# How do you leave your hotel room? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607 "2012-11-20T11:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/41 "2012-11-24T16:15:55Z")
My guess is the hotels keep names of those that leave a room trashed. They might even share with a messy hotel room registry. I leave all plastic bottles on top of a table. All other trash goes in the can and then I tie up the bag. The bed doesn’t get made. I leave used towels on the floor except for the one I just used, I leave that hanging on the shower bar. I unplug the clock when I first arrive but don’t plug it back in. While staying in a room I use the DND sign, when I want my bed made I find housekeeping and ask to have my bed changed. I stay in the room and chat a bit. Then I hand the person a tip. When I need towels I find housekeeping on the floor and carry my used towels in exchange for new towels, and hand the person a tip. If it has a kitchen, I always make sure the dishes are washed, dried and put away. When I leave the room I leave another tip. Mostly for leaving me alone. When is was in Nairobi the DND sign meant nothing. There were constant knocks on my door. I would ask why they had to bother me. I still get emails from one young gal that did that. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/42 "2012-11-24T16:20:05Z")
Why would you unplug the clock? You’re just making more work for whoever has to reset it. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/43 "2012-11-24T16:32:14Z")
> [@\_Olive](#): > > My guess is the hotels keep names of those that leave a room trashed. They might even share with a messy hotel room registry. There is a black list, but only for people who really trash the room badly, don’t pay the bill or steal stuff. A bath-shitter wouldn’t make the list. One time we had a family stay one night but with lots of bags. They checked out early and hurriedly. Housekeeping called me up to see the room: they had taken everything. Not just towels and robes, but the phone, the telly, sheets, bed spread, art works (it’s hotel art work, from a catalogue!) Couldn’t trace them, of course. So weird… ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/44 "2012-11-24T19:32:16Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Why would you unplug the clock? You’re just making more work for whoever has to reset it. I unplug the clock because I a have had them go off on me in the middle of the night. AND I don’t use clocks or watches in my own home. I don’t like seeing the time. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/45 "2012-11-24T20:30:14Z")
At one point, my mum was a hotel maid and I was also friends with a motel night clerk, so what I do is based on what I heard from them. If I’m staying a few nights, when I leave for the day, I leave an envelope on the bed with2-3 dollars in it and a short list on the front (such things as don’t bother with bed, extra towel please, no soap/shampoo/whatever needed, extra coffee please.) When I leave for good, all trash in trash can, all dirty towels and bed linens in a pile by the door, all heaters, air conditioners, and alarms turned off, and a tip in an envelope on the dresser. Peace - DESK ---
**Author:** ![zhoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c4cdca/32.png) [@zhoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zhoen)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/46 "2012-11-25T00:19:26Z")
I concur with the general containing of trash, and leaving the bed loosely stripped so I don’t miss socks, and remembering to be kind to underpaid staff. It’s good karma. ---
**Author:** ![akeimi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@akeimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akeimi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/47 "2012-11-26T10:02:20Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > One time we had a family stay one night but with lots of bags. They checked out early and hurriedly. Housekeeping called me up to see the room: they had taken everything. Not just towels and robes, but the phone, the telly, sheets, bed spread, art works (it’s hotel art work, from a catalogue!) Couldn’t trace them, of course. So weird… I stayed in a cheap motel once where everything was bolted down, and I’d _always_ wondered about that. It never occurred to me that someone might actually need and want generic motel furniture, or a $10 coffeemaker, enough to steal it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/48 "2012-11-26T10:57:54Z")
If there’s a dead hooker involved I clean up any “mess” but otherwise I just leave the used stuff and rubbish in neat discrete piles. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/49 "2012-11-26T11:18:33Z")
Dead hookers go under the bed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/50 "2012-11-26T11:22:06Z")
My last use of the shower I keep the exhaust fan intentionally off, allowing the mirror to steam up. I then write, “I’M WATCHING YOU JOHN” with my finger on the mirror. If they do not clean the mirror, and if the next guest is named John, I’ll bet he freaks. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/51 "2012-11-26T16:42:07Z")
Trash in the trash can, including partially used soaps, shampoos, etc., used towels in a pile on the counter, bathroom floor, or toilet. Why make life any more unpleasant than necessary for someone who cleans for a living? And leave a tip… It’s surprising how many people don’t realize that tipping housekeeping staff is appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/52 "2012-11-26T18:39:34Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Lucky me - I got to travel for work right before Thanksgiving! woohoo :rolleyes: > > I’ve got a little time to kill before I meet with the folks I’m in town to see, and I’m just about packed up. And being bored, I got to thinking about my routines as I get ready to check out. > > I don’t make the bed - that’s just silly. Last night I managed to knock a couple of the pillows on the floor, so I tossed them back on the bed. I see no need to neaten up the bed - it’s just going to be stripped anyway. If I was staying multiple nights, I might smooth it out, or not. > > I only used one of the 3 bath towels, and I left it hanging over the edge of the tub - no sense in my wet towel possibly dampening the clean towels on the rack. Sometimes I’ll leave used towels and washcloths on the floor. I bring my own soaps/shampoos/etc, so I don’t mess with the little bottles they leave for me, altho I’ve been known to grab a little bottle of lotion - very convenient to carry in my purse. > > I toss all my trash into the garbage can - no need for housekeeping to gather my empty cups or other food-related refuse. I try to remember to leave the remote where it was when I checked in, and on the rare occasions I use the alarm, I try to disable it, altho I’d like to think that’s on the list of things that housekeeping checks. > > Not that I think the people who clean the rooms will be judging me, nor do I care if they do, I just can’t leave a room looking like there was a wild party overnight. Plus it’s easier to make sure I have all my stuff if the room isn’t a disaster. > > Do you even think about things like this when you rent a room? Much the same as you - we try not to leave trash around, try not to leave towels etc. on the floor but over the tub instead, occasionally grab a bottle of the toiletries if it’s something I can use. And usually leave a couple of dollars for a tip for the maid (more if we’ve been there more than a day). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/53 "2012-11-26T18:40:56Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > Some people shit in the bath. I don’t know why, but it happens. We had towels wiped with shit on many occasions. People who stains linnens in all manners conceivable. Vomit hidden in sheets or under a towel. Odd places to stick used tampons. Housekeeping used to get most worked up about Saudis. They just drop everything on the floor. Things like half-eaten food, and then they walk it into the carpet. Several times they made me come and see the room, we had to have external cleaning companies in. For some unfathomable reason the women seemed to bleed everywhere. > > You’re welcome. 😉 These dudes also mentioned beds with skidmarks and feces in beds and, once, in an armchair. “It wasn’t someone who was sick, either, whomever did that did it on purpose”. And no, it was not the Roach Motel on I-666. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/54 "2012-11-26T18:42:35Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Dead hookers go under the bed. Yeesh. No, dummy, you hollow out the box springs and put them between the springs and the mattress. :rolleyes: Too many hotels now have boxy bedframes where you can’t stash _anything_. ;). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607/55 "2012-11-26T18:54:26Z")
> [@akeimi](#): > > I stayed in a cheap motel once where everything was bolted down, and I’d _always_ wondered about that. It never occurred to me that someone might actually need and want generic motel furniture, or a $10 coffeemaker, enough to steal it. I don’t recall that stuff was bolted down, but a couple of years back we stayed in a really run-down America’s Worst Value motel. They were kind enough to post a price list inside the door of what they’d bill us for towels if we decided we like them enough to steal them. No thanks, I can get sandpaper squares for much less at Home Depot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-leave-your-hotel-room/641607.md?page=2)