# Do Not Disturb means knock loudly on my door and call my phone, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497 "2011-07-27T15:50:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/21 "2011-07-28T02:03:45Z")
I work at a hotel and I am very surprised to see these other hotels not respecting the DND’s. At our property only Security can open a room with a DND on it and only for a Damn good reason (like someone in the room reported an emergency). Otherwise the housekeepers just figure that if the guest doesn’t want the room cleaned then that’s just one less they have to do for the day. I guess it just depends on the individual hotel’s policies. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/22 "2011-07-28T03:06:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Had the same problem with a hotel I was staying at (coincidentally in Rochester, NY). I was staying at the hotel while looking for a local apartment. And I was working a night shift job. I explained to the hotel staff that I was working nights and would be sleeping during the day. But the same thing - they phoned me each day to ask me if I wanted the room cleaned. And when I complained they said the same thing - that they had to check on me once a day. > [@Raguleader](#): > > Ask them to tell you which law says they need to do that. Not “the Law” or “State Law” or “Federal Law”, but ask them to cite the specific law that says they need to do that. I think at this point that I’d demand to see the damn law, AND I’d want to know if the law specified what time they had to check on their guests. Because I wouldn’t mind a call at 10 AM, say, whereas I WOULD mind one at 6 AM. And I’d want to know if I could check in at the front desk on my own initiative. I know that some people DO die or have accidents in hotels/motels. But this seems counterproductive. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/23 "2011-07-28T03:24:56Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I think at this point that I’d demand to see the damn law, AND I’d want to know if the law specified what time they had to check on their guests. Because I wouldn’t mind a call at 10 AM, say, whereas I WOULD mind one at 6 AM. And I’d want to know if I could check in at the front desk on my own initiative. And then they would probably ask me what law says they have to honor a “do not disturb” sign. My guess is they have a stronger legal right to come into a room at their hotel then I do to keep them out. And if we disagree enough on the issue, I’ll be told I’m free to go look for a hotel with a different policy. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/24 "2011-07-28T03:47:52Z")
Take a tip from Harry Potter . . . [12-second YouTube clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0FKGaEF5eI) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/25 "2011-07-28T04:05:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And then they would probably ask me what law says they have to honor a “do not disturb” sign. My guess is they have a stronger legal right to come into a room at their hotel then I do to keep them out. And if we disagree enough on the issue, I’ll be told I’m free to go look for a hotel with a different policy. Oh, I’m sure that they do have a stronger right to enter the room. And they definitely have the right to evict me, if I’m enough of a bitch about it. But I do think that this “law” might be nothing more than a particular franchise’s way of trying to get by with the minimum housekeeping staff, by having them do all the rooms at one time, no matter what the guests want. I know that we won’t be staying at a particular hotel again, because of the lack of housekeeping services, but that’s not the only reason. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/26 "2011-07-28T09:42:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And then they would probably ask me what law says they have to honor a “do not disturb” sign. My guess is they have a stronger legal right to come into a room at their hotel then I do to keep them out. And if we disagree enough on the issue, I’ll be told I’m free to go look for a hotel with a different policy. If they can’t cite the law that they claim says they have to ignore the sign, that’s hardly putting them on the moral high ground if I never claimed a law said they had to obey the sign. I’d raise an unholy stink about it with a supervisor in their lobby in front of all of their guests and potential guests, then reserve another hotel myself. Depending on how pissed I was, I might try to call the chain that owns the hotel to file a complaint about the service. Worst case scenario, the chain doesn’t care about the issue, and I’ll save them the trouble of having to deal with the burden of my business again. Best case scenario, they _do_ care about the issue, and decide to light a fire under the franchiser’s ass to stop ruining their image. I mean, geez, it’s not like they’re the only cathouse in town.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/27 "2011-07-28T13:37:32Z")
I have a friend who honeymooned in a fancy hotel and got the surprise of her life when the housekeeper opened the door to clean the room, interrupting the happy couple in mid-mambo. Much shrieking and hiding of naked parts ensued, and they ended up being comped the entire week because of the incident. I’ve never had a problem with the DND sign being ignored, but I don’t stay in hotels very often so I don’t have a large realm of experience to draw on. I’d be pissed if they were checking on me before checkout time, though. I am paying for a comfy bed and I intend to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/28 "2011-07-28T14:59:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s what I’ve come to expect in hotels now. My latest problem, called the front desk for a wakeup call, “This is Mr. TriPolar in room 445, could I get a wake up call at 8:30 in the morning?”. “No problem Mr. Tripolar, I’ll put that right in the computer.” > > The wakeup call came at 4:45 AM. I’ve given up on wakeup calls. Not coincidentally, I’ve discovered a use for my cell phone besides making a phone call every month or two. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/29 "2011-07-28T23:10:49Z")
My mother & I have had this problem with the DND hang tags in Las Vegas. Of course, it WAS after noon when the phone rang. Heck, if we’re up until 3:00am or 4:00am having a blast, I think we have every right to sleep in to all hours of the afternoon! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/30 "2011-07-29T03:07:58Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I had that problem in San Diego - At the Hilton Bayfront of all places! I had that problem in a Hilton, but it was the one in Strasbourg. So, I’m in town with half a bazillion coworkers\*, as part of a month-long meeting. M-F, work for about 12h/day. Sat, some of us had also gone in, but lunch had been a special affair in a downtown restaurant. Interesting I’m sure, but please: if any of y’all ever decides to set up a cheese-based standing buffet, make sure there’s something around that those allergic to cow’s milk and/or lactose intolerant can eat! :mad: Anyway, I’d grabbed a sandwich from another shop after spending 3 hours kibitzing with the coworkers. Saturday night, they took us on the canal bateaus-moches - the earliest we got to the hotel was after midnight. 10am, knock on my door despite the DND. No, thank you, I’m fine and don’t want the room cleaned. Nothing wrong with it (plus, although I wasn’t going to explain this to the maid, it irritates me when they change all the linens daily). 11:30, same, different maid. 12:45, same. This time it’s the two maids plus their male supervisor. After explaining, I put a bra on under my green bunny pajamas and go down to the front desk to ask what part of Do Not Disturb (in 12 languages) do they not understand in their own signs. Along the way I encounter several similarly-attired coworkers. I realize that having the whole hotel peppered with DND signs is a disturbing sight but… seriously, just take the day off or go into one of your own meeting rooms and set up a scrabble championship! - which in this case means between 150-200. The other half a bazillion only came in for the last two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/31 "2011-07-29T15:43:32Z")
I have a lot of experience with DND signs. You see, I HATE having housekeeping come during my stay (I have a privacy thing). I never stay anywhere more than a week and the room does not need to be cleaned in that time (there are always an abundance of towels to use, as well). Anyway, I found out the real reason that housekeeping will drive you nuts is that they often get paid by the room. In other words, if they don’t clean your room that day, they don’t get paid as much. Eventually, much to my dismay, I just talk to housekeeping on the first day, explain what I don’t want (don’t touch my stuff, don’t remake the bed since I like it that way) but that they can change the towels, swipe the toilet and run a vacuum around (and to come after 11, please). It has worked out quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497/32 "2011-07-29T16:42:05Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I think they should leave any room alone with a “do not disturb” sign. If there’s a dead person there, won’t they know when he doesn’t pay his bill? You mean when he becomes… a deadbeat? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-disturb-means-knock-loudly-on-my-door-and-call-my-phone-right/590497.md?page=1)