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?

I don't mind the late check in - it's in a country area and we will be travelling down and heading out for a walk along the way so we wouldn't arrive before then anyway.
But bear in mind, this is a hotel we first stayed at about 20 years ago, when the lady owner wouldn't allow chips to be served with the bar meals (there's a separate bar/food area as well as the main dining room) as she thought it would attract the wrong clientele. If you wanted chips you had to go to the other place the far side of the village. 😂 (Which as it happens does a decent fish and chips where you might see a kingfisher when sitting outside by the river.)
We had a lovely airBnB in the area we used for a few years, barn conversion on a farm, big basket of home grown veg and fruit on arrival plus staples like milk and bread etc. Lovely family. Anyway they have sold up and moved away and the new people aren't doing it any more and I couldn't be bothered to find a new airBnB plus now we are empty nesters I realised a few nights in the hotel was actually slightly cheaper than the AirBnb. So I fancied a little luxury, not asking much, room tidied, bed made, sink wiped around, clean dry bath mat. But it's not giving luxury vibes!
As some pp have said, we can make beds and clean bathrooms every day at home. Not to mention washing up our tea cups etc in the sink every day. It's a three night stay. Bed and breakfast deal so we'll see what the breakfasts are like. Not much choice of eateries around, so it might be fish and chips at the other place three nights on the trot.

That’s not a hotel!!

I work in a holiday resort and we do daily housekeeping, make beds, clean bathroom, wash cups, empty bins, refill teas and coffees etc and change dirty towels, I think this should be standard as the guests where I work appreciate coming back to clean rooms, beds made and top ups of what's been used, this is a service that I feel makes a positive impact on your stay and any place not doing this clearly doesn't value guests and making their stay a wonderful experience.

Why would you leave wet towels on the bed surely you hang them up like you do at home?

Thank you!!

No. I don’t. There are all sorts of things I do at home that I don’t do in a hotel. It’s part of what I go to hotels for. They are an indulgence.

Are you really so narrow minded and inexperienced you can’t conceive that some people don’t do what you do?

Just tidy up after yourselves. When we go away we ask that they don't come in and tidy up after us

No I just can’t imagine ever leaving wet towels anywhere lying around, it’s instinct to hang them up as much as it is to clean my teeth or use a doormat or wipe something up I spill

Yes, it’s the way many hotels are going now. It’s obviously for cost reasons, but all the ones I’ve been to badge it up as ‘environmental concerns’. Even full 5 star places are desperate not to do it, and I’ve found most prefer to bribe you with a free drink/cocktail for every day you agree to ‘assist them save the environment’.

The last self-catering apartment I had a long stay at, didn’t do room service for 5 days, so only twice in 2 weeks, seems that’s now standard.

I wouldn't be thrilled, I think it's nice for the room to be cleaned every couple of days. I like the bins emptied and the floors swept as I find they tend to get a bit grotty when you're just in a small space. I don't think this can be classed as a hotel?

Well if people want service I would expect the room to be more expensive as they are running a business it is not a charity, same with airlines people whinge when there is add on's to those really cheap flights yes if the flights were more expensive overall people would still whinge, then also complain wages should be higher

You seem to be confused. If you can’t imagine it then you are that narrow minded.

Not massively uncommon for smaller, independent places these days. Some of the bigger chain places only do daily cleans on request now.

Unless you're living like pigs, what's the issue?

I'm sure they'll send someone up to make your bed for an extra few quid if it's going to affect your stay that much 🤷🏻‍♂️

I travel a lot for work, close to 100 days in hotels per year all.ober the world- these are nice luxury hotels. It's extremely unusual for a room to be serviced daily anymore. Generally speaking if you were there for more than three nights they will service the room otherwise you would need to let reception know if you needed fresh towels, replenishment of toiletries etc.

I won’t stop in a hotel that doesn’t do daily room cleaning. Sheets changed every other day.

The best hotels do it 2x per day.

One needn’t live like a pig to expect daily room cleaning in a hotel. It’s not a self catering apartment.

Many of us enjoy coming back to fresh linens and a tidied room each day as part of what we’re paying for.

It’s the lowest common denominator piggies who don’t get it.

Not my experience at all - I cannot think of the last hotel that I stayed at that didn't have daily housekeeping. In the last couple of months that included hotels in Canada, US, Cambodia, Singapore, Tokyo, Australia, and Qatar. Now, many didn't do a second tidy/turndown (or only did for those with higher status - which I noticed in two hotels where I was traveling with people with lower/no status and they had no turndown service but I did).

I just thought of something I found a bit...odd at one of those hotels. I generally straighten up my bed (unless I've left the room shortly after getting up in which I case I tend to leave the bed open to air out). Usually, this is redone and the bed fully properly made but in one hotel, I realised that, if I tidied the bed, housekeeping left it as I had done it. I didn't care, but I did notice.

This is my experience too, every hotel I've stayed at does a daily clean. Some do ask that you hang your towels if you want to reuse them, and some say that they won't change new sheets daily unless you request it (but they're still done every three days or similar). Agree many don't do turn down service.

I don't see it as a problem, it's not as if you won't be allowed in your room at any time, it just won't be cleaned each day and who needs that anyway. A bed is hardly a big deal with a duvet.

You'll be fine.

I’ve never understood why people make a fuss about turn down service, to me it’s a waste of time. As for normal servicing the room I wouldn’t except sheets changed every day because I don’t do that at home and I wash my own cups because they just get washed in the bathroom sink anyway and I’d rather do it myself so I know what I’m using to dry them with. I wouldn’t expect someone to hang up my towels either, to me it’s natural not to leave them on the bathroom floor (or bed) wet. Tea, coffee etc should be replenished and bins emptied. I think in this case it’s about how it was worded at the time of booking, if the information was there when you booked then you should have expected it but if they didn’t tell you this until afterwards then that’s poor communication and misleading from them.

Clean towels every few days is nice on a longer stay, but I always find it ridiculous when you go somewhere for a long weekend, we've used the towels for one shower, go out for the day and there are fresh ones.

My gripe is hotel who don't provide large towels (bath sheets not bath towels), and don't automativally put three in a room if there are three of you sharing. I want a bath and a hand towel each, but as long as we have that, am happy to have the same towels for a few days.

I’ve been travelling for the last 5 months and it’s incredibly common now across all of Asia and Europe. 90% have been no servicing or only on request after 2 days minimum.

Annoying but keeps costs down.

Dumping wet towels on the bed is grim. I'd be worried it would make the bed damp.

This would really put me off staying somewhere. I'll happily reuse a towel if I can get it dry but not otherwise. Last couple of times I've stayed in a Yotel and they have things that look like towel warmers but they don't heat up and the towel doesn't really dry out. I want clean glasses - aren't these swapped out rather than washed in the sink? If I need privacy I can use the do not disturb sign but I want the choice to have things cleaned or swapped.

Perfect for me prefer bed to be turned back and aired rather than made
I’m not a slob do there wouldn’t be anything to tidy
no need to worry about been woken up
love no staff about like the anonymity of empty hotel