How hotel housekeeping can contribute to environmental sustainability programmes
How can a hotel’s housekeeping department contribute to the property’s overall environmental sustainability program? Did I hear someone say skip housekeeping? Come to think of it, doing away with housekeeping is better for the environment. No washing towels and linen means saving water, not using cleaning chemicals means no sending waste compounds into the sewer system and not running vacuum cleaners saves energy.
Time to wake up… it doesn’t work that way if one is running a hotel. Hang on though... there are some possibilities of scaling back on certain aspects of housekeeping that deserve serious consideration.
Covid-19 instigated hotels to slash housekeeping services to reduce possible transmission from contact between guests and staff. Two years after the end of the pandemic, daily housekeeping services have still not returned in several hotels.
Now there are some hotels that despite levying high room rates, layoff staff and cut back on services - an unpleasant practice termed ‘skimpflation.’
However, when done properly and not explicitly to make money, reducing housekeeping is one of the best sustainability initiatives a hotel can adopt to shrink its carbon footprint.
It is observed that many are not into daily housekeeping as they were before COVID-19. Yes, there are still some guests who think of a hotel stay as a time to be pampered, which may involve a daily supply of fresh sheets, towels and a thorough room clean. But for many this is not really necessary. In particular, young travelers, who criticize changing towels and linen daily as wasteful and harming the environment and a lot of hotels are tuning-in to what today’s consumers prefer.
At those properties for example, for guests staying more than one night, cleaning might look more like a “tidying” on the second or third day of their stay. It includes emptying the trash, light vacuuming and making the beds; as opposed to the deeper clean that occurred during pre-pandemic times. Guests with kids at resort hotels are more likely to want that daily clean.
While it may appear that less housekeeping will impair guest satisfaction, the reality is that guests don’t want hotel staff coming into their room during their stay. Guests whether working from or just enjoying a day in a hotel room, find it inconvenient and intrusive having to vacate their room while it's being cleaned. Reduced housekeeping also lessens disruption and the inevitable annoying noise that can arise during peak cleaning hours.
Let guests be aware of the hotel’s room cleaning protocols. Giving them a choice, signals that your hotel caters to diverse needs and preferences. It’s about knowing your guests and providing the best experience for each type of guest, which means personalizing the experience to suit these needs.
Skipping daily housekeeping paves the way to focus on keeping public areas clean with regular deep cleaning, whilst providing staff more time to attend to guests and their requests for additional services or supplies.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier
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