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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.