Have you ever wondered whether or not it matters to hotel housekeepers if you accept or refuse cleaning services? I know I have. After having dug deeper into answering this question, it turns out it does indeed matter, and it matters a lot.
Daily room cleaning used to be standard practice in hotels. But since the pandemic, it’s become less so. There are, however, ordinances in certain cities that require rooms be cleaned daily unless a guest opts out.
This article was a real eye-opener.
Daily Room Cleaning: What Are The Issues
Is the issue that cleaning rooms daily saves jobs or that cleaning rooms daily is a health and safety issue, or both?
This article fleshes out some of the interesting viewpoints from all three angles: housekeeping staff, hotel management, and guests.
After all, think about a room that hasn’t been cleaned in days.
This quote from the article sums it up: “The day you check out, that room is terrible,” says Chandra Anderson, who as a housekeeper in Baltimore has encountered overflowing trash bins, piles of wet towels, and toilet paper strewn everywhere. You never know what you’re going to see.”
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Hotel staff has seen that if hotels aren’t required to clean rooms daily, they will cut back, putting profits over jobs.
“We think the industry is attempting to change guests’ behavior based on the pandemic, and we think that’s bad for everyone,” said the union’s secretary-treasurer Ted Pappageorge. “Customers are still paying for first class service and first class rooms, but not getting the first class service.”
He makes a good point!
And in the past, major hotel groups have offered guests loyalty points for forgoing room cleanings, calling it the environmentally-friendly choice. The unions calls this greenwashing.
Can you venture a guess as to how many guests decline room cleaning services?
This stat might be a bit old but back in 2023 more than 40% of MGM’s guests in Las Vegas put out do not disturb signs or otherwise declined cleaning over the past 12 months.
It’s a complicated issue.
You have housekeepers wanting to keep their jobs, hotels seeing a way to increase profits, and hotel guests with varying degrees of expectations when it comes to housekeeping.
Beyond jobs, cleaners worry about safety and security
Unions say the problem is cyclical. When there are fewer housekeepers on staff, it’s a less attractive job.
In Las Vegas, for instance, union housekeepers speak about feeling scared because they are often working alone on a floor of a megaresort on the Las Vegas strip. There are stories of hotel staff being attacked by drunk and drugged guests.
It’s also much harder to clean a room after several days.
“The linen is very heavy from the mountain of wet towels that have been piled up for days,” says Las Vegas housekeeper Rawanda Rogers. “We have a lot of party people in the rooms who trash the rooms, and it’s so hard on my body.”
So where do you stand on housekeeping when you’re a hotel guest?
Have you ever been approached by a housekeeper to please request room cleaning service, or to NOT put a Do Not Disturb sign out because they need the rooms to be serviced so they work a full shift?
Final Thoughts
I’ve noticed that many properties are now leaving notices in rooms that if a guest keeps a Do Not Disturb sign on their door, after a few days the hotel staff will come in to inspect the room.
Have you noticed housekeeping room cleaning service policies differing around the world, making these issues more prevalent in the US?
Add your thoughts below!
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