Starwood hotels used to offer points to guests who skipped housekeeping. They called it ‘make a green choice’ as though this benefited the environment in some way, but they were really paying you in points because it reduced their housekeeping expense.
Many hotels hate 4 p.m. late check-out because that drives up housekeeping expense. It spreads checkouts over a longer period of time. They need to keep more housekeepers on longer. It isn’t just that it may be hard to accommodate check-ins when people haven’t checked out of their rooms yet.
But another problem hotels face is simply not knowing when people have checked out of their rooms. In the United States there’s really no reason why most guests actually ‘check out’ and bother to tell the hotel.
There is a strong emphasis on convenience and efficiency. Many hotels allow guests to check out remotely via phone, app, or just by leaving because it’s understood that guests may want to depart quickly without formalities. This practice aligns with the cultural expectation of convenience and the “self-service” mentality that is prevalent in the U.S.
The U.S. hotel industry often uses more automated systems, allowing charges to be finalized without the need for in-person interaction. Credit cards on file can be billed automatically for any remaining charges, reducing the need for a formal checkout process.
In Asia you’re expected to check out in person most of the time. Sure, you already gave them your credit card but they will want it again. But in the U.S. you just leave when you’re done.
Housekeeping may come knocking on a door to see if someone is still occupying a room, but that’s a time-consuming and laborious process and doesn’t flag the moment that a guest leaves for most-efficient scheduling of housekeeping staff.
The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas (timeshare) has an approach that both,
Encourages people to leave early (more time to turn rooms when housekeeping have gaps in their workload)Encourages people to tell the hotel that they’ve left.
It’s simple: bonus points for checking out early and letting the hotel know you’ve done so.
Hat tip to R.A. who notes that “They also send you a text when their housekeeping is finished with your room. Wish everyone did that.”
More hotels should do both of these things.