That hotels are using covid as a reason to not service rooms to save their costs?

[MrsArchchancellorRidcully]

I'm currently in a premier inn by Euston. It may only apply to PIs but they are not servicing rooms at all during my stay. They blame this on the threat of covid 🙄

I find this must be a cost cutting exercise. I'm not a fan of changing towels/sheets daily but new cups, more loo roll etc would be appreciated. If I've paid money I don't see why I should go down several
Floors to reception tbh. Aibu?

@BranchyBranch

I don't think people want tips on how to get towels etc or a discussion about what constitutes a fresh cup really. The issue is that hotels are charging the same or more money for less service than previously. Whether or not it "bothers" you personally is also not something most of us are interested in.

Have you thought this through? Same price as before ... despite all their costs going up. So they have accounted for fewer services if they haven't increased the prices. That will be next because those services will need to be paid for when reinstated.

@merrygoround88

It’s likely more to do with the fact that they can’t get cleaning staff or enough linen.

Unless you work in hospitality it’s hard to fathom the immense pressure they are under right now

It’s so refreshing to see this acknowledged. I work in hospitality. Returning to ‘normal’ with fewer than half the staff of pre-COVID days has proven incredibly tough, particularly over the summer months with rescheduled weddings on top of weddings originally booked for summer 2021. All being run on skeleton staff, meaning no staff were able to take holiday. I’ve never had to dig so deep work-wise but appreciate it’s the same in other industries, too.

The lack of room service will be due to staff shortages, OP.

But some hotels are still providing daily servicing.
I think if hotels call it out prior to the stay then it's fine. Ditto if they've given some thought to how guests can effectively self service without constantly having to call reception.

Prior to my 3 night stay I wouldn't have seen lack of servicing as an issue . I certainly don't expect sheets to be changed for anything less than a week, but full bins and dirty cups are a bit unpleasant and I'd expect the hotel to think of a means to sort that out, rather than the onus being on the guest.

The reality is that people will move to self catering accommodation if they're not getting the benefits of staying in a - generally more expensive- hotel.

@HotelCaliforniaOnRepeat how have costs gone up? They've had the government paying their staff for a year or so.

Yeah premier Inn are doing this. They're saving on staff (which they probably don't have)and cleaning products. It's totally disgusting since we weren't given access to anything to clean the room ourselves during a 5 night stay. There wasn't even a toilet brush. Disgusting! After 2 days we really needed a hoover.

The worst bit is there were Mini cheddars left on the floor under the bed from the previous occupiers. Disgusting. People just left their bins and rubbish in the corridor to be collected, it was left like that for hours so looked really skanky. If they don't even have enough staff to collect the rubbish from the corridor at least come up with a system where people can dispose of it in a bin store

The last place we stayed they did service the room but you had to make sure all surfaces were clear and cases in wardrobe.

All the hotels that I have stayed in had full housekeeping service bar one. The one that didn't was one that I was only staying in two nights but I think they did offer to service the room every third day. To be fair they had a tablet in the room where you could request anything you needed.

Thankfully the hotels we’ve stayed in recently were operating entirely normally. I love having my bed made, tea and coffee replenished etc. I do think that hotels that aren’t doing it need to put it on their website, I would probably avoid them unless there was no alternative.
I don’t mind hotels that ask if you want the room serviced, we stayed in one in Malta a few years ago that refunded you £3 per night if you chose not to have the room serviced.

Yeah I'm not bothered about servicing for a 2 night stay or less.

Now that I think about it there was a hotel in Tenerife where you got a glass of fizz each day you chose no servicing.

[quote BranchyBranch]@HotelCaliforniaOnRepeat how have costs gone up? They've had the government paying their staff for a year or so.[/quote]
They haven't covered the costs. You have no idea.
Furlough wasn't free. Businesses still paid pension contributions, holiday pay & more. A business with 50 staff will have paid thousands each month while taking no money.
Their overheads were in the vast majority if cases higher than grants. Costs don't stop because doors are closed. They have bounce back loans to pay that they were forced to take to pay these costs while closed.
On top of this the costs of everything have gone up. Ingredients cost considerably more (you must have noticed this in supermarkets too), suppliers have had to increase their costs as they've had the same issues. They need ppe for staff in some instances. They've had to buy disposable items in some cases for hygiene reasons, they've put up screens and invested in making the premises covid safe. There is so much that you don't see, and all responsible publicans / hoteliers / restaurateurs have had to fight for survival, in the face of losing livelihoods and in turn probably their homes. They feel responsible for their staff's livelihoods too and have had to shoulder the costs of keeping all this going.

I have worked in two different hotels in the last two years. People have no idea how less staff there are now. I wish we had enough housekeepers to service the rooms daily. It is very very hard.

I would much rather be staying in an unserviced room than have the constant complaints. It is soul destroying.

[quote BranchyBranch]@HotelCaliforniaOnRepeat how have costs gone up? They've had the government paying their staff for a year or so.[/quote]
Furlough certainly didnt pay the staff.
It paid a proportion the staffing costs but not all any means.

[quote BranchyBranch]@HotelCaliforniaOnRepeat how have costs gone up? They've had the government paying their staff for a year or so.[/quote]
Some people really don't have a clue

Salou10 👌 100% this.

Lots of people complaining that they're still paying the same rates as beforehand - well, yes, because running costs have gone up massively in the last eighteen months.

What they "save" by not cleaning rooms daily won't be anywhere near the amount they've had to spend extra.