Hotels and greenwashing

[Danger]

Nothing grinds my gears more in the world of travel than hotel greenwashing. Specifically, it does my head in when housekeeping unnecessarily changes linen, both bath and bed.

My stays are predominantly at Hyatt hotels. For as long as I can remember, there’s been a nice, feelgood A5 card next to the bed saying something like, ‘We care for the environment. We’ll only change your linen after every three nights’. It’s lies. Lies, lies, lies.

Almost invariably, despite hanging my towels, they are regularly changed every day. Bed linen, more often than not, is changed after one or two nights. I would not expect linen to be changed after a single night at a Mandarin Oriental or a Four Seasons or even Buckingham Palace.

A couple of years ago I took to carrying small, laminated signs saying, “Please don’t change my linen”. At a stay at the Hyatt Regency in Perth several months ago, I had three of these signs visible: one on the pillow, one on the vanity and one on top of the towel hanging on the towel rail. Despite this, all the linen was changed. After one night. It absolutely does my head in. More recently, at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, a four-night stay saw my perfectly fine, hanging bath towel changed eight times! This despite the hotel’s big pat-ourselves-on-the-back sustainability drive and glossy online brochure proudly proclaiming it replaces towels and linen “only when requested”.

Short of coughting the bed or using the towel to clean up your spew after a big night, I see absolutely no reason for it. Not changing linen isn’t just environmentally better, it also saves hotels money, yet I seem to be in a constant battle with housekeeping at every hotel I stay at.

Why do hotels do it? Why is it so hard to expect hotels to actually do what they say? Do people really think it’s appropriate to have towels and sheets changed after a night or two?

 

[SYD]

Nothing grinds my gears more in the world of travel than hotel greenwashing. Specifically, it does my head in when housekeeping unnecessarily changes linen, both bath and bed.

My stays are predominantly at Hyatt hotels. For as long as I can remember, there’s been a nice, feelgood A5 card next to the bed saying something like, ‘We care for the environment. We’ll only change your linen after every three nights’. It’s lies. Lies, lies, lies.

Almost invariably, despite hanging my towels, they are regularly changed every day. Bed linen, more often than not, is changed after one or two nights. I would not expect linen to be changed after a single night at a Mandarin Oriental or a Four Seasons or even Buckingham Palace.

A couple of years ago I took to carrying small, laminated signs saying, “Please don’t change my linen”. At a stay at the Hyatt Regency in Perth several months ago, I had three of these signs visible: one on the pillow, one on the vanity and one on top of the towel hanging on the towel rail. Despite this, all the linen was changed. After one night. It absolutely does my head in. More recently, at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, a four-night stay saw my perfectly fine, hanging bath towel changed eight times! This despite the hotel’s big pat-ourselves-on-the-back sustainability drive and glossy online brochure proudly proclaiming it replaces towels and linen “only when requested”.

Short of coughting the bed or using the towel to clean up your spew after a big night, I see absolutely no reason for it. Not changing linen isn’t just environmentally better, it also saves hotels money, yet I seem to be in a constant battle with housekeeping at every hotel I stay at.

Why do hotels do it? Why is it so hard to expect hotels to actually do what they say? Do people really think it’s appropriate to have towels and sheets changed after a night or two?

You’re the perfect hotel guest for the hotel chain accountants long before those truly “green washing” signs started to appear decades ago (which were easily decoded as “save us money by not asking to wash your stuff daily”).

The lack of training and/or fear of losing an otherwise lowly paid job is probably the reason housekeeping are trying to please you. Then there’s that thorny issue of tipping…

 

[drron]

You’re the perfect hotel guest for the hotel chain accountants long before those truly “green washing” signs started to appear decades ago (which were easily decoded as “save us money by not asking to wash your stuff daily”).

The lack of training and/or fear of losing an otherwise lowly paid job is probably the reason housekeeping are trying to please you. Then there’s that thorny issue of tipping…

But it happened in Japan on our current trip so tipping certainly wasn’t one of the issues.
The only way we stopped it was to be in the room when house keeping arrived and we said we don’t need new linen or towels. Though yesterday we said that as we were checking out today when we went into the bathroom our towels were still hanging up plus 2 new ones.

 

[snabbu]

You could check with the front desk and explicitly tell them you don't want your linen/towels changed at all (or at specific intervals etc) and they can add a trace to your profile which should update housekeeping each morning.

 

[Austman]

Also, housekeeping can be pretty good at making bed linen look like it has been changed when it hasn't been.

They can get all the wrinkles out, reverse pillows etc.

 

[Cynicor]

Got to agree with you, OP. Maldives was bad for this. Conrad talks about sustainability, everything runs off diesel so it really costs them and their excuse for 2 towel changes PER DAY was “guests expect it” …

 

[tdimdad]

This is why I always keep the 'Do not disturb' sign or light on from arrival to departure. I take it off only if I want the linen changed and room tidied for some strange reason.

Something I'm trying not to think is the waste management, both for food (breakfasts and overall) and other items. How much of that gets composted or recycled vs just thrown into a single big bin and wasted away from the circulation?

 

[SuePa]

Slightly off topic perhaps, but I've always wondered what happens to the partially used toilet rolls?
Some hotels have a folded end on what was left from the previous guest, but others always seem to have a brand new roll provided. Do the staff get to take home the half used rolls, do they throw them away or do they have someone in the basement rolling on extra sheets to make them look brand new?

 

[Danger]

You could check with the front desk and explicitly tell them you don't want your linen/towels changed at all (or at specific intervals etc) and they can add a trace to your profile which should update housekeeping each morning.

I've tried that. And if a hotel emails me in advance of my stay, I include it in my reply, like I did with the Hyatt Regency Amsterdam and the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur. Both failed miserably.

Also, housekeeping can be pretty good at making bed linen look like it has been changed when it hasn't been.

They can get all the wrinkles out, reverse pillows etc.

I mark the linen so I'm 100% confident.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I’m the complete opposite. Love fresh towels and bed linen on my hotel stays.

Never use the cards unless they say “please replace my bed sheets”.

 

[Mattg]

I wasn’t terribly impressed with this hotel’s sustainability claims… (I mean, great that they’re supporting a worthy charity but is that all they have to say?)

 

[lovestotravel]

I always request/leave daily bed linen changes and towels are always in the tub after one use

 

[Danger]

An interesting article from The Washington Post.

As for the cards in the bathroom that urge him to reuse his towels “for the environment,” he says he complies. But the housekeepers often remove his towels anyway.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/13/greenwashing-hotels-airlines/

 

[Daver6]

How do you know if your bed has just been made or the sheets changed?

What I find ridiculous is when they tell you to hang towels and they won't be changed, but no where to actually hand the towels!

 

[VPS]

How do you know if your bed has just been made or the sheets changed?

What I find ridiculous is when they tell you to hang towels and they won't be changed, but no where to actually hand the towels!

What I find ridiculous is when they tell you to hang towels and they won't be changed, but no where to actually hand the towels!

This 100%

 

[Daver6]

Another example of stupidity. Seems Sofitel (seen this now in Singapore and Sydney) give you toothpaste in a sachet to save the environment from plastic. Only problem is it's impossible to get the toothpaste out easily and not enough for two washes. So you land up opening the second toothbrush kit, throw away the toothbrush just so you can clean your teeth twice a day.

 

[JohnK]

I do not want housekeeping in my room often.

We recently had 5 nights in one hotel in Pattaya with wife and daughter and we only had housekeeping to clean room once. We still ask for coffee/water/towels but we get those ourselves.

Then wife and daughter had to leave early and I stayed 2 nights in one hotel and 4 nights in another hotel. No housekeeping but I do ask for coffee/water/towels as needed. If reception is the same they start to get used it and have the things ready when I return from golf.

One thing I do not like is housekeeping in my room when I am not there. It's not that ao have anything valuable it's just that I do not want housekeeping in my room.

 

[Danger]

How do you know if your bed has just been made or the sheets changed?

I mark the linen so I'm 100% confident.