Psst! Don't Change Your Sheets, And Earn Some Money
Usually my hotel room doesn't need regular cleaning, and my sheets don't need changing daily. And when I tell the housekeeping staff to skip my room, they reward me with a hand to the small of their backs, and a thanks for making their day a little easier.
Besides, they often come to clean just when I most want them not to!
So I wasn't too surprised to learn that when Best Western conducted a pilot program designed to help train their staff, nearly 40% of guests polled in 125 U.S. properties said they preferred "no or limited room cleaning."
Ron Pohl, VP of brand management and member services for the hotel chain said that many times customers feel housekeeping was a distraction, and a big waste of resources.
We've all seen the little cards telling us that a towel on the rack means it's still clean, and we've seen "green cards" urging us to conserve water by minimizing the hotel's laundry load.
But USA Today reports that the hotels are taking conservation to a new level.
Wyndham-family chains (Super 8, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Days Inn) will leave linens unchanged whenever possible, and its Days Inn chain will reduce linen and towel changes to every third day, down from the current daily change.
Travel Weekly noted that while most of these programs are based on green environmental policies and are presented to guests as a way to protect the environment, it's also a huge savings for the hotels, which one hopes they'll pass on to their customers.
During an eight month pilot study, Travel Weekly reported that Starwood Hotels and Resorts saved more than 14 million gallons of water, that's 224 million glasses of water, translating into lower guest bills.
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