Hotel Housekeeping on Tours

That has never been the case on any of my previous tours (12) with the last being in 2022 when hotels were having issues with staffing just post-Covid. I think I put out a Do Not Disturb sign where I knew hotels were having a problem. That was on Best of Italy so there were only 2-night stays anyway.

Could what you read have been from the time frame immediately Post-Covid? Or were people who had recently taken tours saying that?

Editing to add: BTW, RS tours say they leave tips for housekeepers but I always leave a Euro or 2 as my appreciation for their work.

This would depend on the tour and the hotel. Many hotels in Europe have cut back housekeeping to every few days and ask that you re-use your towels when possible. Even on my most recent trip to New Mexico one hotel told me they only service rooms every three days. Since most tours (except for city tours) stay only one or two nights there is little need for extensive housekeeping.

And FWIW, the RS company has a "climate smart" policy which includes mitigation of energy use for things like laundry (a very high energy use). It would not surprise me if they ask hotels to provide minimal housekeeping services in that light. That said, nothing prevents you from asking for services.

Here’s the notice Rick Steves attaches to the list of hotels he provides his travelers on his tours:

“Please note: To help mitigate our travelers' impact on the environment, we ask our hotels to only provide housekeeping for stays of three nights or longer. If you would like housekeeping services sooner, please notify the front desk. Thank you for helping us be more environmentally friendly on our tours!”

I’m with you - I love coming back to a clean room at the end of the day! And for what hotels charge per night, the least they can do is empty the trash, sweep or vacuum, replace towels if necessary, and make the bed (although no need to change the linen). I think the “environmental impact” is minimal. I have had no trouble asking each hotel for daily housekeeping service on my RS tours and getting it. But it is one more thing to remember.

An interesting note: On our Basque tour, the guide told us that the hotels found it confusing NOT to provide daily service. So he flipped the arrangement - If you did NOT want service, you needed to put out the “do not disturb “ sign.

Thank you. I will try to remember to ask for it.

I'm a former coming back to a clean room person, but I have come to prefer having nobody enter my room while I'm out. No need to take things off the bed or whatever and it feels safer. I always put the DND sign on the door.
Part of the reason is probably the number of times cleaners were in my room when I wanted to be there.

As noted by Renee, RS encourages tour travelers to mitigate environmental impacts by waiving hotel room housekeeping. While I appreciate Rick’s genuine concern for our shared environment, I always request daily housekeeping on my RS tours. In my experience, the majority of tour members do the same so you will not be the only one. Enjoy the tour and your clean room.

I've been on 3 tours (as recently as 2024) and don't recall this as a practice. I'll see what the 2026 tour brings.

Wow, I didn’t know this. I’m one of those people who does not like daily housekeeping so I always put the “do not disturb” sign on the door. I didn’t know this was not necessary on tour.

CL's experience here in the U.S. with housekeeping increasingly offered only for every 3rd or 4th day has been our experience too. As neither of us enjoy any time in a messy hotel room, we spread up the bed in the morning, hang the towels neatly, take out trash if needed, and generally keep the space tidy. It doesn't bother us not to have housekeeping every day- and I actually prefer not having staff entering our rooms every day - but can appreciate that we're probably the exception.

Editing to add: Jean, we'll often hang hand-washed items for an all-day dry too.

On the 2023 Best of the Adriatic tour, our guide told us we wouldn’t have housekeeping service. Since I like to hang up a dress or shirt in the shower sometimes, I was glad I didn’t need to bother to have it put away.

In my experience on the past 5 tours in the past 3 years, it has varied by hotel. Some of them provided daily housekeeping, some you had to put out a sign requesting it, and in one or 2 you had to request it via the front desk the night before.

I am in the “i don’t need daily housekeeping”camp. I make the bed, hang up the towels so they can dry and reuse the next day, I do this at home, any Airbnb or other lodging.

I honestly don’t need someone to make up the room. I’m not messy but prefer to put things where I want them.

Husband always puts out the Do Not Disturb sign no matter where we are.

On our Village Italy tour in 2024, we also had the message shown above and we did not have housekeeping services in our hotels. This doesn’t bother me as I normally straighten the bed and pick up towels before leaving for the day. I, too, prefer my room not be disturbed while I’m not there. The world is always changing…..No grumps!

Common practice on our RS tours. We are generally fine without housekeeping though we do ask for a refresh of any tea/coffee supplies. Exceptions...We ask for towels when they its obvious they wont dry overnight ...our most frequent culprit has been the floor towel. Invariably, some of those half wall showers, or walk ins that aren't pitched or sealed correctly will cause water to escape and migrate across the floor requiring a make shift towel dam. Those we ask to be replaced ..

I travel often for work in the US and it has definitely become the standard in the US since Covid to not have housekeeping unless you are staying more than three days even at very nice hotels. I am now quite surprised when I get daily service anywhere.
As for the tours I do remember getting service in Spain and being surprised they cleaned the rooms each day.
So if it is important to you I would ask at the front desk.

I've talked to a few housekeepers about this in the US, who candidly told me they don't like it because it cuts their hours or the number of staff. I've also had my "no-service" acceptance (via door hanger) ignored I think for this reason.

Same thing for self-service checkouts in stores.

In the US and Europe the reason for less daily room cleaning is not environmental. That is just a touch-feely reason the hotel offers. The real reason is it is a labor expense savings for the hotels and less laundry expense. Not offering full service cleaning of rooms on a daily basis allows hotels to spend less money on manpower. By not fully servicing rooms daily the hotel saves on the number of hourly employees the hotels need to employ daily. In addition, the hotel saves a lot of money on laundry expenses for water, soap, machines use or outside laundry services.

It is a smart business decision on the part of hotel owners. It won't be long and hotels will start adding on a "daily cleaning fee" for those who want a full daily service. Hotels have to keep advertised room prices competitive. Like the airlines, eventually they will offer add-ons. It will be for daily cleaning services. They already charge differently for view, balconies, breakfast, etc. Next will be cleaning fees.

Another vote for no daily housekeeping. Like the others, I make the bed and keep things "neat enough." Plus, as someone else (Liz?) mentioned, housekeeping often is there or comes when I want my privacy. But, I can understand wanting the pampering of daily housekeeping, so you do you!

I'm another person that doesn't need daily housekeeping. I can use my towels several times and straighten up the bed, plus it saves me having to untuck the sheets every night. Being a person that has used a duvet my entire life, having sheets and blankets being tucked under the mattress at the foot of the bed is an annoyance. I can't sleep like that.

I will get housekeeping if I need new towels or the garbge emptied.