Part of the problem of staying in a hotel is that you normally can't pack a drying rack with you. Yes, there are very lightweight retractable clothelines you can set up over a bathtub, but they are suitable only for socks or underwear and are not made for trousers or shirts. When I washed underwear and socks in the London hotel sink, I used the towel racks as drying lines, but space was limited. I would not risk damage to hotel property by using the furniture as drying racks.
There was an iron and ironing board in the wardrobe cabinet, but no folding drying rack. The rack I have at home is very spacious and can accommodate a full rack of clothes, but it's not very portable! (it folds for storage but is too large for travel). While I dry most stuff in the dryer, I dry delicates/knits/sweaters/synthetics on this rack
I think they wanted you to use their very expensive in-house laundry service. The hotel did not have a guest laundry. I later learned that some laundrettes offer a "wash and fold service", whereby they wash your load, presumably dry it in a dryer, and then fold it (no ironing) and that this service is far more reasonably priced than a hotel laundry service. I could have left a load with them and then could have picked it up the next day, as a compromise between their self-service prices and hotel prices.
