The vacation or business trip is over and it’s time to leave your hotel for the final time. Your bags are packed. You’ve done a visual sweep of the bed, drawers, closet and bathroom to make sure you didn’t leave anything. You’ve had a “pee for the road.”
Did you make your bed?
Don’t.
Two reasons…
To help housekeeping
It’s easier and faster to pull everything up from the bed if it’s not made. That’s especially true if your definition of “making the bed” includes tucking the covers in and replacing those stupid show pillows. So you’re saving the housekeeper a few seconds in time, as well as a little less strain on his/her back.
Want to really be nice? Move the blanket and show pillows to the side, strip the bed, throw all the towels on top and leave the whole thing as a ball of linens and towels on the bed. It saves her/him a full minute or two (which doesn’t sound like much but multiply that by however many rooms (s)he has to service for new guests that day), and leaving them on the bed (as opposed to the floor) is safer for their back when they go to pick the bundle up.
To help your fellow travelers
I’m not suggesting that hotel housekeepers will often shirk their duties. But I’m also not naive enough to think that it never happens. If a housekeeper sees a bed that looks made, (s)he may just not change it.
Other things to not do when you check out
- Leave the TV on – if it’s too loud, housekeeping may not be able to tell if there’s a reply or not when they knock on the door to change the room. And really, why would you leave the TV on if you’re not only not in the room, but aren’t going to return to it?
- Leave the Do Not Disturb sign on the door – again, it just causes confusion for the housekeeping staff. Are you in the room and just sleeping?
Either way, it causes a slowdown. Housekeeping may need to contact the front desk to see if you’ve checked out or not (and if your bill is already paid, some people might not even check out; they just leave), or they may leave that room “for last,” in case you’re actually still in there.
With the availability of early check-in, it’s always a little disappointing when you ask for it and can’t get it. When it happens to us, we always wonder if they’re short-staffed or…what. Sometimes it could be because of the actions of the guest that’s been in the room before you. So now that you know, don’t be that person.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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