Checking out of a hotel usually takes just a few minutes. You pack your clothes, gather your toiletries, check the drawers for forgotten chargers, and leave your key at the front desk. But while guests are already thinking about their next destination, hotel housekeepers are getting ready to clean the room for the next person.
Housekeeping staff often have several rooms to clean within a limited amount of time. They have to change the sheets, scrub bathrooms, vacuum floors, remove trash, restock toiletries, and make sure everything is ready for incoming guests. A room left in reasonable condition makes that job much easier, while certain checkout habits can add quite a bit of extra work.
Nobody expects guests to clean their own hotel rooms before leaving. Still, a little consideration goes a long way. Here are 10 things hotel housekeepers wish guests would stop doing before checking out.
1. Staying Past Checkout Time Without Telling Anyone
Checking out late might seem harmless, especially if you’re just finishing breakfast or packing a few last-minute items. But housekeeping schedules are often based on which rooms are expected to become available, and one delayed checkout can throw off the rest of the day’s work.
If you need extra time, call the front desk and ask whether a late checkout is possible. Leaving housekeepers guessing about when they can enter the room makes an already busy shift harder to manage.
2. Leaving Personal Belongings All Over the Room
Toiletries scattered across the bathroom counter, chargers plugged into every outlet, clothes hanging from chairs, and shoes tucked under the bed can make cleaning more difficult. Housekeepers generally try not to move personal belongings unless necessary, so having to work around everything takes extra time.
Gathering your belongings in one place before leaving is a simple courtesy. It also lowers the chance of accidentally leaving something behind or having an item misplaced during cleaning.
3. Leaving the Room Looking Like a Disaster
There’s nothing wrong with using your hotel room during your stay, but there’s a difference between normal vacation clutter and a room covered in trash, dirty clothes, and food containers. Housekeepers have to pick up the mess before they can get started on the actual cleaning.
You don’t need to make the bed or scrub the bathroom before checking out. Putting dirty clothes in your suitcase, collecting loose trash, and keeping your belongings together can save the cleaning staff some extra work.
4. Hiding Wet Towels Around the Room
Wet towels left behind doors, stuffed under beds, or thrown into corners are a headache for housekeeping staff. Damp fabric can develop unpleasant smells, and leaving wet towels against carpets or furniture can cause moisture damage.
If you want fresh towels during your stay, most hotels have their own instructions for requesting replacements. Before checking out, leave used towels in the bathroom, preferably in the designated spot or on the floor if that’s the hotel’s usual practice.
5. Forgetting to Flush the Toilet
It’s easy to overlook little things while rushing to check out, but leaving an unflushed toilet is something housekeepers would rather not encounter. They’re already responsible for cleaning and sanitizing the bathroom, so there’s no reason to leave an extra unpleasant surprise.
Flushing before leaving takes only a second. It’s a small courtesy that makes the first part of the cleaning routine a little less unpleasant.
6. Leaving Leftover Food All Over the Room
Room service trays, pizza boxes, takeout containers, and half-finished drinks can make a hotel room smell terrible by checkout time. Food scraps left sitting overnight can also attract insects, creating another problem for the cleaning staff.
Use the trash cans for food packaging and follow the hotel’s instructions for room service trays. If the hotel asks guests to leave trays outside the door for collection, don’t leave them sitting on desks or nightstands.
7. Leaving Hair All Over the Bathroom
Hair stuck to shower walls, wrapped around drains, and scattered across the bathroom counter is a common complaint among hotel cleaners. Long strands can be particularly difficult to remove once they’ve dried onto wet surfaces.
Nobody expects guests to leave the bathroom spotless, but rinsing loose hair off the shower walls and keeping larger clumps out of the sink can help. It’s a small thing that makes cleaning the bathroom less unpleasant.
8. Throwing Trash Everywhere Except the Trash Can
Empty water bottles on nightstands, snack wrappers on the floor, used tissues under the bed, and food packaging left on chairs are all things housekeepers regularly encounter. Emptying the trash cans is already part of their job, but picking up garbage scattered throughout the room adds more time.
Most hotel rooms have at least one trash can, and some have separate bins in the bathroom and bedroom. Use them rather than leaving wrappers and bottles wherever you happen to finish using them.
9. Staining Towels and Sheets With Makeup or Self-Tanner
Makeup, mascara, foundation, self-tanner, and hair dye can leave stubborn marks on hotel linens. White towels and pillowcases are particularly difficult to clean once these products have soaked into the fabric.
Housekeepers understand that accidents happen, but heavily stained linens may need extra treatment or replacement. Using makeup-removal wipes and designated dark towels, if the hotel provides them, can help prevent unnecessary stains.
Related: 14 Things You Should Never Do in a Hotel Room
10. Keeping the Do Not Disturb Sign Up for Days
Some guests leave the Do Not Disturb sign on their door throughout their entire stay because they think skipping housekeeping makes life easier for the staff. But when a room goes several days without cleaning, trash, used towels, and other messes can pile up.
Some hotel workers have also pointed out that fewer rooms requiring daily service can affect the number of available housekeeping shifts. If you don’t need daily cleaning, that’s perfectly fine, but consider requesting fresh towels or basic service if your room needs attention during a longer stay.
