Make your own bed and breakfast!
That was pretty much how it was at my first weekend away at a hotel in two and a half years.
I have always loved staying overnight at a hotel. I leave my responsibilities and worries behind.
I love having a big bed. I also love that somebody else makes it — neatly.
I enjoy fluffy towels and a clean shower with a fancy massage head.
I even love the baby soaps and shampoos. I use some and I take some.
Mostly, I love knowing I do not have to tidy up for the length of my stay.
Well, except times have changed.
Now, for an inflated price, I can do my own tidying.
I can’t be sure this is the case at every chain in every city, but I am wagering it may be the new normal for many.
Upon check-in, we were told there would be no housekeeping service during our stay. Say what?
If we needed more towels or toilet paper, we could come get it from the front desk.
Truly, I am neither a clean freak nor a germophobe, but I do expect some room cleaning over four days.
Again, I am not entirely sure if the reason for the service reduction was because the motel didn’t have enough staff, or if they were not wanting to enter a lot of rooms due to COVID.
Either way, in a major hotel chain, in a high tourist area, I found it unacceptable.
To be fair, many of my fellow travellers did not. Some said they never want housekeepers in their rooms for security reasons and others said they liked the idea that no strangers would be bringing germs into the room.
To each is own, I guess, but I would have at least liked to have the garbage dumped and bathroom supplies restocked. I wouldn’t have cared so much about vacuuming or bed-making.
Of course, I was down to a single square of toilet paper by the last day.
It's not like they charge less for less service. In fact, it is more.
Then there is that daily parking fee, charged in big cities, which has always angered me. We are paying to stay at your hotel and then also for the privilege of parking in your non-secure parking lot? Maybe I am a small-town girl living in a small-town world, but I think it is a rip-off.
The breakfast buffet? Oh, how I long for the days of eggs, bacon, toast, waffles, and fresh fruit.
In this case, it was not open other than on the weekend. Nothing fresh is set out in bowls, which I understand, but you are paying for a lot of items you are not getting any longer.
With so much concern about the tough time the hospitality industry has faced, I guess I was hoping for more hospitality.
I can’t help but think a lot of businesses have now found a way to make cutbacks on staff and services and use the pandemic as an excuse. People are usually too polite to question it. Canadians, for sure, just accept it and move on.
I, too, had many negative thoughts, but said nothing so that is my own fault.
We are not out of the pandemic yet and I am well aware. After a four-day convention, people are testing positive daily, so I understand we are still living with different rules and guidelines.
However, with summer travel season approaching, I do feel the service industry needs to get back to providing actual service.
At least toss me an extra roll of toilet paper!
