Years ago, hotels prided themselves on being places where you could rest and relax and, if you were on vacation, hopefully have some fun.
To add to that air of being happy and carefree, they offered amenities to help make your stay as comfortable as possible.
Of course, times change. Things that were important 30, 40, 50 or even more years ago aren’t priorities anymore. Technology has taken over. And, of course, profit is often at the forefront — sometimes even ahead of guest comfort. So there are some amenities hotels used to offer that either have gone by the wayside or are quickly disappearing.
Room service
There was a time when most hotels had a room service menu that you could choose from. They were perfect for when you didn’t want to go down to the restaurant.
Some hotels, particularly higher-end establishments, still offer room service. But with the advent of Uber Eats, Grubhub, etc., it’s really a dying breed. COVID was largely the nail in the coffin.
Complimentary breakfast
For decades, complimentary hotel breakfast has been one of those quiet perks travelers came to expect — especially at mid-tier brands. But times have changed. Major hotel chains, including Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott, have begun scaling back or restructuring their free breakfasts, often turning them into an optional add-on. More info here.
Daily Housekeeping
This is another one we can blame COVID on. Hotels used to ALWAYS have daily housekeeping. But during the pandemic, housekeepers called out sick. Or guests wanted to be “safe” by having no one enter the room. So hoteliers cut housekeeping to every other day — or even every third day.
The pandemic is over but lots of hotel owners realized they could save a whole lot of money by not having a full crew of housekeeping. So lots of places still only offer housekeeping every 2 or 3 days, “because we know our guests want their privacy.”
On-demand movies
Remember when going to a hotel and seeing any movie you wanted was a big deal? And the rental fee would just go straight to your hotel bill? How cool was that? OK, maybe you’re not as old as I am. But I promise it was a big deal, once upon a time.
Nowadays, all you need is a Fire TV Stick or a similar device, and you have access to all the movies you want through your own accounts — Amazon Prime, Netflix, whatever. The only problem that can pop up is when the hotel doesn’t give guests the controls to use their equipment. This post might help you override their “Hotel Mode” setting.
Single-use toiletries
Not everyone is a weirdo like me who brings my own soap and shampoo everywhere. But single-use containers just make for more plastic in landfills. So slowly but surely, hotels are changing over to big, reusable bottles.
Bathtubs
You’ll still see bathtubs in older hotels, of course. But in newer ones, you’d just as likely see a walk-in shower where that tub would be.
The reasons for the changeover are multiple: showers use less water, they’re easier to clean (don’t have to bend down as much), and they’re easier to adapt for accessibility options.
While some of these changes make sense from a cost or environmental standpoint, others reflect a shift in how hotels balance guest experience with profitability. Either way, the hotel stay of today looks very different from what it once was.
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