Why Hotel Housekeepers Hate When You Use The 'Do Not Disturb' Sign

When traveling for business, you might take refuge in your hotel room to take important phone calls, have Zoom conferences, or get some much-needed work done. However, even if you're traveling for fun, sometimes you want to retreat to your hotel room, especially after a long journey or a jam-packed day of sightseeing, to decompress in silence. In both instances, you might understandably put the "do not disturb" sign on the exterior handle of your hotel door so that housekeeping bypasses your room during the day. You might think you're doing yourself and the housekeeping staff a huge solid, considering you are presumably easing the burden of their workload for the day. However, you might be surprised to learn some hotel housekeeping staff aren't too jazzed when they see this on your door in the middle of the day.

It's understandable to need some alone time in your room for just a few extra hours during the day. But perhaps you might consider moving that phone call or Zoom meeting to the hotel meeting room if you knew staying in your room was making the housekeeping staff's job much harder, forcing them to do double the work in some cases and fall behind schedule in others.

You might be a bit confused by this idea. How could asking housekeeping to skip your room cause them more work, not less? Especially since so many hotels these days suggest that guests skip housekeeping for their green initiatives. You may have seen a note in your room asking you to reuse your towels rather than get new ones daily to save water and electricity usage. The Washington Post reported that some hotels even offer loyalty points and perks to guests who forego housekeeping altogether. However, housekeepers are speaking up, and according to them, rooms that haven't been serviced in a few days are dirtier, forcing them to spend longer on each room, putting them behind schedule, and making their jobs harder.

Annemarie Strassel, director of communications for the hotel workers union UniteHere, told USA Today, "They don't have more time to clean that room." She continued, "Every housekeeper has a quota. If the quota for that room is half an hour, then it has to get cleaned in half an hour, even if it hasn't been cleaned for days. Everything gets speeded up and there's retribution if they don't do it in time." UniteHere (pdf) released a report stating housekeepers lost billable hours because of some green programs. Others are sounding the alarm about downsizing housekeeping staff altogether.

Bryan A. Garner, editor-in-chief of Black Law's Dictionary, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he suspects hotels are trying to reduce their housekeeping workforce with these green initiatives to save a buck. "Are hotels downsizing with housekeeping staff? Last week, upon checking in for a three-night stay, I was offered 1,000 hotel points if I'd forgo maid service. And I don't think it was because they'd sized me up as being really tidy," he tweeted.

Garner might be on to something because some housekeepers told The Huffington Post that their jobs are in peril because of the increased use of "do not disturb" signs. Florida housekeeper Antoinette Clerisier explained to the outlet, "It puts our co-workers out of work because less housekeepers are put on the schedule. But last year we came together with our union where we fought and won back automatic daily housekeeping ― all housekeepers should have it."

San Francisco housekeeper Maria Mata agreed, telling The Huffington Post, "If enough guests don't want housekeeper service, the hotel will tell me not to come to work, and I'll lose the wages I was counting on that day, even though the cleaning cost is already included in your room rate." If you want to help save the planet but also want housekeepers to earn a living wage, consider making like Norma Rae and holding up that good ole' "UNION!" sign outside your local hotel. But skipping the "do not disturb" sign would be a good first step. Looking for other common practices to ditch during your travels? Check out why you should avoid using the luggage rack in your hotel room.