Are the days of service at many Hawaii hotels gone for good?
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81 thoughts on “Next Big Tourist Problem: Hawaii Hotels And Filthy Rooms”
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Are the days of service at many Hawaii hotels gone for good?
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
You may not want or need your towels or sheets replaced daily, but certainly trash could be removed daily and service consumables like Keurig inserts, cups, sugar/creamer/stir sticks, soap/lotion etc. could be replenished as needed. Remember when the reverse of the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign used to be a request for maid service? On our recent vacation, none of the hotels we stayed at did daily housekeeping; at one place after 4 days, the trash was full and the towels musty.
I experienced the same situation at a Marriott in Oceanside California. Service upon request. It was explained to me that not all people are comfortable right now with strangers in their rooms and/or touching their stuff. I was there for a week and had no problem with it.
I Don’t Know if this might b a reason or not…. a large number of th locals r not vaccinared so mayb th guest don’t want them in their rooms.
I just got back from Maui 2 weeks ago. I was shocked that we could no longer expect daily room service. We had to take our trash out to a trash collection area daily. We had to call multiple times for clean towels. We were staying 10 nights and they only offered to clean once. It is really sad how the rates are going up and the service is going way down.
Okay, hotels charge quite a bit per day, charge you for parking and top it off with resort fees for things you don’t use. I take the side of the housekeeping staff. If you don’t clean a room daily, you’re definitely going to spend much more time cleaning when the guest leaves. Just think of your own home. Clean daily it’s easy to keep up. Have you ever been sick for a week or 2 where you can’t do anything and your young family has just run amok? You work harder and longer to restore clean.
I have a time share at Hilton Hawaii village. I pay an annual maintenance fee of $1500. We only got housekeeping services twice a week before. Now we have to request it? Outrageous!!! What the heck is my $1500 paying for?
The lack of daily housekeeping also means lack of replacing amenities, like sugar, coffee, etc. also, some hotels have also removed comfort items, such as throw pillows. I think we’re past thinking that COVID is transferred by surfaces. Out Marriott time share room was pretty bare (on 2 islands). I have a bad back, so we went to WalMart and bought some nice throw pillows. But this is now visitors are paying for at high-end resorts.
During the last year every hotel we stayed in CA had limited housekeeping services so this seems to be the norm now. They will provide towels and take your trash away upon request The exception is Las Vegas where daily housekeeping is still done, at least in the nicer hotels. I cant imagine going anywhere for a week and not getting my room cleaned – ick!
I almost always use my timeshare units for my trips & decline the daily housekeeping. I can make my own bed. I generally don’t tip in Hawaii (I do in 3rd world countries), but strip the beds, run the dishwasher, do the laundry if facilities & detergent are provided. As a former BnB owner, I appreciate the guests who gave me a break. That being said, out of many years of travel, my only negative experience was this past March in Hawaii, & my timeshare company compensated me for the poor service
Really? The definition of vacation is having my bed made and room straightened, going out to Resturaunts for meals and being entertained by sightseeing and activities. Hawaii will go way down in destination vacations if the new model is poor service. Penny wise and pound foolish on the part of hotel management.
We’re at the end of a three-week vacation across the four major islands. The cut-back in services, including housekeeping, restaurants, and other areas, is quite obvious. Only on the Big Island did we find most services up to expectations. It’s easy to wonder whether the situation is due to health concerns or driven by cost-cutting.
Hawaii is a world leader in terms of setting examples. The resort fee, the cleaning fee, and others were made palatable by Hawaiian tourism.
Now with what sounds like a major reduction in housekeeping will it influence other major destinations? Unintended consequences? At very least will it lead to rate reductions? Doubt it. Be careful what you wish for.
Aloha,
Personally I don’t require nor expect daily housekeeping. To me is is waste of environmental and economic resources. I can make my own bed, hang up and reuse my towels and yes I can actually put my waste into a garbage bin.
I certainly empathize with the hotel cleaning staff and a reduction of the expectation of a daily room clean, but I have traveled this way for decades. Actually calling the front desk on business and personal stays to request NO room cleaning. To me it is a waste.
jim
I so agree! Tried to “like” your response but that function isn’t working for me. If the place is not clean when I check in, that’s a problem, but the rest is up to me! And if I’m travel with kids, I’m setting a good example. Mahalo for your ethical travel behavior.
I come to Hawaii to enjoy the “friendliness” of the islanders. This has been lacking, seems we are unwelcome.
I also come to relax and be pampered – a clean bed and room every day and lots of good places to have great food.
Get better Hawaii!
I have friends that have really loved switching to Mexico. Hope Hawaiian Hotels don’t start losing business due to reduced services.
Aloha
I am a frequent traveler to Hawaii but have not been there since covid started and am looking forward to returning. But from this report it seems like the hotels intend to rip-off customers.
From what I have seen in looking at current hotel prices, they have gone up considerably since prior to Covid; so from what I see they intend to charge us more for less service? What a deal for them; they get more money from me and save on their cost, WOWO they must think we are stupid.
So for profit gain for hotel owners.. they got rid of there staff…(very bad)
Plus didn’t they just raise the tourists tax a lot wow pay pay but no service and no islanders have jobs …so shameful again the little people pay the price while the rich get richer what greed ….
News Flash – this is NOT a Hawaii thing. It’s a hotel chain thing. It’s the same on the mainland. I travel for business. I recently stayed at a Sheraton in Seattle. Same scenario. You can ask for room cleaning. That said, let’s be honest. This is not “ end of world”. We’re talking about making a bed, changing towels ( that you used once) and emptying the trash. Does this really need to be done every day? And if you want it, you can ask.
TOMK,
Often when we stay in hotels we have the privacy sign on the door the whole time, so i agree on the daily need. It is all relative though. If hotels are charging way more, but providing way less there will be an inflection point soon. Probably very soon.
Hawaii isn’t the only place doing this. We recently took a trip to Virginia to a theme park and they informed us at check-in that there would be no housekeeping services. We already had prepaid for the room and for the theme park tickets, so we had no choice but to stay at that facility. The free continental breakfast consisted of coffee, an individually wrapped muffin,an apple, nothing else. Needless to say, we were not given or even offered a reduction in the rate paid at Wyndham.
Thanks,
A client just returned to Maui after a 2 week stay and told me it was a totally different Hawaii than what they are used to.
Being on the top tier of several major hotel chairs, I am the recipient of a number of notifications (eg apologies) explaining that only their top brands will receive daily housekeeping service, while guests of the mid-range brands receive housekeeping “by request only” and guests of their lower-tier brands receive none. Many travel bloggers are saying that hoteliers are using Covid-19 as an excuse to selectively discontinue housekeeping service to save expense at the sacrifice of guests.
Possibly true, JIM E. Guests can always still vote with their wallets. It is a balancing act.
I’m stunned! Dirty hotel rooms with the masks, vaccines and whatever other mandates they have? Comeon Man. Where’s the governor when you really need him for a good cause? Not just for controlling us.
I apologize for my attitude..
I agree 100%. I use my towels as long as possible and do not have them change my sheets if I stay 6 nights or less. I cannot imagine what it does to the planet to launder linens and towels every day or add more cleaning product containers to the landfill.
I have stayed at Paniolo Greens on the Big Island and my stay there in the middle of the Covid was amazing. The condo was perfection. I work in the medical field and I was in awe the cleanliness .. so it’s not everywhere.
I would absolutely search for and book a hotel that supports its workers AND provides daily cleaning. Especially for the price and daily resort fee I EXPECT a clean room, towels, etc.
So the industry was crying about not having enough employees. Now they are not hiring back employees to save money. The industry is obviously in return to profit mode after almost two years of a pandemic.
Everyone has sacrificed during this time. Bilking people out of their hard earned vacation dollars is a recipe for disaster. Employees are still the cog in getting the industry running efficiently.
Aloha. Nice article.
In September we stayed 7 nights at the Aston Islander on the Beach. We were told that there would be no room cleaning during our stay, but were surprised once mid-stay when we came back to our room and it was cleaned thoroughly.
No room cleaning during your stay is pretty standard everywhere nowadays. We’re just grateful that places are still open and doing the best they can under trying circumstances.
Mahalo for keeping travelers well informed. Love your blog!
Hi Laurie.
Thank you. We appreciate your first-time comment. As you can see from the other comments, it is quite variable and thus unpredictable at the moment. You sure must have been surprised (pleasantly or not) to have housekeeping when you were told there wouldn’t be any.
Aloha.
Yes, pleasantly surprised by the cleaning. Though even before Covid we had started requesting NO daily cleaning, for the environmental reasons others have mentioned. We’ve traveled in OR and WA during covid and only one hotel still offered daily cleaning, most don’t. But they tell you on their website and when you book with them, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. And it’s easy enough to ask for what you need. We don’t think it’s all about profits or a lack of Aloha spirit, it’s mostly about safety.
Spent 15 year with a Hawaii Hotel chain. This is the dumbest idea ever. Between reduced services, high prices for hotels and cars, and continuous covid rules changes, it seems the tourism industry is trying to shoot itself in the foot. Greed is running wild!
Visitors are expected to jump through hoops in order to keep from spreading Covid, yet the hotels are going to make it more difficult to have rooms deep cleaned in between customers. With reduced staff and time being of the essence, it stands to reason that corners will be cut in order to service all the rooms for turnover. I also thought that after the Las Vegas shooting hotels were required to clean rooms every couple of days for safety reasons. How are they circumventing those rules?
At the Westin Hapuna on the Big Island right now they are cleaning everyday. If you don’t want daily cleaning you let them know. Everyone has been so welcoming and warm. We prefer every few days but have been doing every other day to make sure they don’t get short changed on tips.
Mahalo
Hi Jo.
Yes, responses so far confirm that the higher-end properties are doing more daily cleaning, with Hilton Hawaiian Village being an exception. Thanks for the feedback.
Aloha.
We stayed at the Outrigger Reef in Waikiki last month and got daily room cleaning without having to ask.
Aloha, BOH! Can’t wait to return in February!
Hi Ed.
We appreciate the feedback. Happy you are returning again soon.
Aloha.
At the literally doubled room rates, we should expect as good or better services and amenities. We have been priced out of some hotels because of rising rates. Then they expect us to take care of our own housekeeping too??!! Absolutely absurd. Help out your local workers by rehiring them. They want to work!!
So now I’m going to pay + 4% more in daily taxes on a room that isn’t cleaned daily? When we were at the Grand Hyatt on Kauai in May, no housekeeping for 5 days! Only towels if you called and asked for them. We came back in September and daily hk had resumed, but that is the Grand Hyatt.
My beloved Hawaii … what has happened to your Aloha … you are making it so hard!
Aloha BOH!! We stayed at the Mauna Lani on the big island in March for a week and they serviced our room daily, the house keeping was exceptional. In May we stayed at the Westin Ka’anapali for a week in the timeshare villas and Disney Aulani, our Home DVC property and no room services or mid week cleanings were offered- Yet at The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel we had full service on club level in September, so it depends on the brand and the owner. I find the 5 star brands are still offering it.
Hi Mary.
Thanks for your feedback. With the hit and miss return of service, it is definitely hard to plan without more thorough checking than was previously necessary.
Aloha.
I generally decline the daily housekeeping by putting the tag on my door to not disturb. I’m fine with I’ll call you when I need something. Save the planet by reusing my towels. That kind of thing. I can clean up after myself. Every other day or every third day is fine. I don’t want people to not have a job, but I’ve been declining the daily for years.
We were on Kauai last week at a timeshare and it was the same at the Points at Poipu. No room cleaning offered for a week long stay.
This is more of a vacation rental rather than a hotel room, if u want your room cleaned, pay the big bucks at a hotel, or don’t make a mess of your environment
We recently returned from Kona HI where we stayed two weeks. We timeshare, so it is different. I don’t mind asking for service since we’re pretty easy on the room. We are not beach goers with sand in our shoes or young with kids. So keeping our room tidy and kitchen/bath in order are easy. But I could see this being and issue for most vacationers. What drives me up the wall is that they won’t give us TP for the week, or coffee. We have to keep going back to the front desk.
Mahalo BOH for reporting on this ad your insight as this is a very important issue!
We stayed at this summer in Oahu in 2 different places and did NOT get room service and we asked for it! It was not available yet we paid daily cost and had to ask for new towels etc. Unlike Vacation rentals were you know what to expect.
Very disappointing indeed for the price they are asking…
This is more of a vacation rental rather than a hotel room, if u want your room cleaned, pay the big bucks at a hotel, or don’t make a mess of your environment
Aloha all from Australia , I couldn’t think of anything worse than not having your room cleaned. To come back to your room after you’ve been out all day to find your bed nice and clean ,towels freshly packed it’s lovely. When I read that the patrons /guests don’t want the rooms cleaned I think that’s a lie put out by the hotels to make it seem like we want it and they are doing it for us. Why would I not want my room cleaned. Disgusting!!!!
Sadly, hotels not servicing rooms during guest stays are the norm across the US. Hallways get filled with trash that people stick outside their doors. And elite guest lounges remain closed at properties. And yet the cost of stays has increased. It’s so frustrating!
May I ask what hotel the picture you used above is and what beach, so beautiful!!!
Hi Lori.
That was taken Ko Olina.
Aloha.
Aloha BOH,
The picture I have on my page looks remarkably like the Marriott Beach Club at Ko Olina, where we have a timeshare. Wish we were there now–can’t wait to return!
Aloha,
Sara S.
Hi Sara.
You’re so right, that is Ko Olina. Our bad. Thank you.
Aloha.
I previously worked in housekeeping and I hated trying to clean around people’s things. Some people are really messy. On the other hand it does save water to not launder sheets and towels every day. I would expect daily service that you can opt out of to be the norm from here forward.