The next time you choose to skip the housekeeping at a Marriott affiliated hotel in the United States and put one of those “Make A Green Choice” tags outside of your room, don’t be surprised if you find one of these leaflets waiting in the evening.
Marriott is having a dispute with the union representing housekeeping in many cities and strikes are looming on the horizon. Housekeeping staff members are also complaining that the “Green Choice” initiative is cutting into their hours and are nothing but profit initiative for hotels.
You can access Dirty Choice’s website here.
Remember that Marriott cut the number of points that members earn for these “Green Choice” nights at Starwood properties by 67% (read more here)? Member now get 500 points at full service properties when choosing Green Choice that cost the hotel $3.
Housekeeping staff member perhaps cleans 12 rooms during their shift at full service properties. In San Francisco unionized housekeeping employees earn $22.64 per hour + benefits.
This is very easy calculation. The hotel pockets at least six to eight times the cost of points given to the member.
Conclusion
How many times do these “Make A Green Choice” points even post without having to chase them after your stay? I did do it few times when I felt that it was worth 500 Starpoints (or sometimes even higher when the hotel was running a promo – didn’t have enough housekeeping staff).
But this Green Choice is not about making environmentally sound decisions. It is about fattening the hotels margins and cutting housekeeping employees hours and pay.
Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate if it is even worth it?
Thanks for sharing this. Didn’t realize that our choice for getting few extra points was hurting housekeeping hours, I’ll skip these going forward.
Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, take this opportunity.
Essentially, what you are asking people to do is: pay the housekeepers to pollute the environment. If you like that, I bet you love those rhetoric about coals! Let’s pay those plants to pollute more! Hey, while we are at it, I suggest we hire some people to cut down national parks! Burn those stupid trees to the ground and create jobs, man! Jobs jobs jobs jobs!
(Copied-n-pasted from above; see up there for more sarcasms).
You are playing the wrong game here. Punish a company for paying bad wages, sure. Punish a company for polluting, sure.
Punish a company for finding out a way to make money while helping the environment? What kind of logic is that?
The environment is going to have to learn to cope. I won’t use a towel after it molds on the shower rod for 24 hours.
So you change your sheets and towels at home every day too? Gee…that’s a lot of work.
Yes
Randy Koteles
Account Development Manager
Sonoco Global Technology
843-319-0194
I think if that’s what you’re used to at home and you want to feel ‘at home’ then you should have house keeping every day. I’d rather pay less for not having the housekeeping I neither need nor want while not wasting resources since it makes me feel guilty.
…are you sure you meant to put your name, position, employer, and phone number on this comment?
Last time I reply from email directly
Thank you
I also mention it because you may wish to edit it out or delete the comment in question for privacy reasons.
Thanks Llama
Good advice
If you need a service, order the service. That’s fair and square.
If you don’t need the service, don’t get it just because it will “create job.” That’s equivalent of hiring people to cut down the national Park.
I have worked in hotels for over 20 years. Trust me, no one’s hours are getting cut. Half the time we are short staffed because no one wants these physical jobs. It’s not hard – it’s physical. I can clean the hell out of a room. The housekeepers love getting the DND on the door. This may be the case in San Francisco or Chicago were they have union employees, but those places have shit service because of the “not my job” mentality.
When I stay at a Renaissance property they only offer 500 points. Half the time they never post. So they are really making a killing! Cheat the housekeeping staff and the guests alike.
Fight to get magc points post? I’ve only not had magc points post ONCE in about 400 nights worth of stays and I use magc on every stay.
If housekeeping puts one of those fluets under my door I’ll he sure to complain to management. I dont want housekeeping. Don’t ask me to do you a favor at my expense
Pig.
So it’s ok for you to expect me to do things I don’t want, at my cost – to protect your job? And I’m the pig? People like you either evolve or die and if you don’t choose to evolve I have ZERO sympathy for you. The hospitality Union voted to strike at Marriott properties in san Fransisco because doormen aren’t making a living because too many people are using Uber instead of tipping them to hail cabs. You know what? Tough f’in luck. Get a new job. Buggy whip makers are out of business too, because the world moved on. Move with it or die.
Really? So, when a flyer goes under your door it disturbs you? And people doing their job somehow just ruins your life and means they haven’t evolved? Can you be less empathetic and more self-centered? That’s a rhetorical question. Don’t know what you do for a living, but I wonder what your attitude would be if some external forces made it passe and you were forced to “evolve,” especially if it meant having to move on to something you were not prepared to deal with.
If someone enters my room when I have a dnd on the door, yes it disturbs me. I have had cash taken from a hotel room, I have had workmen enter a room after calling to secure permission to enter, assuming the room was empty when in fact my girlfriend was alone and in the bath, and I just don’t like people picking up after me.
I am a small business owner. I have my entire life savings invested in my business, and I have more than once had to reinvent my business after markets changed. If I didn’t change it would have been no one’s fault but my own if my business went under.
You don’t seem to understand what a political campaign is. This is an industrial campaign. Workers fighting for their jobs is an industrial campaign.
Someone putting a flyer under your door is not entering your room. From the content and tone of your posts it appears you may have some issues I am not interested in dealing with any further.
I usually choose MAGC when I am in Europe, as most countries there do not have pay-by-the-hour contracts, so unless they can cut an entire position it will not hurt an individual housekeeper. But when I am in Asia, I usually forego MAGC, as it seems selfish to harm someone’s income for a few MR points
That being said: I would say almost all SPG/MR travellers don’t chose MAGC because of the environment, but because they want the points
Not using housekeeping will (in the end) surely lead to cut positions (jobs) – that’s the deal. Like the choice points vs. environment…
Absolutely. I’m just saying that the individual housekeeper will not earn less because of this. Yes, some people will loose their jobs, but the ones that stay employed do not have to love with the insecurity of going to work every day not knowing how many hours they will get paid for. Of course, it’s still someone’s job at risk, which is regrettable
…or housekeeping will work half-time, so that’s a direct impact to everyone involved!
Yes, definitely possible, but with European labour regulations it is usually very difficult to change people’s contracts to half-time, as unions will not allows this. Laying people off outright is also difficult, so usually, they would just not replace people who have retire/left.
But essentially, we agree that MAGC has negative effects on employment and maybe we should be less greedy and not take that option
In general I agree to your points! But there is no big problem (even in EU) to change or cancel contracts in case of less work to do.
This is the problem with the green movement. It’s too easy for campaigns to be dressed up as “saving the earth”, when really, it’s all about money.
I really *really* disagree with this sentiment. So what if someone makes money from a greener choice? Is it illegal to make money to make the world a better place?
If not making the room does absolutely nothing besides cutting the hours of these staffs, then Marriott is lying and we should punish (boycott?) it. However, the fact is: making a room does increase the environmental impact of your travel. Thus, not making the room *will* help the environment. And what’s wrong with you getting a few pennies and Marriott improve its bottom line?
Should we ban all activities that have both economic and social consequences? Let’s ban micro loans: how dare those fat cats make money from social projects? Let’s ban car pools: how dare those people drive a bit faster than everyone else and save space and CO2? You see what I mean.
Essentially, what you are asking people to do is: pay the housekeepers to pollute the environment. If you like that, I bet you love those rhetoric about coals! Let’s pay those plants to pollute more! Hey, while we are at it, I suggest we hire some people to cut down national parks! Burn those stupid trees to the ground and create jobs, man! Jobs jobs jobs jobs!
Nowhere did I say anything should be banned or made illegal. While it is disingenuous, and I don’t like that aspect of it, companies will, and frequently do, use green issues to sway people, whether you like that or not.
John, your understand of basic economics is, well, tragic. Please read “Basic Economics” by Thomas Sowell and then come back and revisit this topic.
You have issue with workers earning a living wage rather than relying on government assistance?
There are more than two options you know. It’s not just pay people more OR the gocergover has to give them money…
Your comment reinforces my original assertion. Please, read some books on basic economics. This is a blind spot for you. Also, Stan t is right, you’ve set up a false dichotomy in your response. So, in addition to economics, I politely recommend some study on basic logic.
It is 20 years or so from my micro and macroeconomics classes.
I do believe, however, that if you pay and treat your employees well they inturn will take care of your customers that will on the long run make your shareholders pleased as well.
On this, we agree. However, to provide a service that your customers do not value doesn’t make sense. To advocate that a business continue to provide a service because someone performs that service doesn’t make sense. If hotels can reduce their labor needs by removing a service that customers don’t value, they absolutely should.
Sowell??;) The one who compared Obama’s supporters to Hitler’s crowds?;) Oh well, toutes proportions gardées…
So… we should get rid of ‘do not disturb’ signs as well!! Because those are taking away work too… can you believe that hotels even have those signs? Not cleaning a room AND not compensating guests for the lack of service. Horrible hotels.
I never choose the “green” option, as not really green. And frankly the points aren’t worth not having clean towels, which is one of the perks of staying at a hotel.
Now that I know it is cutting into staff wages, it won’t even be a consideration.
No matter where you are or whether you have union housekeepers or not, changing sheets and towels daily is an enormous waste of water, soap, electricity and manpower. If I wouldn’t do it at home, I wouldn’t do it elsewhere. I mean, why? Many extra plastic bottles of shampoo etc wasted too and that’s a terrible shame. Should Marriott be pocketing the extra dollars? No, but maybe this practice IS keeping the overall room cost down because otherwise they would be rising faster. Paying staff to do things the customer doesn’t want or need is a very bad idea. Particularly if the only reason they’re doing it is to have extra work hours and harm the planet at the same time.
But then after a 3-day or a week’s stay, the housekeeper’s will need to spend more hours using more water, more electricity cleaning after you.
Also most of the time if you leave half-full shampoo bottles out housekeeping won’t replace them with new ones either.
And to add to this. If you stay enough in hotels, you should know that policy is that if you leave your towel on a rail, it means do not replace.
It doesn’t change that fact that they still come in and ‘clean’ a room that I do not want or need to be cleaned. All this does is raise room rates for everyone to pay wages on unwanted labor and waste water, soap and electricity.
Not true. They still only have to replace the sheets and towels once and I am not a messy person so the room is just as neat after one day or one week. I change the sheets and towels once a week at home so I expect the same when I travel. Anything else is an unnecessary waste. More than half the time, I see they take the old shampoo/lotion/conditioner bottles and leave new ones rather than letting me use up the old.
The problem is that not everyone is as neat and tidy as you. I know many people who would leave absolute messes because they always thought one of the perks of a hotel was not having to pick up after themselves.
Well then, perhaps they should be the ones paying the extra for the housekeeping since they’re the ones who want it. I’d rather have less housekeeping and cheaper rates rather than subsidizing the cost of slobs! 🙂 I’d make a terrible socialist.
As I posted in the article about the cut from 500 to ~167 spg points, that’s basically no incentive at all anymore. I was a fairly regular user of MAGC but won’t be opting for it anymore.
If you don’t choose MAGC you’re letting a stranger total access to your room and if you don’t tip them your toothbrush goes into the toilet.
Well, looks like I wll not use it today (I’m at IHG hotel, where they also have this option) if this is bad for staff.
Here’s the deal – I don’t want cleaners in my room anyway. Frankly it creeps me out, it’s just another security exposure, and one I don’t need because frankly I am not a pig and do not need my room made up every single day. I ALWAYS out a placard on my door, the entire length of my stay. When they have the “green choice”, I always take it.
If I was staying in a room for 2 weeks straight??? Sure, go for it. But I will never understand why people feel they need a room cleaned daily.
I agree. No matter where you are or whether you have union housekeepers or not, changing sheets and towels daily is an enormous waste of water, soap, electricity and manpower. Many extra plastic bottles of shampoo etc wasted too and that’s a terrible shame. Should Marriott be pocketing the extra dollars? No, but maybe this practice IS keeping the overall room cost down because otherwise they would be rising faster. Paying staff to do things the customer doesn’t want or need is a very bad idea. Particularly if the only reason they’re doing it is to have extra work hours and harm the planet at the same time.
Given the number of times I stay in hotels, often for three or more nights, I usually tape the DND sign to the door conspicuously (as they tend to fall off whenever the door opens and closes), and will simply either check in with the housekeeper or leave a note on the door to leave an extra towel, TP, etc in a laundry bag on the door handle, and then tip the housekeeper when I see them at the cart, or get the name of the housekeeper for my floor from the front desk and leave a tip for them in an envelope at the housekeeping office.
And here I was thinking that taking MAGC in the past was also giving housekeepers a bit more time per room on the other rooms they have to work on. So much for that then, and especially not now that the reward has been lowered.
I get it now. The “green” choice isn’t about saving the environment. The “green” refers to cold hard cash which, interestingly, applies to a lot of so-called ‘enviro’ programs.