The staff sees more than just what you leave in the tip jar.
Hotel employees are professionals dedicated to making your stay as comfortable as possible, often navigating difficult requests with a smile. Behind that professional veneer, however, they are human beings who deal with an endless stream of frustrating, bizarre, and downright rude behavior from guests. Most travelers are perfectly polite, but a few common habits can make a demanding job nearly unbearable.
Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do. Avoiding these simple missteps can make a world of difference to the people working hard behind the scenes and will ultimately make your own stay, and everyone else’s, much more pleasant.
1. You leave the room looking like a disaster zone.
There is a huge difference between a room that has been lived in and a room that has been trashed. Housekeeping staff expect to find unmade beds and used towels. They do not expect to find a biohazard. Leaving wet towels balled up in a corner to mildew, pizza boxes and food containers strewn across the floor, and trash everywhere except the bin is disrespectful.
This kind of mess makes an already physically demanding job much harder and more time-consuming. It can also cause delays for the next guest waiting to check in. Taking just a few minutes to consolidate your trash and keep the room in a state of basic decency is a simple act of respect for the person who has to clean up after you, as mentioned in TheTravel.
2. You blame the front desk for things they cannot control.
The front desk agent is the face of the hotel, but they are not a miracle worker with power over the entire universe. Taking out your frustrations on them for issues that are completely outside of their control is unfair and pointless. They cannot change the weather, fix city-wide traffic, get you tickets to a sold-out show, or control airline flight schedules.
Yelling at an agent because your Uber is late or because a nearby restaurant is closed is a waste of everyone’s energy. While they will do their best to help you solve problems they can influence, treating them as a punching bag for all of your travel woes is a quick way to be labeled as a problem guest, according to TripZilla. A little perspective goes a long way.
3. They have to check you in while you’re on your phone.
Attempting to check in while you are engrossed in a loud phone conversation is incredibly rude. The check-in process is a transaction that requires communication. The front desk agent needs to confirm your details, ask for a credit card and ID, and provide you with important information about the hotel, as shared by Little Hotelier. Doing this while you are talking to someone else is inefficient and awkward.
It also sends a clear message that you view the person helping you as unimportant. Ending your call for the two minutes it takes to check in is a basic courtesy. It shows respect for the employee and allows them to do their job properly, ensuring your stay gets off to a smooth start.
4. You help yourself to items from the housekeeping cart.
A housekeeping cart left in the hallway is a mobile office, not a free-for-all buffet. When guests see one, some feel it’s perfectly acceptable to walk up and help themselves to extra towels, coffee pods, or fistfuls of tiny shampoo bottles. This is considered unprofessional and can disrupt a housekeeper’s workflow and inventory management.
The items on that cart are allocated for a specific number of rooms, and taking them can mean another guest doesn’t get what they need. If you require extra amenities, the proper etiquette is to call the front desk or ask a housekeeper directly. They will almost always be happy to bring you what you need.
5. You lie about how many people are staying in the room.
Claiming there are only two people in your reservation when you actually plan on having four or five people stay in the room is not a clever way to save money; it’s a safety hazard and a major headache for the hotel. Occupancy limits exist for a reason, primarily fire safety codes. Overcrowding a room can have dangerous consequences in an emergency.
It also throws off the hotel’s planning for amenities, from the number of towels needed to the amount of food required for the complimentary breakfast. Staff can easily tell when more people are staying than are registered, and it creates an awkward situation for everyone. Honesty about your party size is always the best policy.
6. You completely ignore the stated check-out time.
Hotels have check-out times for a critical reason: it gives the housekeeping staff a window to clean and prepare the rooms for the next wave of arriving guests. Simply deciding you will leave whenever you feel like it, without communicating with the front desk, throws a major wrench into the hotel’s daily operations. A late departure can have a domino effect on the entire property.
If you need a later check-out, you should always ask for it in advance. The hotel will often accommodate the request if they are able. Simply staying in the room hours past the deadline and then getting angry when housekeeping knocks on the door is inconsiderate.
7. You treat the concierge like your personal search engine.
A good hotel concierge is an invaluable resource. They have deep local knowledge and can secure reservations at top restaurants, book tours, and offer expert, curated recommendations. Their job is not, however, to answer basic questions that a five-second search on your phone could solve. Asking them for the weather forecast or the score of last night’s game wastes their time.
Come to the concierge with questions that require their specific expertise. Ask them to recommend a great local jazz club that’s off the beaten path, not to tell you the hotel’s address. Respecting their role as specialists rather than treating them like a walking, talking Google search will get you much better results.
8. You try to use a declined credit card repeatedly.
When a front desk agent informs you that your credit card has been declined, arguing with them or insisting they “try it again” multiple times is both futile and embarrassing. The hotel’s computer is not making a personal judgment; it is relaying a message directly from your bank. The agent has no control over this and cannot force the transaction to go through.
Getting angry at the messenger is a common but completely illogical reaction. The mature and correct response is to thank the agent and either provide a different form of payment or step aside to call your bank and resolve the issue privately. It avoids a scene and is a much more respectful way to handle the situation.
9. You use the “do not disturb” sign unwisely.
The “Do Not Disturb” hanger is a useful tool when you want privacy, but it comes with responsibility. If you leave the sign on your door all day until 4:00 PM and then call the front desk demanding immediate service, you will likely be disappointed. Housekeeping staff work on a set schedule, and by late afternoon, many of them have finished their shifts and gone home.
It is unreasonable to expect your room to be serviced instantly after you have explicitly told staff to stay away for the entire day. If you know you will want your room cleaned, a good strategy is to remove the sign when you leave for the day, ensuring it gets serviced during the normal rotation.
10. You forget that the staff members are people.
Ultimately, many of the behaviors that staff can’t stand boil down to one simple thing: guests forgetting that employees are human beings. This can manifest as not making eye contact, not offering a simple “hello” or “thank you,” snapping your fingers to get attention, or generally treating staff as invisible, robotic servants.
The people working at a hotel are professionals performing a service, and they deserve the same basic courtesy and respect you would offer anyone else. Acknowledging their humanity with a smile and a polite tone can completely change the dynamic of an interaction and is the easiest way to be a guest that any hotel would be happy to welcome back.