Don't the ex-Starwood properties still adhere to Starwood brand standards? I don't have enough Starwood experience to know if the deliver to rooms.

That's already happening. Some limited-service and full-service brands have soap, shampoo and conditioner dispensers in each room instead of individually packeted toiletries.

The Sheraton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, charges you for housekeeping. Literally.

It's always been my understanding that the employee who slips the bill under your room was the one who placed the newspaper in front of your door. Look, there are certain standards and expectations of a full-service hotel.

As I pointed out earlier, I haven't seen any official confirmation that the brand standard requires newspapers to remain available in common spaces in the lobby or on each floor. Many full-service Marriott hotels already don't provide other services expected of a full-service hotel. Look at how difficult, if not impossible, it is to get a shoeshine -- let alone slippers and a bathrobe at any property outside of a Ritz-Carlton.

British hotels, in my experience, do newspapers well. Many charge you for it because they place an order the night before with the local news agent. That's nice because I can get the newspaper I want, not the one contracted by a corporate office (aka USA Today).

As for circulation, I'm sure there are limited-service properties in the middle of no-where without easy access to USA Today, The New York Times or The Wall Street, but generally speaking you can get a USA Today almost anywhere in the Lower 48 because Gannett has a superior circulation system in part due to its ownership of numerous local newspapers.

My cottage is in a town of 80 people four hours north of Detroit. By 8 a.m. every morning, year-round -- except for bad weather -- I can get that day's edition of USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

IDK but this was above:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28663589-post199.html

I heard this from the GM of a Starwood FourPoints I'm staying at as well. Effective Aug 1, 2017.

In the past two years staying with Starwood, Marriott and Hyatt, I've had a bill slipped under the door exactly once! Are full-service hotels still doing this?

Yes. I always get folios under my door. Usually check them for accuracy while I'm brushing my teeth.

Cheers.

Yes, I have almost always have had the bill slipped under my door the morning of checkout (including at non full service properties like Springhill and Courtyard).

Off the top of my head in the past year I didn't get a under-door folio for a points stay where I didn't have any extra charges, and when I stayed at a bungalow-style Residence Inn

Probably about %80 of the time the bill is slipped under the door the day I am checking out. Some properties have claimed to have gone green and only print a folio upon request or claim security reasons (too tight under the door to slde a folio) and make you come to the desk. Overall, most properties I stay at do slip the bill under the door the day of checkout.

--Jon

I just checked out of the Courtyard in Flint this morning. The folio was there at 5 a.m. I've only had two Marriott hotels not do this in three years. The flagship Marriott by SNA and the J.W. Grosvenor House London.

I must admit I don't stay at many Marriotts and that appears to be where slipping the folio under the door still occurs (of the three chains I listed). Starwood typically emails a folio to you around 3:00 a.m. the morning of departure. I find that better than the slipping the folio under the door since I've received other guests' folios in the past when this was a practice at Starwood.

Getting a folio emailed at 3am the day of departure doesn't help if one isn't checking internet. That automatically means a trip to the front desk to get the folio, a trip that might not have been necessary. Pros/cons to both methods.

Cheers.

As a business person, I can guarantee you that I checked email each morning prior to check-out. I would believe others would also do the same. As you state, pros/cons to each. I liked the electronic version because I could file it easily (a new email is generated after check-out with the final folio) and not lose it. That prevented me from spending my time or my assistant's time from calling a hotel because of a lost folio.

At a Renaissance this week, at check-in I asked to have USA Today and WSJ delivered each morning. I didn't get any papers the next morning. I went to front desk and got the papers and reiterated the request, which they said they'd take care of. The next morning I got only WSJ. Again went to front desk, reiterated the request, and was told it would be taken care of (many apologies offered, etc.) Third morning I got no papers. Annoyed, I again went to the desk and was told that it is no longer part of the Marriott "brand standard" to deliver papers as of Aug 1. I mentioned that I had heard rumors of that and that I understood that the hotel no longer needs to offer that service. I also indicated that the previous 3 people I spoke with shouldn't have accepted my request and told me they'd take care of it!

So, at least some properties are no longer offering the service.

Were there sufficient numbers of newspapers in the lobby?

Just because delivery isn't required doesn't mean they shouldn't do it if a guest asks. That would be like refusing to bring extra toiletries.

I don't know, because they were underneath the front desk (so I couldn't see the stacks).

I should also point out that there were no papers in the concierge lounge either -- and this hotel used to have them there.

I agree 100%. And I still assert that having someone deliver them would require only minimal labor, and certainly no additional staffing.