conflict of values

[cellio]

I recently traveled for business, and the hotel where I stayed -- as is becoming the norm in my limited experience -- asked clients to consider not having linen service every day to avoid waste. I don't replace my towels and sheets at home every day and I really don't need somebody else to make the bed (in the room I have to myself), so I've been on board with that for a while.

One morning as I was leaving my room, with the "do not disturb" sign on the door, I ran into one of the housekeepers. The conversation went something like this:

Her: You don't want me to clean your room?
Me: No it's ok; I've only used these towels once.
Her: Are you sure? It wouldn't be any trouble!

If I'd been caffeinated I might have picked up on the subtext, but it wasn't until later that I found myself wondering: is this policy costing people jobs? I'm guessing that very few people become hotel housekeepers if they have other options; is my desire to go gently on the planet at odds with my desire not to make it harder on people in low-end jobs who want to work?

This is far from the first time I've faced the "but the candle-makers will go out of business if we adopt lightbulbs!" idea, but this may be the first time that the "other side" of the issue isn't either convenience or economics but, rather, a liberal value. I mean, I pump my own gas even though there used to be people who do that, and I'm fine with that. I'd use the grocery self-checkout if it worked better, but I find the human cashiers to be faster and more accurate. I do stuff online that used to require dealing with a (paid) human being. Somehow this feels different. I'm not sure if I should care, but I did take notice of it.

I left a decent tip on check-out day.

Comments

[cjsherwood.livejournal.com]

Cleaning the room and changing the linens are separate... what I've seen are signs that say "Please hang up the towels you wish to re-use; leave those you want replaced on the floor." as well as asking the guest to leave a placard on the bed if one doesn't want one's sheets changed (which some hotels restrict the use of depending on length of stay, etc.).

But having the bed made, the trash emptied, the amenities re-stocked, etc. are still things I want done even if I'm ostensibly supporting the environment (and I will admit I'm actually a towel hog in hotels, although that's dropped some now that I usually bring my own bath sheet because it's big enough for me).

I do suspect there's an economic impact on people not wishing their rooms cleaned, etc... and, because there is no guarantee that the same person will be cleaning my room each day, I leave a note with tip daily during my stay; the houseman inappropriately took the tip I'd left for the housekeeper on the last day of my stay, as it turns out, but there were many other issues with him as well).

Just my experiences... YMMV of course and thanks for getting me to ponder all this!

[cellio]

Cleaning the room and changing the linens are separate.

That's a very good point. I was treating them the same but they aren't.

I've seen those signs in some hotels. Oddly, this one did not have any evidence of that convention; they asked guests to "go green" and not change towels and bedding every day, but the only obvious way to do that was to not service the room. (I suppose one could leave a note.)

I do leave a tip on any day I have the room serviced, not just the last day. That way the person who does the work gets the tip. (I hope it's that rather than they get pooled, anyway.)

[cjsherwood.livejournal.com]

I suspect your room was simply lacking the card or whatever that one is supposed to use to indicate that you didn't wish the bedsheets changed... the convention of "hang up towels you don't want changed and leave towels on floor that you do want changed" seems to have become standarad convention.

The card's absence, of course, isn't as noticeable as -- say -- a Do Not Bisturb sign but there was likely supposed to be one and you didn't have it. I always ask the front desk for a DnD sign when it's not in evidence. Likely same thing would work for the "I want to be green" option? if, in fact, you do.

;-)