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Save the Planet? Wow, ambitious
OK, so that’s a bit of a stretch, and I’m not much of an eco-warrior but I do like to make sensible decisions that reduce waste, and always jump at the opportunity to earn some extra Hilton Honors points.
For years we’ve seen the signs in hotel bathrooms about how much detergent ends up in the seas and only if we want our towels replaced, should we throw them in the bath. In my experience, most places replace them even if you hang them up again. At a recent stay at Doubletree London Westminster, I was pleased to see this left on the bed.
Is that hygienic?
Unless you have a party worthy of featuring in a Hangover movie, then most civilised people can probably cope with a day or two without housekeeping tending to their hotel room. Most rooms have at least two clean towels provided, so if you’re precious use one each day, and the toiletries provided are ample for several days I find.
Is it worth it?
I think so. OK, so 500 points isn’t going to get you very far, but it all helps for almost no effort. We’d place a notional value on those of £2, based on our reference value of 0.4p / point.
Does anywhere else offer this?
I’ve seen variations of this incentive at a few places, but it’s by no means standard, even within a brand or region (stayed at another DoubleTree in London last week that did not offer this).
I’ve seen the following offered for declining housekeeping for a day;
- 1000 SPG points at a Westin resort property in Athens
- €5 Bar/restaurant credit at a Hotel Indigo in Berlin
If you have seen a similar offer in other hotels, let us know in the comments. I think this is a great initiative by hotels, and would like to see more offering it (and not just to boost my points balance).
Starwood has had Make a Green Choice for years…
However, I noticed the same sign at two different Hampton hotels in Amsterdam.
I guess 500 points is the going rate, even though 500 Starpoints is worth 4 times as much as 500 Honors points!
More like 8 to 10 times I’d say!
Yes, great idea. Sheraton in Abu Dhabi and Dubai both do this.
Marroitt Courtyard Cape Coral Florida offer 250 points for declining housekeeping we were only staying one night however
Stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton London West End last night and they also had the 500 points offer for declining housekeeping. There are quite a few limits to the offer – you have to stay at least two nights, automatic room serving will be undertaken on every third day and obviously the offer doesn’t apply to the day of check out.
All sensible restrictions I would say. Not sure I’d fancy checking into a room that the previous occupant had declined housekeeping on! “Sorry about the mess, Mr. Perry, but the previous guest wanted some extra points”
Good to see this being rewarded in more hotels. Surprised at the difference between SPG and Marriott options though 500 SPG vs 250 Marriott ???
I’ve often wondering when doing a mattress run… Could I promise not to even enter the room, and then get the no-housekeeping points? I assume the IT systems just wouldn’t allow it…
Don’t many hotels now only change beding every few days as standard ? With the push on not replacing towels (a good thing,but again being pushed by the hotels cause it saves them money), what they are really saying now is:-
“help us reduce our outlay on housekeeping staffand get 500 points ”
One guesses that many establishments would have a Donald Trump view of global warming, if in doing so it reduced their weekling costs.
I love the Dormero chain in Germany which has quirky signs all over the place, such as “free drinks” on the minibar with a cartoon character drinking straight from a cow’s udder, or “foam party” on the liquid soap.
Their equivalent green sign in the bathroom encourages guests to “save the finances of Dormero hotels” by re-using your towel! 😉
actually its about conserving water doing laundry. Housekeeping staff is the same and hours are the same regardless
I wish that were true. Unfortunately if a hotel knows that 20% of its guests typically decline housekeeping, then it hires 20% fewer staff…
As already noted, Starwood has done this for a long time. It is a start but many hotels run by the large corporates appear to be rather lacking in actually delivering a sustainability/environmental programme.
I stayed at the Conrad New York and can see why they charge so much to stay there. Their energy costs must be horrendous. Hotels could lead the way, reduce energy use and the cost of rooms – probably a lack of both financial and corporate drivers.
The Las Vegas Hilton (when it existed) use to offer a $10 beverage credit. Very good value, much better than 500 pts.
HIX in London Stratford offers this with IHG points. (200 or 250 points from memory – not a huge incentive). It’s not available for one night stays, obviously. I would 100% take advantage of this kind of offer. No idea why someone needs their bed made or a towel change for a few night’s stay anyway. I actually prefer not to have people in my room!