restaurant. Of course, you're charged extra if they find out that a towel or piece of linen is missing.

21. You walk out of a hotel with the concierge or bellhop wheeling out your things. If you're a hospital patient, you rarely get to walk out (which I did in my recent stay) because YOU are wheeled out – sitting like an invalid in a wheelchair!

Finally: when you stay in a hotel room, you're a GUEST. You're always right! When you stay in a hospital room, you're a PATIENT. And this is what you need to be during your confinement!