Staying at a hotel should definitely be a relaxing experience. You get to let your hair down, put your feet up, and bask in the luxury and exceptional service the establishment and staff has to offer. But does that mean you can leave your hotel room dirty?
This has a direct answer, and that is absolutely no. While the hotel doesn’t expect you to make an effort to tidy up, that doesn’t mean you should leave a mess. The staff will take care of making up the room for the next guest, but it would be considerate to not make their jobs more difficult in the process.
Why You Shouldn’t Leave Your Hotel Room Dirty
It’s true that the hotel hires housekeepers to keep the rooms clean, allowing guests to enjoy the same level of comfort that you did. But that isn’t a reason to give them more work!
For starters, as of November 2022, Salary.com reports that hotel housekeepers earn an average of $25,577 annually. Even if you compare that to the 2020 data from the United States Census Bureau, it is way below the median income then, which is $67,521.
Now think about how many rooms the hotel has. Just imagine if everyone else left complete messes for the housekeepers to clean. That doesn’t sound like fair work for such measly wage, doesn’t it?
Furthermore, staying at a hotel should be the same as staying at a friend’s place. They’ll be courteous enough to pamper you while they play as host, but common decency dictates you should reciprocate the kindness by not adding too much to whatever cleaning they’ll have to do after.
What to Do Before Leaving Your Hotel Room
While you’re not supposed to clean up, here are a few things you should do as a responsible hotel guest.
Gather Used Towels in One Place
After using the towels provided by the hotel, put them all in one place, like the bathroom floor or in the tub. Don’t fold them as it may be confusing for the staff to figure out which ones are used and which ones aren’t.
Put Your Garbage Near the Bin
This is pretty obvious and should be a common practice, but always gather your trash and place them near the bin. That includes used bottles, food wrappers, or even half-used laundry detergent that you may have requested from them. It would make it easier for the housekeepers to clean up that way.
Don’t Make the Bed
You don’t need to go the extra mile and make the bed before you leave the hotel room. The staff will replace the sheets with clean ones anyway. It’s one easy way to prevent bed bugs from even making the hotel their new territory!
Put the Furniture Back Where It Was
It may sound very simple, but putting things back where they were would be a great deal of help to the hotel staff. They only have roughly half an hour to fix everything, so leaving the remote and other cutlery where they were initially would save plenty of time.
Don’t Forget to Tip
Last but absolutely not the least, tip your housekeepers. It would be kind of you to do it daily as different housekeepers make up your room every day. We’ve established already that they make very little money for such heavy and daunting tasks, so they’d greatly appreciate it.
