puddinhead

After staying 3 nights at a Tapestry property I discovered the new no service for 5 days (including coffee and water). It was explained that guests preferred limited contact as the reason. I saw this as another revenue enhancement and thought maybe there are somethings they are missing. Hilton could enhance their guest service like housekeeping.

Instead of cleaning rooms and the added expense of laundry, a squeegee could be attached with a chain to the shower. And for guests who didn’t participate in the BYOT program, a vending machine could be on every other floor to dispense towels (including a deposit which would be credited at the front desk. Cash only, to allow GM to fund a mistress slush fund. Sheet swapping available at the front desk.

And for general cleaning the vending machine would dispense single use cleaning supplies if the guest wasn’t happy with the way the last guest left it - having ignored the signs to ‘think of the next guest’ like the ones in aircraft bathrooms.

A vacuum with a credit card swipe would provide 15 minutes of vacuuming to cleanup popcorn from a messy child of a pro ball player. Stored by the vending machine the cost clock would stop when returned. Suites and Diamonds would get 15 minutes a day for free.

Hotel TVs had coin slots on them in the 50’s and pay per view movies earlier this century. Why not make the TV a PPV device for everything except the hotel’s never ending infomercial.

Free breakfast for non-elites could be provided to anyone who volunteers an hour in the laundry.

twitch76

Forget daily housekeeping. At this point I’m happy if the carpet was vacuumed so the last guest’s snack crumbs aren’t underfoot.

</snark> 😉

Seriously, hotel owners believe the old adage “never waste a crisis.” They also believe the cherry-picked and anecdotal data that tells them that guests prefer less housekeeping. Numbers don’t lie… but you can lie with numbers!

I’d vote with my wallet, but it’s industry-wide. The dam will break at some point when demand subsides and some hotel brand decides to resume service to attract guests.

(And yes… I know… some hotel clerk or manager is going to come on here and tell us about all of his data and anecdotal evidence about guests who don’t want housekeeping. I think his data collection is flawed and biased, and that guests have not truly been consistently invited to express their desire for housekeeping. None of the hotel data is based on a neutral survey that would pass any research statistician’s review.)

Besides… if hotels really wanted to serve guests best, they could employ some sort of cool hangtag that guests could hang on their door… something with cool slogans like “still snoozing” or “later please” or “do not disturb.” Instead, they just flipped the default option from “daily housekeeping” to “no housekeeping” or "housekeeping on request."

Nope… the hotels should at least be honest. This isn’t about guest service… it’s about $$.

PJJtraveler

Be careful what you suggest…at this point somewhere might actually implement it. Uggggg… I usually never wanted housekeeping if under 3 nights, but these limitations are getting out of hand. I can’t even find a pen or paper by the phone anymore! Like the previous commenter states…the dam will eventually break and hopefully we will return to a better “normal”.

The Road Goes On Forever

I mean of course it's about money. Why wouldn't or shouldn't it be? Hotels are in the business to make money, period. It is a very bare knuckles industry.

If there is such a clamoring or demand for daily housekeeping, why hasn't it happened yet? Brands are feedback obsessed. Don't you think if they were getting a huge groundswell of comments from guests via official and monitored online channels and/or property management/owners were reporting that guests want this, then maybe you would see it in some form? Except, again, maybe, that's still not happening via official SALT surveys, Trip Advisor, Google, Expedia, etc.

Either way, hotels owners are only doing what Hilton allows them to do in the broader scope and when a Hilton employee only puts boots on the ground usually once or at the most twice a year tops, what do you think is going to happen? Like it or not, across the industry it is a literal race to get to the smallest staffing footprint possible via app usage, AI revenue management, non-daily housekeeping, analytical staffing models, plus several other things.

While you could be right with what you said regarding the dam breaking, I really don't think so because the industry has been moving in the direction of less staffing since well before the pandemic and maybe certain situations in the near future might slow that down or pause it but it's not going to stop. Over the next 10-20 years aside from maybe resorts and higher end properties, the rest will have less staffing then they do now, which already is a good bit less than it was in 2019, guaranteed.

twitch76

Of course it's about money. That's what I said.

You may have missed the part where I said "the hotels should at least be honest."

And when the pendulum swings the other way and the dam breaks... it will be about money then, too. When demand subsides and hotels have to compete, some hotel will realize that there's a demand for something that the other brands aren't providing. They will provide that in order to attract customers... and then the pendulum swings the other way.

arlflyer

At least for me, I consider it "being honest" when I see that the hotels are structured as for-profit legal entities, rather than charities...they're in the service industry, of which one of the two words is "industry". I've never really believed that hotel operators are in it for the warm feeling they get when they see me smile. If the hotels go out of business, or the investors and management companies direct their focus to more profitable sectors (e.g. multifamily) with higher margins, then not having a place to stay wouldn't benefit me much as a guest. So I guess I'm in a minority here, but I've always tried to look at it from both sides.

the810

I wonder what's the longtime strategy (if there's any). Sure, hotel chains can cut all services as they please, it's their right. But at some point people will start asking why they should pay extra money to stay at Hilton when they offer less service than any random independent hotel.

Of course it will work for a while, they can still live from their past image. But the customers who still equal the Hilton brand with luxury will, to put it bluntly, die one day. Then what? How will they justify charging 50% more than other hotels in the area?

twitch76

I think you’re agreeing with me.

My point wasn’t a complaint that the hotels are making financial “best interest” decisions. It’s that they’re attempting to candy coat the decision by telling us that they’re just giving us what we really wanted in the first place. I don’t think it’s honest.

(I do think that the decision is short-sighted, even from a financial perspective. Housekeeping jobs will ultimately be harder to fill. Those who have filled housekeeping positions in the past will find different work. Turnover housekeeping will be more time-consuming. And ultimately, I believe wear and tear on the hotels will increase. I think the pendulum will swing back… and finances will be the primary motivator when it does.)

MP001

That is exactly what I am doing. In most places in Europe and Asia I am still booking Hilton hotels where they offer a great service and have nice properties. Mostly in the US and in some places where you need to beg for breakfast and where Hilton has the new fancy brands that do not even put a chair in the room, I just avoid Hilton and book local independent hotels.

I don't really need to have sheets or towels changed daily, but I do need a basic room's check where coffee is replenished and rubbish bin emptied if needed. This is an expected service in hospitality.
Also, as mentioned above most new brands are showing up very nice in instagram, they look modern and are very flashy but often have very small rooms that are uncomfortable for 2 people and have no chair, no table, no fridge...

I started last year to move several bookings to local independent hotels in places where Hilton was priced over twice the price of a local property on a similar level. Experience so far is positive and I will drop from Diamond to gold this year but I cannot see any benefit in retaining status because in several places Hilton is not really delivering much for customers loyalty.

bon mot

This.

WVmike

Honestly, I think Hilton and Hilton Honors has been going to hell in a handbasket since the pandemic. The Hilton experience including the watered down food and beverage credit, devalued points, and lack of cleaning service has been pushing me to Marriot and Hyatt. I will still have 60 or 70 nights this year with Hilton but only because the staff at one specific property I frequent knows me and takes good care of me. My combined Marriot/Hyatt nights will be in the 150 range. I used to routinely be above 175 nights per year with Hilton. No longer.

At Marriot (platinum) I still get a free full breakfast and daily room cleaning. Was really nice last week.

Sisosig

This week I tried to make a reservation in the App. If you are a EU citizen, at many hotels, you need to confirm your reservation's payment on your banking app. So the Hilton App says type your first and last name, press confirm, go to you bank's App, approve the payment.

Tried this five times, but bank app just keeps saying: there's nothing to approve. So there's no reservation, even after twenty minutes fussing.

So I tried to make the reservation on my laptop on the Hilton website and then suddenly I was able to confirm it in my banking app.

Today I want to check in on the Hilton app, same thing happens. Have to enter the credit card details again, have to approve AGAIN on the bank app, which still says: nothing te approve. Why do I have to approve AGAIN??? Now let's try the website to check in. NO YOU CAN'T. It says: use the Hilton App to check in. What????

puddinhead

It is an international banking issue.

I have the same thing if I try to buy on an EU based website. I’m sent to Amex or Capital One or whatever card I’m using website to verify that it’s me.

StayingHomeIsBetter

And the other word is service.

And, increasingly, the travel industry seems to be trying to divorce the two concepts.

diesteldorf

To the OP. thank you for starting this entertaining thread.

I'm not looking to hijack, but hoping that MP001 is willing to elaborate on his strategy.

I know the old adage that "Google is your friend", but what is a good way to efficiently search for independent hotels to see if there is substantial savings to be had.

Lately, most of my trips have been for leisure in major US metro areas. I realize Diamond benefits in the US have degraded substantially but still tend to favor Hilton due to the Aspire card's ability to rack up points quickly. However, I am essentially a free agent with multiple credit cards, points, and certificates, so I always look around, but realize I am only comparing hotels that are affiliated with major chains (IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, Wyndham, Choice etc).

I know smaller cities and towns may only have 5 hotels or less to choose from, so finding the independent brands is easy. However, have you been able to find, and received substantial savings, through booking independent hotels in major metropolitan areas as well?

With the prevalence of ride share, smart taxi apps, and the traditional hotel shuttles, location is not always as important as it was in the pre-digital age. If the average 3-4 star hotel in downtown Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, etc is $300, is there an easy way to find independent brands that are of similar quality and service for 20%-30% less?

I once had the decision to book through a 3rd party and save $30.00 or book the same property through Hilton directly. I chose the latter because I figured my Diamond benefits were worth at least $20 and the $10 difference was the "insurance" I paid to not deal with a 3rd party if things went bad. However, if Diamond benefits continue to degrade, it may be much easier to justify taking the savings up front instead of paying extra for lackluster recognition.

Overseas, as others have pointed out, status and brand standards still exist, particularly in Asia. One of the reasons I booked Hilton and not something more representative of the local culture was to mitigate any potential language barrier. I assumed, correctly, that there was a higher chance of having English-speaking employees at Western hotel chains.

Moving back to the original topic of this thread, I'll often go without housekeeping for stays of 3 days or less, for anything longer, I'll visit the front desk to ask for towels/toiletries, etc. I still tip $3-$5 per day, or more, for housekeeping, depending on the hotel, and don't consider myself a pig, but realize that turning a room after a one night stay is probably less labor intensive than a 5 or 7 day stay. After 5 nights of ordering takeout, the trash can was full, so I tried to organize the containers as neatly as I could prior to departure, and admit there were probably crumbs on the floor and in the sheets. It may have taken housekeeping a good 30-60 minutes to get the room ready for the next guest, and I'm sure hotels that have hundreds of rooms don't have the staffing to be so thorough.

I would hate to read about someone being assessed a cleaning fee, when, in reality, they were just using a room normally during an extended stay. Has anyone actually performed light housekeeping duties during an extended stay for the sole purpose of making life easier for the person turning the room? Will that be the new normal?