More Hotels Are Removing Dressers From Their Rooms. Here’s Why

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When you check into a hotel room nowadays, you have a few things you hope for. A comfy bed. Decent Wi-Fi. Cable (or a TV you can override out of “hotel mode” so you can watch what you want). A thermostat that works (or, again, that you can override). At least a few plugs you can use. Maybe some USB ports. A lack of bed bugs (here’s how you can check ahead of time).

A chest of drawers? Don’t hope too hard for that, because they’re becoming rarer and rarer depending on where you stay.

Why? Blame younger people 😉

No, seriously. According to CN Traveler, hotels are noticing that a minimalist look is more attractive to younger guests. They’re not looking for bells and whistles and are absolutely happy with a clean and efficient space. So, in hotels that cater to adults in their 20s or so, dressers are out, and shelves and/or hanging hooks are in.

There are other reasons too. Newly built hotel rooms are getting smaller and a lack of a big piece of furniture like a chest of drawers makes the room feel bigger. Plus, people who are only staying in a hotel for a night or two and/or in the room as a single reportedly tend not to use the dresser. So why supply one?

But that’s not all. Laminate floors are replacing carpets, which are much easier to clean. Tubs are being ripped out and replaced with glass-walled showers. And if you want a desk, well, you might be lucky to get a table. Otherwise, there’s always the lobby (or use this hack). I guess they’re using the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) design methodology.

Meanwhile, hotels offer other storage solutions to replace the lack of drawers, such as installing hanging rails, hooks, shelving, open wardrobes, and even drawer space under the bed.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve stayed at several places with these more modern designs.

• When we stayed at the Moxy in Phoenix Tempe a few years ago, there was no chest of drawers. As you can see in the photos in that post, we had a small closet for hanging things and there were some hooks on the wall. We only stayed one night and didn’t miss having drawers at all.
• When Joe went on his first business trip, he spent a week at the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlotte. As shown in that post, the room had a long table that acted as a desk, TV stand, table lamp holder and 2ish feet for putting stuff down. Several shelves and metal wire pull-out bins were across from the bathroom, where a closet would normally be. Joe said he didn’t really miss having drawers; the bins and shelving were enough for his 1-week visit. But storage space did start getting cramped when I surprised him by showing up for a long weekend (that was SO MUCH FUN!) and there were now 2 people in the room. He also said since the bins were just wire, it prevented him from storing anything small in them.
• Our rooms (we stayed in two different rooms, one night each) at the TWA Hotel at JFK also used the long table design. The room had a small closet but no drawers.
• When we stayed at Motel One, in Munich,  in late 2019, I think that’s when I felt the cons of “small, clean and efficient.” The room was very small – no more than 10′ x20′ (not uncommon in Europe), including the bathroom. As you can see, instead of drawers there were 2 small areas for hangers and 3 shelves. And the “desk” was a table with an ottoman. There was also minimal space for our luggage. Overall, not ideal for our 3-night stay. But the lobby was great if we wanted to hang out there.

A few other hotels we’ve stayed in recently have these newer setups without drawers, but I think you get the point.

For hotel guests in their 40s, 50s or older, there are still plenty of hotel chains with drawers and computer desks. Families can still find rooms with tubs to give their kids a bath, and carpeted rooms are still out there to muffle sounds a little.

But if it’s a hotel brand that’s more aimed at younger Generation Ys, or older Gen Zs, or is just trying to be more modern, the trend is not to have drawers.

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