Hotel room won’t be serviced…

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I’ve booked a short stay away next week for DH’s birthday. Beautiful country area that we have visited many times before and we have stayed at this hotel before but it changed hands a little while ago.
I’ve just received a confirmation of booking email:

ROOM KEYS and SERVICING

A member of staff will be here to check you in from 3.30pm to 11pm. Your key will be placed in your room on arrival and you should keep it with you until your departure, the key will get you through the front door and into your room whilst the hotel is closed.
*please note the hotel will be closed during the day after breakfast and re-open at 3.30pm. We close at 11pm each night. Take your key with you during your stay as it will give you access to the front door and your room.

The rooms will NOT be serviced during your stay unless you are staying for 5 nights or more, in which case we will offer to service the room halfway through your stay. If you require a top up or replacement of any items, ie towels, tea, coffee, etc inform a member of staff at breakfast and they will be left outside your room.

It sounds like they are on the bones of economising on staff costs. The room won’t be serviced - so not even making the bed and tidying the bathroom then. And no one around all day - it’s reminiscent of those old fashioned B&Bs where you were kicked out after breakfast and not allowed back until the evening.

It’s not that we leave things in a terrible mess but one of the joys of a hotel stay is coming back to a nice tidy room and bathroom.

I’m not sharing the email with DH - he’ll go off the idea of staying there and be on the look out for things to moan about from the minute we arrive and I don’t want to cancel and try to find something else. It’s a lovely location and we have plans for the walks we will be doing each day.

Is this the way the hospitality industry is going now?

Tbh we have had the cleaning thing in a few hotels now. Since COVID it doesn't seem that daily housekeeping is standard anymore, which is a shame in some ways but easier in others.

I do agree it takes a way a bit from the 'luxury treat' feeling of a hotel stay.

Personally I’d cancel. If I wanted to have this lack of service I’d have booked air b&b which we do a lot of. If we want hotel stay then I expect that service.

This isn’t to my taste. Even a Premier Inn is prepared to service the rooms on request. For a stay of even a few nights I don’t tend to bother but am glad it is available.

they do seem to be setting out their stall to their own convenience rather than the guests’. I’d be concerned about this same attitude in other area spoiling the vibe of the holiday and might reconsider.

Yes. And I can cook my own meals and cut my own hair and paint my own nails if I really want to.

go to a restaurant? What’s wrong with you? Can’t you cook your own food goddammit?
😑

I think it’s part of the service being paid for. I get that hospitality costs money to run, and that we have a choice to pay more, expect less, or go away less. Sadly I’ve chosen to go away less. Same with restaurants, which are now on the whole insanely expensive and less hospitable than before. So I eat out very rarely and stay in hotels even less often.

Bit aggressive.

I would probably cancel on this basis.

We’ve just been away. It was an eye wateringly expensive hotel. The room was serviced daily, the towels replaced and they turned down every evening. It might not be environmentally friendly, but we go away for a bit of luxury.

It's probably cheaper than other same standard hotels in the locality? Normally you get what you pay for.

Unless it was a great bargain and I was going to be out sightseeing all day everyday, I would cancel.

Ergh. I was in a shitty travel lodge last week for work and that said only 6 days or more and I thought that was gross. For a trip away I’d want daily cleaning, new towels and turn down. 5 days is absolutely rubbish!

If I recall correctly, the step back from servicing hotel rooms came about as a result of Covid to reduce the risk of infection.

I view it as the only good thing to come out of that awful time.

Most hotels will service a room on request, but we prefer our privacy and are quite happy to collect tea, coffee, or whatever from reception.

I wouldn't accept that at all, especially if it is a hotel. I expect the room to be cleaned, bins emptied, tea/coffee/milk sachets refilled, cups washed etc. Was this policy not clearly written on the booking website or did any user reviews mention it? If not, then I would email the hotel and ask for a reduction in price or perhaps refund so you can book elsewhere.

No more than you were snarky

I generally put a do not disturb sign on my door for the duration of a hotel stay, as I keep the place tidy and am happy to reuse towels. However, it is my choice to opt out of that service. When paying for a decent hotel, I would expect a decent level of service to be available. I would be quite annoyed if a hotel didn't tell me at time of booking, and then it transpired that there was no room servicing and no service at all for significant parts of the day!

This is most definitely something I would like to know before booking. I clean my bathrooms at home each day and expect the same from a hotel.
Are you expected to arrive with flash, bleach and marigolds now?

I would be cancelling.

The OP isn't asking for the bed/towels to be changed everyday. Just the bed made and a hoover/wipe of surfaces and loo.

I'm off to a seaside hotel later this month and really appreciate my bed (and the kids bunks) being made... I'm on holiday after all.

Also appreciate a whip round with a hoover because no matter how careful you are you are bringing sand in!

As staff, employees, much easier to do daily and then flag rooms that will need deep clean.

as a guest, again, in a nice hotel would prefer that personal approach.

still time to look elsewhere op

This really annoys me unless it is very cheap. People saying it sounds great don’t seem to realise that you can always opt out of having your room serviced in any hotel by hanging the ‘do not disturb sign on your door’ or informing reception.

The only two hotels I have stayed in that have had this policy were really dirty. One had brown smears on the bathroom wall when we arrived and another had crushed crisps all over the chair and desk in the room. They had clearly cut back on cleaning staff in a big way.

This probably won't change as the rooms will still need servicing in-between guests and people generally don't want to check out early

I find it invasive to be honest. When I'm on holiday they tend to come into rooms to clean. I always check afterwards if anything is missing. I much prefer no one to come in.

Travel Lodge are cheap. Bit like no frills budget airlines. This is to be expected. They make hotels accessible for some who otherwise would not be able to afford it. Daily housekeeping would increase the prices significantly and not everyone wants it

People are paying to be looked after, and to me that would include a good standard of room cleaning, vacuuming, bed made and bathroom cleaned daily. If I wanted to do all that myself I would book self catering.

Unless it was really cheap I'd be pissed off.

They do seem to be doing less and less these days. I stayed in a mid range hotel recently and the room was serviced daily (bed made, bathroom tidied, towels replaced, bins emptied) but they didn't replace tea bags, milk etc which I thought was a bit stingy.

Maybe these hotels should start giving people the choice, pay a bit extra for daily servicing.

I would cancel that

That’s what I was getting at. It’s shitty service EVEN for cheap nasty travel lodges. I would expect more elsewhere!