This summer, I reported an interesting experience at the Four Points by Sheraton in Barcelona. There was a placard on my bed offering me Starpoints for not using housekeeping.
So, it brings up an interesting question – what if you’re at a hotel that doesn’t outwardly offer any compensation? If you refuse housekeeping, should there be a reduced rate on your room bill, or some other form of compensation?
My parents aren’t a fan of housekeeping services – they routinely ask for the room not to be serviced, mainly because they don’t like a stranger coming into the room and risking things being taken, etc.
So, if one refuses housekeeping, it makes for an interesting argument of whether there should be a reduced room bill. After all, it is saving the hotel money. Some hotels advertise the service (or lack thereof) as a benefit for the environment, which is a great PR move.
There are several options this could take (and it most certainly isn’t limited to these two):
When you make a reservation, you can note whether you don’t require housekeeping. Or, hotels could offer a no housekeeping rate.
If at the time of booking you select that you don’t want any service, perhaps a 10% or other nominal percentage could be taken off of your bill. Or, in the case of hotels with loyalty programs, perhaps points added to your account after check-out. By a hotel using this option, they can plan in advance for staffing needs.
Once on-site, you can note whether you don’t want maid service.
Typically, hotels ask you to leave a card hanging on your door if you choose this option. Since the hotel has already allocated staffing and resources for servicing all occupied rooms, perhaps the compensation could be in the form of points, or a small one-time food and beverage credit.
There are some exceptions to the issue that would have to be made – such as requiring service on every 3rd night, etc., it order to keep the room in a somewhat sane state, but those details could be worked out later.
So, if a hotel offered you some type of credit or points for not having housekeeping, would you take it?
Jamie Larounis is an avid traveler, blogger and miles/points educator. Traveling well over 100,000 miles a year and staying in hotels for over 100 nights, he leverages miles, points and other deals to fly in first class cabins, and stay in 5-star hotels. The Forward Cabin shares his experiences, musings, reviews, tips, tricks, resources and industry news with you, the fellow traveler.
Yes I would. I routinely hang the do not disturb sign on my door anyway as I have valuable commercial photo equipment and prefer no one enters the room for security purposes.