A thread in GQ (which it would have been handy for me to link to, but here’s where I let you down) reminded me of a question I’d been meaning to poll y’all about.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I’m less and less inclined to get maid service on a daily basis during hotel stays. Either it’s just my wife and me, or – for business trips – it’s just me. I’m pretty anal about cleaning up after myself in hotels (no idea why I can’t be that way at home), and so I just don’t see the need any longer to have someone come pick up after me in a hotel room regularly. My last trip involved four nights in three hotels, and I never had maid service. The trip before that was a seven-night stay in the same hotel, and I had maid service twice (the first time being an accident, just because it hadn’t occurred to me that morning that I needed to be proactive about refusing it).
So, this poll (coming shortly) is just about how often you get maid service. Please elaborate in the thread about your reasons for whatever frequency you choose. Thanks!
Oh, and for purposes of this poll, I’m not counting maid service done BEFORE you checked into the room, just to be clear.
I don’t know what you mean by maid service, when I stay at motels/hotels, the cleaning people come a do the bed and take out the trash every day. If it were up to me, there are only a few times that I have enjoyed this service and would have requested it if it were easy to do so, so I answered “rarely” even though I have never gone out of my way to request it, as it happens automatically every day even though I rarely actually need it.
Sorry if that wasn’t clear. The cleaning folks come every day unless you tell them not to and/or you leave your “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door all day. I have taken to leaving the DND sign up all day on the days I don’t want this service. So I suppose the question could be rephased to ask how often you allow maid/cleaning service to happen.
I prefer timeshares or privately rented homes, if available, because I like the extra room and don’t want or need daily housekeeping. When we do stay in hotels, more often than not I"ll leave the “Do Not Disturb” sign up. A once-a-day visit is intrusive enough; I feel positively smothered by turn down service.
Without fail, I’ll leave a $5 per day tip at the end of the stay. I do feel a bit badly that only the last housekeeper gets the dough, but I can’t do anything about the system. If I could pin $5 to the door with the expectation that it will go to the maids who I turn away with my “Do Not Disturb” sign, I’d do it.
Generally, I get maid service just about every day. If there’s an option to not change the sheets every day, I’ll take that, and just get the sheets changed once a week, same as at home. But I do like to have someone else making up my bed and carting away my used towels. I don’t make much of a mess, but I do like the trash emptied and the dirty linens carted off, rather than piling up in the room and bathroom.
Other: On business trips, I skip the maid service (ETA: by leaving the Do Not Disturb sign out). I started doing this when I was working a night shift on travel, and realized I don’t get maid service/clean sheets/clean towels every day at home, why do I need it in a hotel?
On vacation, though, we get maid service every day. Five people make more of a mess, I guess.
If it were just me and my wife, I think I’d skip the maid service most days, if she’d go for it. We’ll see, someday.
I stay in hotels if I am overnighting it on a business trip, and I have valuables in my room like a laptop or whatnot, so I don’t worry about room cleaning service and I leave the DND sign hanging on my door the whole time I am staying there.
I am not too good to make my own bed or reuse a towel. I also bag my own garbage and leave it in the hall for them to pick up. There is almost always an extra garbage bag in the bottom of the can.
I feel guilty using the Do Not Disturb sign. The Maids are there and they need to do their job. I wouldn’t want them returning several times just to see if the sign is gone.
I have used the Do Not Disturb sign when I don’t feel well. I may spend the day in the room and really don’t want to be disturbed.
It has never occurred to me not to have the staff clean the room. It’s not costing me any extra to get the service, and it isn’t a lot of work anyway, since I always leave the room tidy.
Often, when I’m at a hotel (rarely). But I couldn’t care less about cleaning the room, and think new sheets is wasteful (some only do that on request). I really just use them as free towel machines.
Last month I spent 5 nights in a hotel on business. I put up the DND sign for a couple of nights. Seemed like a waste of time when it was only me in the room.
I don’t really need fresh sheets and towels every day.
I love getting maid service every day. It’s one of the things I pay for at a hotel. At home I’m a bit of a slob – I don’t make the bed every day, and I certainly don’t have clean towels every day. But at a hotel I can get all that for no extra charge. For me, it feels great when I open the hotel room door after a long day of business or sightseeing and the room is perfectly clean and the beds are made. It’s really relaxing.
Every day when in the US. $2 most days, which comes to $1 each for me and the wife; $5 on check-out day. I don’t do it in countries where tipping is not the norm.