I am as energy conscious as the next guy, however I never fail to get irritated when I check into a respectable hotel and find a tacky note on the bed or in the bathroom strongly recommending I jump through hoops to keep a couple of towels or washcloths from being laundered.
Would you not think that, when I pay $900 a night for my room (or even $400 or $200) I can use all the linen made available to me? It is paid for, has been budgeted for and is part of the hotel’s cost-per-occupied-room.
If you want to conserve energy on laundry, fine tune your equipment, fill it up efficiently and minimize the use of detergent without compromising on cleanliness. Your problem, not mine.
What do you think happens to those towels you did not use to comply with the hotel’s recommendation? At the very best they get improperly handled and covered with bacteria from the room attendant who just handled the REALLY dirty towels and just scrubbed the toilet bowl.
And how does the attendant know that that towel left nicely folded on the rack is actually clean? Some joker may just have just used for unsanitary purposes and returned it to the rack to surprise the next guest: it is your hotel’s reputation on the line.
Believe me, do away with the tacky tent card asking you to take it easy on the towels.
Wanna conserve? Save a tree, will ya?
Benoit Gateau-Cumin - Chief Recruiting Officer. Born and raised in France, Benoit managed to scoop up a French law degree prior to studying Hotel Administration at Cornell University. Upon graduation in 1975, he engaged in an eleven-year hotel management career that took him to Chicago, New York, Washington DC, San Diego, Istanbul, Jamaica and Hawaii. He held positions with Omni, Hyatt, Hilton International, ITT Sheraton and Méridien, as well as Honolulu’s unique Halekulani, consistently rated as one of the world’s best.
Benoit was bit by the “headhunting” bug in 1986, and has not relented yet. He founded The Boutique Search Firm in February 1992. His motto: small is beautiful. Benoit loves to mountain bike, take long walks with his wife Susana and their two dogs, and tinker with his budding collection of classic English sports cars.
benoit@boutiquesearchfirm.com / www.boutiquesearchfirm.com
