Man, I knew everything was larger in America, but this is a bit much !
Yes, but I’m referring to closets in Texas, so it’s to be expected.
[quote=“Corner_Case, post:115, topic:578852”]
[ul][li]A/C/Heater units have a cold-to-hot dial or Low/Medium/High temperature and Low/Medium/High buttons for fan speed. No matter what, it’s too cold or too hot and the noise is annoying. Especially when it kicks on and off and you hear the water condensation.[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
While that’s my experience in American motels, that’s certainly not my experience in hotels, where I’ve never seen anything aside from a thermostat that controls a proper HVAC system.
If it didn’t help that’s a pity.
It confirms that we are peoples divided by the same language.
Well, my room in Kuala Lumpur had a Wonder Woman on the ceiling.
Just kidding. In KL I had the qiblah pointer too, but also noticed something distinctly weird. In the Gideon Bible, you know the part at the beginning with John 3:16 translated into dozens of languages? The Arabic translation had been blacked out with a rubber stamp that placed a long black bar over each line of text. Nothing else in the book had been altered, though. This is just bizarre, since there are millions of Arabic-speaking Christians and Arabic Bible translations. No Muslim in the Middle East has ever had a problem with this. After all, the Christians were there first. But Malaysia is not the Middle East by a long shot, and such a departure from simple logic does not seem to trouble them any.
I could only guess it was done to placate wealthy, haughty Saudis, as Saudi Arabia is the one Arab country where Arab Christianity officially doesn’t exist, and Saudis are rich and pampered enough to make such irrational demands and expect them to be catered to. The sheer bootlickingness of this selective censorship astonished me.
In the US mid-Atlantic Duvet = thick blanket (often baffled goose-down) which is then buttoned into a large protective case, like a huge pillow-case. The duvet cover may be decorative, and the whole thing used over a regular top sheet, or it may be of sheeting material and used and washed regularly, like a top sheet. The inner bit is usually professionally dry-cleaned once per year or as needed.
Wardrobes (free-standing aka armoires) are actually very common in the US. Many homes and most hotel rooms have one - but it has been converted to hide the Television set and other electronics and to provide media storage.
Duvet covers: Bed Bath & Beyond | The Best Deals Online: Furniture, Bedding, Rugs, Kitchen Essentials & Moree
TV Wardrobe/Armoire: http://www.armoireshowroom.com/tv-armoires.htm
Only bedrooms (and maybe spare rooms) have wardrobes. Other rooms have cupboards or sideboards! 
I don’t think it necessarily has much to do with taxation, but rather population density (and thus also land values).
European homes are significantly smaller than American homes. Homes in some European countries (especially the UK) are in turn significantly smaller than in other European countries. According to one set of figures I found online, the average floor area of a newly built home in the UK is 76 square metres, compared to 113 for France, and 214 for the US.
“They say that Britain and America are two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean. And it’s true!”
Eddie Izzard
My impression is that conversion between religious groups is a big no-no in Malaysia. Religious tolerance there is predicated on a firm partition between each group: we leave your group alone, as long as you leave our group alone.
Arabic will be familiar to many Muslims in Malaysia, and my WAG is that they don’t want local Muslims to be “confused” or “misled” by Christian texts using the language of the Quran.
Malaysia is a country in which use of the term “Allah” by Christians to refer to “their” God is a highly controversial point, after all.
Sq meter/foot conversions to save duplication of effort:
UK is 76 square metres = 818 sq feet
113 for France = 1216 sq. feet
214 for the US. = 2303 sq feet
A 2303 Sq foot house would be on the large side to me. It may describe the average new house being built, but not the average home. We’re just not building many condos (flats that you own) or apartments (flats that you rent) these days.
Celtling and I live in a mid-middle class neighborhood and have a good-sized home at 1850 Sq feet. I honestly can’t think how we’d fill another 500.
Sorry for the detour of the thread but this is simply not true. Property taxes in Germany are not based on the number of rooms but on the value of the property. In addition, property taxes are very low compared to the US (I pay € 170 per year for a 95 m² appartment in an expensive part of the country) so basing your architectural deecisions on such a small amount of money would be silly.
Yeah, there’s that too. It’s incredibly stupid. Malaysians don’t even speak Arabic or anything, acting like they own the flippin language.
On my way back from my honeymoon, my wife and I stayed at a Holiday Inn in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I picked it because the hotel guide said they had a complimentary breakfast. After we checked in, the complimentary breakfast was confirmed in the room service guide.
The next morning, I went down early to see if the breakfast had things my wife would like (she doesn’t like eggs). Posted in front of the dining room was a sign that read “Breakfast Buffet $8.99”. I thought that was strange: did people not staying at the HI come for breakfast. I asked the hostess how hotel guests took advantage of the complimentary breakfast. She said you just paid as you entered. I tried to explain to her that “complimentary” meant “free”, but she thought it meant “buffet”.
About a year later, I had a similar head-slap moment with a Dunkin’ Donuts clerk that thought a baker’s dozen was 12, not 13.
If your complimentary breakfast in the US was an $8.99 buffet you should complain. Complimentary means included with the price of the hotel stay. I have never seen it otherwise in the US.
Bakers dozen is 13 in the US as well.
When I lived there in the 70’s (father was in the service) that is what we were told. I just googled “why don’t german houses have closets” and found several hits citing the same reason - taxes. Perhaps your 85sm flat would have a higher tax rate if it had 4 bedrooms (3 closets?) I don’t know. Times change and so do tax laws. Back then, however, taxes is the reason given for why there are no closets.
I’ve seen this in Malaysia and Indonesia, too. Even some hotels in Thailand.
Do tell us more, heh. Was it morning before she came back down? 
As opposed to David Carradine, who was a hanger in a closet.
Knowing my friend, I doubt it very much. But we kidded him about it.
Actually we were there as part of a project to discover possible pharmaceuticals in rainforest plants. One of the vines collected on the project had been found to have anti-HIV properties, and some of the samples were in G.'s room. We told him if he was worried he should have just munched on some of the leaves.
I did complain. Trouble was, the hostess was the highest authority on duty at the time (early Sunday morning). We instead found a little diner just down the road that was excellent.
“As well”? I know I live in Texas, but that is part of the US. 
I stayed in the Asia Tourist Hotel a few times when I visited. It had the same amentities. The desktop computer had free internet and the shower had plenty of power. This hotel had the most comprehensive complimentary breakfast I’d ever seen, with cereals and juices and sandwiches and they’d cook you whatever you wanted on top of that. You could leave your clothes out in the morning and they’d clean and return them to you in the evening for no extra charge. When I checked out, they gave me a box of red tea.
When I commented on how much I got for the price, the locals said there is big competition amongst hotels in such a small area. They have to make a good impression to get repeat visits and word of mouth to get Americans to stay off base. It must have worked; we both mentioned the hotels by name in this thread.
Back to the OP. No Koran, Buddha, or Testaments in the drawer. Only some porn.
Now that’s service!
Ack, bad American tourist! I got my Korean geography mixed up. Stayed at a hotel in Songtan, not Yongsan. Got to see President Obama give a speech at Yongsan, but didn’t stay in any hotels when I was there.
We’ll forgive you this time. I was in Pyeongtaek if I were to be totally honest.