You want to be a polite hotel guest, so you strip the bed and leave your room service tray in the hall, but hotel staff actually hate most of those supposedly helpful gestures. Housekeepers operate on tight schedules, often cleaning 15 to 20 rooms a day, and your well-intentioned habits are likely slowing them down or creating genuine safety hazards.
Simple changes to your checkout routine make a massive difference for the hardworking people maintaining your space. If you want to stop accidentally frustrating the front desk and cleaning teams, you need to completely rethink your travel etiquette.
Here are the 10 most common mistakes you make during your hotel stays—and exactly what you should do instead.
1. Stripping the Bed (Yes, Really)
You probably think you are doing the housekeeping staff a massive favor when you strip the sheets, pillowcases, and heavy duvet covers before checking out. In reality, pulling the linens off the bed disrupts a highly choreographed cleaning routine and creates unnecessary physical strain. Hotel housekeepers operate on a demanding schedule, usually receiving a strict 15 to 30 minutes to turn over an entire room.
When you strip the bed yourself, you leave behind a massive, tangled pile of fabric that the staff must carefully sift through to ensure you did not leave behind a television remote, a phone charger, or expensive jewelry.
Furthermore, tearing heavy linens off a king-sized mattress requires specific ergonomic movements. According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), housekeepers face a high risk of repetitive motion injuries and back strain from lifting mattresses and bending awkwardly. Staff members are trained to strip beds efficiently using specific methods that protect their wrists and lower backs.
Instead of wrestling with the fitted sheet, simply leave the bed unmade. An unmade bed clearly signals that the room was occupied and the linens require changing, allowing the professionals to handle the heavy lifting safely.
12 Responses
Tips for Budget hotel staff don’t hide in the office watching on CCTV guests standing around the reception area hoping guests will check in them selves
Thank you for the helpful information about proper room etiquette when staying at a hotel/motel.
I worked as a housekeeper. I strip the beds as a guest putting pillow cases in a pile, fitted sheets in a pile, sheets in a pile and duvets. I do this because I worked with a woman who just kept all that on if it looked “clean enough”. N I loved when people did it for me. And I wipe ALL mine and my families hair out off the bathtub. Cause that was the worst
I don’t want to sleep on used sheets that someone else left body waste on
Touché
Don’t forget a tip
Be honest… they don’t want the beds stripped because they don’t always replace the sheets and definitely don’t replace the duvet covers!
That’s what I thought. So I just pile them neatly -easy to see there are no remotes, etc in the pile.
Exactly!!!
I was a hotel housekeeper while in college. So, I do follow these rules. Yes, they are helpful reminders to treat hotel staff with respect.
Great information
All good points, but I also suggest stopping by the front desk (or calling right before you depart) and telling the staff that you’ve actually left – especially if it’s very early in the morning. That way the housekeeping staff can get an earlier start on that room. Several desk clerks have said they appreciate the courtesy
After reading all the 10 Things Hotel Staff Hate I can only imagine how frustrating the staff would be since all the things are what COMMON SENCE should show in this article. I have never done any of those things and can’t imagine that there are people who would not respect some ones property. I believe most of the things is how people were raised poor parenting!