Hilton is no longer offering daily housekeeping services. Starting last week, Hilton made their proactive daily housekeeping optional for all U.S. non-luxury brands - meaning that unless you ask for it, you won’t get it. The new policy does not apply to luxury brands Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, and LXR.
When Hilton made this change, they cited guests as the driving force behind the policy. During Covid-19, more people wanted much less contact, and now that things have largely opened back up, Hilton says a sizable chunk of guests simply like things this way.
So what does this mean for you? Well, you will need to opt-in to daily room cleaning if you want it. For guests staying long-term, rooms will automatically receive a thorough cleaning on day five of your stay. Keep in mind that you can get as much housekeeping as you want - you just have to request it.
If you would like daily housekeeping - let the front desk know at check-in so they can be sure it gets done. And remember that you can still call down for more towels or other room amenities you may need.
If you’re feeling a little less catered to, you’re not alone. Most hotel chains drastically scaled back housekeeping services during the pandemic, and if you think back to the “before times,” you may remember a similar trend. For years now there’s been a push to limit daily towel and turndown service - who among us hasn’t seen one of those little cards asking us to have a more green mentality about our towel and linen services.
So while skipping housekeeping isn’t totally new, Hilton is now making this change as part of official policy. How long will it be before more hotel chains follow?
Wyndham has also signaled they will move to an opt-in model as policy. Marriott, too. In fact, Marriott actually used to offer points in exchange for skipping housekeeping, but they stopped that last year. Now with hiring a serious short-term problem for hotel properties, this new housekeeping policy seems to be a trend that we might see more of in the future.