Yet, just when you thought you'd gone through all the rituals, a new riddle appears in the room – and this time, it's about checking. An exasperated LinkedIn Post by hotel manager Dinesh Tewari, showing a dirty room littered with trash, plastic bottles and cigarette butts, revealed the horrors faced by housekeepers and opened a whole new can of worms for guests .
In the comments, hotel regulars proudly pointed out how they remove sheets, make beds and wipe down surfaces upon check-out. These humble boasts were met with adoring praise from the cleaners – and mild confusion from everyone else. Unlike Airbnbhotels are surely the only place where you can relax and check out without worrying about chores.
Message from Lizziethe great-great-granddaughter of the early 20th century empress of etiquette, Emily Post, suggested that these sometimes exaggerated crate-cleaning rituals stem from a desire to recognize and respect the efforts of hotel maintenance staff. “It’s really nice to be aware of your potential impact on others,” she said. Larry David might disagree; In this season premiere of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the antihero feels judged by a housekeeper after leaving what he thought was a reasonable mess.
Across the Atlantic, London-based protocol expert and podcaster William Hanson offered a decidedly more British view: In a country notoriously obsessed with social status, some fear waiting until maids do the cleaning after perpetuating class division. “They don't want a top-down relationship, or they think they're really not the kind of person to be expected to stand up to,” he said.
So, what is really expected of us during our stay?
Whatever you do, don't make the bed
It may be part of your morning routine at home, but bed in a hotel room doesn't save anyone's time. The first thing your housekeeper will do is remove all those dirty sheets and send them straight to the laundromat.
Calvin Kanoho, former room manager at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, talked about strict cleaning protocols covering everything from scuffs on walls to the orientation of chairs. According to these rules, if you're in a double room and you're not using the other bed, the sheets still go in the wash – and in luxury hotels, the same goes for unused towels.
THE legend of Michelin inspectors dropping a fork on the floor to test restaurant service may have long been debunked, but hotels still don't want to risk a black mark – literally. Housekeepers are sometimes warned that notoriously picky auditors might leave dirt on “unused” sheets to see if they are replaced during the stay, Kanoho says.
Post said she still lets staff know if she's only using one bed — just in case.
But leave the towels in the bathroom
Our experts all agree on one thing: putting your used towels in the bathroom is always appreciated and is a handy indicator for housekeeping during your stay that you want to replace them. Not that they always pay attention to it; some five-star properties will replace every wet towel in sight, whatever your travel aspirations. save the planet.
Hotels generally keep a minimum of two sets of towels per guest, so there's plenty to go around. That doesn't mean you should throw one in your suitcase, though. According to Kanoho, housekeeping follows up – and you may be charged for their care.
Cleaning up your trash goes a long way
Research shows that cleaning up your trash is something that actually helps housekeepers. In 2021, academics at Spain's University of Seville timed each cleaning task and found that removing used and dirty items took just under a minute. This accounts for about 5% of the average cleaning time, which is almost equivalent to removing laundry.
According to the same study, making a bed is the most labor-intensive task for housekeepers, taking four times as long as removing sheets. The difference is that cleaning up trash is the only thing you can do to save time for the cleaning crew without inadvertently creating additional work.
Post, who sits atop a label empire ranging from books to podcasts and training courses, goes even further. She makes sure all takeout meals are packaged “with no traces of food, used napkins or utensils coming out of the bag.”
The Do Not Disturb sign is complicated
For some guests, like Kanoho, who admitted to feeling guilty about his years as a housekeeper, flipping the Do Not Disturb sign isn't about avoiding human interaction. “That leaves them one less room to clean,” he said.
But this tactic only really works if you're the kind of guest who only touches the napkins. Otherwise, letting clutter build up for three days can turn a quick tidy up into a Herculean task. On longer stays, Kanoho suggests housekeeping comes by twice for a quick refresh.
Before corona virus pandemic, Marriott aroused the anger of employee unions by offering loyalty points to customers who shunned housework as part of its “Make a Green Choice” program. A 2018 union survey from one hotel suggested that most cleaners found these rooms more difficult to clean due to the accumulation of trash and towels. Two years earlier, housekeepers at six Boston hotels claimed to have lost more than 6,800 shifts and $1.7 million in wages and benefits because of the program.
Airbnb rules are different
If you are staying in an Airbnb, the hotel rules and etiquette go out the window. If you leave a mess behind, the host has the power to leave a negative review, which will impact your chances of getting a stay elsewhere in the future.
Despite sometimes exorbitant cleaning fees, guests are still required to work before leaving.
The key, Post says, is to “really pay attention to the rules set by the host,” even if you think separating the trash into three separate bags and wiping the mirrors until they're streak-free is excessive. .
It is not necessary to make the beds (unless it is mandatory), but you should clean up crumbs and avoid leaving puddles in the bathroom. “It should look like it just needs a vacuum and a wipe,” she said.
If you're staying in a private home, communication is key
Things get complicated if you are staying with friends or family, as is paradoxically often the case. Hanson said that proactively offering to remove beds would be very helpful even if your host says no, and according to Post, “asking what to do is always the best solution.”
“We are all individuals and we all have our own way of doing things,” said Grant Harrold, a former butler to the British royal family. “But whether you’re in a big house or a three-star hotel, you just have to enjoy the hospitality and let the staff do their job.”
King Charles III, he insisted, was always a “respectful” guest who let the staff go about their business – and if the monarch's army of valets disappeared tomorrow, he would be “very good at making the beds “.
No matter how clean you are, don't forget to tip
Making the bed doesn't save time, and deploying the Do Not Disturb sign remains controversial. The jury is out on unused beds. But in an industry known for low pay, there's one thing housekeepers generally appreciate: a dot.
According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2022The average wage for cleaners working in traveler accommodations was just $14.94 per hour, so a little money left behind can go a long way.
American Hotel and Lodging Association suggests $1 to $5 per night, left daily in cash to account for changes in working hours. Just make sure you address it clearly to housekeeping, otherwise the tip may end up in the hotel safe as a lost item.
Kanoho says tipping was rare, although some generous guests left hundreds of dollars behind after particularly long stays. “Instead of lifting a finger and trying to clean up, just leave a tip,” he said. “That’s something your housekeeper will always be happy about.”
