In a Facebook group for Marriott Bonvoy members, a person shares an interesting notice they saw at a Marriott property, and it got me wondering (thanks to LoyaltyLobby for flagging this)…
In this post:
Hotel threatens $20-50 charge for dirty towels
The Aloft Rogers-Bentonville in Arkansas reportedly has a laminated sign in guest rooms, explaining the “Hotel Towel Policy.” Here’s the content of the notice:
To maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and comfort for all guests, we kindly ask you to take note of our towel policy:
- Normal Use: Towels are provided for your convenience and are intended for drying off after a shower.
- Stains: Please inform our housekeeping staff if a towel becomes stained. We understand that accidents happen and will do our best to clean the towel.
- Severe Stains: A replacement fee of $20-50 per towel may be applied to your bill for severe stains that cannot be removed through normal cleaning processes.
- Avoiding Charges: To avoid any charges, please use towels responsibly and avoid using them for activities that may cause stains (e.g., removing makeup, or cleaning shoes).
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
I’ve gotta say, in all my years of staying at hotels, I’ve never seen a sign like this. That being said, from researching the topic online, it seems like there are a fair number of hotels with this type of policy.
My take on this hotel’s aggressive towel policy
My first instinct is of course that this is completely ridiculous, but let’s try to talk through it a bit more than that.
The first thing I find to be in bad faith about this initiative is the amount of the charges being threatened. The hotel wants to charge $20-50 per towel for replacement, in the event of an accident? Aloft is a limited service brand, and hotels buy towels at heavily discounted prices, given the volume. Aloft can probably get close to 10 standard sized hotels for $50. Is the hotel trying to just recoup its costs, or is it trying to turn this into a revenue stream?
Now, to look at it from the hotel’s perspective, there are some things that guests can take with them when leaving a hotel, and some things they can’t. Towels fit in the latter category, so I suppose there’s a reasonable expectation that items that can’t be taken home should be returned in decent condition. Like, if you smash the TV or lamp in your room, you’d expect to get charged for that.
But I also feel like wear and tear on some things is a cost of doing business, and dirty towels should be among those. If someone starts bleeding, or if a child has an “accident” that needs to be cleaned up, or if you’re trying to clean up a food mess, then using a towel doesn’t seem like an unreasonable move.
There’s a difference between using towels for painting classes (fully knowing what’s going to happen), vs. responding to an unexpected situation with towels.
That brings me to my next question — is this really such a big issue that it’s worth it for the hotel to put energy into chasing down guests? Like, even if the hotel wanted to charge for towels, how exactly does the towel tracking work, and how often does this end in an argument between a hotel employee and guest?
All of that leads me to believe that the sign is more a threat than anything, intended to encourage people to use towels as “responsibly” as possible. The high price tag is probably encouraged to make guests even more cautious about how they use towels.
I can’t imagine it’s worth the effort to go after people in this way. Then again, we live in an era where the concept of hospitality really is lost on some hotel owners (while many hotel groups do nothing to enforce standardized practices).
Bottom line
An Aloft is threatening to charge guests $20-50 per dirty towel. The hotel suggests that towels are only for drying off, and using them for other purposes could lead to a fine. While I can appreciate a hotel not wanting a huge number of towels ruined, this just seems to me like a very inhospitable policy.
What do you make of the concept of hotels charging for “dirty” towels (or at least threatening to charge)?
I think if hotels have such a policy, then they should define what they mean for each category. I could see some guests having arguments of whether a towel is really as stained as the hotel claims. I also think it depends on the brand. AC Marriott, Moxy, Aloft, for example, perhaps not reasonable for this policy but it comes more expected than at a luxury property. St Regis or Ritz for example, it could be offensive.
I don't blame the hotel one bit. If a woman wants to use one of their towels to remove their makeup it's not gonna come out of that towel. People are so inconsiderate nowadays. But the prices they say they are gonna charge is ridiculous. We all know that their towels are cheap towels, they're not luxurious or anything. The most I would pay for one of those is $10 and that's being generous.
Ben, the photo subtitled "This hotel is crossing the line" shows a Moxy, not an AC Hotel. :-)
As Ross says, Bentonville, not a popular place for travellers, I agree.
But certainly this Aloft has picked up the Sam Walton Walmart way, control the towels, and charge for towels.
Sounds like a Walmart hotel.
Whoever has been a supplier to Walmart will know exactly what I mean. Is Marriott going Walmart?
So, the housekeeping staff is instructed, I suppose, to hold up each dirty towel in the room they're cleaning and determine if it's permanently stained or not? ok!
The logistics of this is a complete nightmare. Every guest would need to inspect every single towel in their room immediately after check-in to make sure there isn't pre-existing stain (similar to how you'd have to inspect a rental car for dents, except this is for $1 towels). The hotel would also be incentivize to recycle worn, stained towels to booby trap their customers for more revenue, since they lose nothing for trying.
How about...
The logistics of this is a complete nightmare. Every guest would need to inspect every single towel in their room immediately after check-in to make sure there isn't pre-existing stain (similar to how you'd have to inspect a rental car for dents, except this is for $1 towels). The hotel would also be incentivize to recycle worn, stained towels to booby trap their customers for more revenue, since they lose nothing for trying.
How about I get to charge the hotel for every single dirty towel I find right after check-in? Then I'd be game.
So just like I take pictures of the rental car when I pick it up, I'm taking pics of the towels in the hotel!
Using a bath towel to clean up a "food mess" is indeed unreasonable. I don't know how you could justify that?! Just call house cleaning, or use a newspaper. You wouldn't use your home bath towel to clear up after a McDonalds or KFC accident. Why would you think it would be "reasonable" in a hotel setting???
"Yeah but a bald eagle shat on the towel and the stain kinda looks like Jesus".
Star spangled banner starts playing, Macy's Parade suddenly happens with tons of entitled fat Karens in Wal-Mart shopping carts driving by and a stuffed turkey flies over the scene, firing some AK-47s. Then suddenly Kenneth Copeland calls and demands half a million dollar from everyone who looks at it because he's the self-declared owner of the religion brand...
"Yeah but a bald eagle shat on the towel and the stain kinda looks like Jesus".
Star spangled banner starts playing, Macy's Parade suddenly happens with tons of entitled fat Karens in Wal-Mart shopping carts driving by and a stuffed turkey flies over the scene, firing some AK-47s. Then suddenly Kenneth Copeland calls and demands half a million dollar from everyone who looks at it because he's the self-declared owner of the religion brand and he needs a new private jet.
It just doesn't get more American than just charging or threatening to charge customers outrageous amounts for highly subjective 'damages' or hidden 'services' which they didn't ask for, because making money for the shareholders is more important than reason, common sense or empathy.
ps. Most hotels already have (and had for decades) a policy about damaged or stolen goods from the room in place. Abusing linen and towels is usually part of that. Explicitly putting $50 for towels is just needless provocation.
What next in America when it comes to travel? And how come they have not suggested a similar charged for bed linen which can attract certain other stains? Bloody nonsense.
I thought towels were included in the resort fee-facility fee-destination fee?
In America:
- Don't get sick, because you can't afford heathcare
- Don't even have a nosebleed when you're at a hotel, because it can cost you
- Don't die though...because you can't even afford your funeral
If people really have something very dirty or staining to wipe, if the towel will cost them 50USD they will just use something else instead, simple as that. Will only backfire on the hotel to something even more costly...
Decent bath towels for home use cost the better part of $50 or even more. Yes Hotels buy in bulk but their stuff is also typically higher quality because its commercial use. Don't forget they have to last a reasonable amount of time being washed every day.
$20-50 probably is what it costs to replace them - perhaps with some sort of convenience fee.
You are insane. No Aloft is spending anything close to that per towel.
You must prefer to insert $10 notes in your candelabra, instead of candles, if you are spending $50 for a quality towel. We certainly buy quality towels for our home but the most we have spent is about $20, and we don't get a volume discount as would a Marriott-affiliated property.
I buy amazing bath towels, the really nice Pottery Barn ones that are incredibly soft and fluffy and last for YEARS. They are $40 each. I've stayed in the best hotels in the world and none of them have ever had towels as nice as these.
While I understand the upset at charging those who would use towels for a cut or a child vomiting or some other unexpected calamity, I also understand that there are people who have no concept that they are using other people's property. We run a property management company and have seen so many cases of towels being used to remove makeup that is beyond cleaning. Cleaning outside equipment including cars and even engines/oil leaks. You...
While I understand the upset at charging those who would use towels for a cut or a child vomiting or some other unexpected calamity, I also understand that there are people who have no concept that they are using other people's property. We run a property management company and have seen so many cases of towels being used to remove makeup that is beyond cleaning. Cleaning outside equipment including cars and even engines/oil leaks. You know darn well that if the towels were their own property, they would not treat them this way. If these sorts of things are what the hotel is charging for, then I say good for them.
How much compensation did they demand corporate to give them?
"Now, to look at it from the hotel’s perspective"
Why are we subconsciously trained to always think of the poor corporations who are trying to gouge you. This is an out and out money grab, and won't be surprised if Marriott wanted to give this a trail run at a handful of places to see how it is received and than roll it out for all locations. This is a direct result of less competition when you create a few massive players in an industry.
Y’all really out here carrying the water for these greedy hotel practices? Mid
> A replacement fee of $20-50 per towel may be applied to your bill for severe stains that cannot be removed through normal cleaning processes.
Setting aside whether the amount or the fee is excessive, I think you're being misleading when you call this a fee for "dirty" towels. Based on the description and the examples of guests using towels to wipe their shoes and remove makeup it's a fee for "ruined"/"destroyed" towels.
Presently in Bentonville.
I suspect they are really tired of people using hotel towels for mountain bike cleaning or wiping mud off their legs.
Stayed at the Xian Hilton 10 years ago and got charged $5 for a plain white washcloth I used to clean up a red wine spill. That's on me. I shouldn't have taken a glass of lounge wine back to the room.
Also a bad idea was renting a tandem bike to ride the city wall on a sunny afternoon. As with tandem kayaks, those things are divorce-makers!
Since no one would go to Bentonville but Walmart company travelers, I checked for prices at Walmart for towels. The most expensive I could find there was a set of 4 for $40
Bentonville is actually very nice. Pretty, mild climate, trails and art everywhere
REALLY sick of the dumb “trails” thing. Yeah, there are some perfectly nice bike paths in Bentonville and surrounding, and a very few “parks” that have a koupla hills. All the rest of it is marketing schtick - about what you’d expect for the home of WalMart.
Ross clearly hasn't been there and doesn't know what Northwest Arkansas has to offer
You obviously have no knowledge of the world-famous Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is located in Bentonville. Its architecture and its art collection have been admired and enjoyed by millions of visitors. Crystal Bridges is also known for the experiences it provides to Arkansas school children, at no cost to the students and their schools.
In 2019 I stayed in a rental flat in Bentonville for a month. I am not affiliated with...
You obviously have no knowledge of the world-famous Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is located in Bentonville. Its architecture and its art collection have been admired and enjoyed by millions of visitors. Crystal Bridges is also known for the experiences it provides to Arkansas school children, at no cost to the students and their schools.
In 2019 I stayed in a rental flat in Bentonville for a month. I am not affiliated with Walmart other than occasionally shopping there. I had a wonderful vacation spending many hours each week at Crystal Bridges, shopping at the weekly farmers' market, dining at excellent restaurants, and meeting many kind, welcoming citizens.
Ross, it is obvious that you have never been to Bentonville. Or perhaps you were being sarcastic?
Bentonville is Walmart HQ and they are currently adding a 10 building campus to the city. Almost all of the trade labor is coming from out of the area; I manage one of the companies working on the project and we have not been able to secure any local labor for our scope of work and like many others are bringing in teams each week from Tulsa and Kansas City. I suspect that with a...
Bentonville is Walmart HQ and they are currently adding a 10 building campus to the city. Almost all of the trade labor is coming from out of the area; I manage one of the companies working on the project and we have not been able to secure any local labor for our scope of work and like many others are bringing in teams each week from Tulsa and Kansas City. I suspect that with a sharp uptick in construction, etc. workers staying at the limited number of hotels in the city that they may in fact be struggling excessively dirty towels from guests working on the job site all day.
Hi David. Thanks for the information about construction labor being brought in from other cities. In fact, when I was in Bentonville in 2021, I wondered how construction was progressing. For clarification please: would you please explain what you meant by "they may in fact be struggling excessively dirty towels from guests working on the jobsite all day." I do not understand your use of the word "struggling." Are words omitted from your comment? Thank...
Hi David. Thanks for the information about construction labor being brought in from other cities. In fact, when I was in Bentonville in 2021, I wondered how construction was progressing. For clarification please: would you please explain what you meant by "they may in fact be struggling excessively dirty towels from guests working on the jobsite all day." I do not understand your use of the word "struggling." Are words omitted from your comment? Thank you for clarification.
Large hotel chains like Marriott should keep a record of replacement items needed on each guest's account. If it becomes a pattern with a particular guest, do something. Otherwise, the occasional mistake is the cost of doing business, and should be amortized in their pricing model.
Tell us you don’t know how/when amortization is used without telling us you don’t know how/when amortization is used.
Haha what a sick burn, dude! Oh wait...
Amortize: to gradually reduce or write off the cost or value of
The cost of each hotel stay should account for average depreciation of the hotel's assets, e.g. towels.
But you just want to seem smart by quibbling over minutiae. Stick to arguing with Paul Weiss. You two deserve each other.
You look up amortize in the dictionary, quote it, and then write about depreciation. They aren’t the same thing genius, but cute deflection nonetheless.
Fun fact! Amortization has nothing to do with stock or inventory. You sure you’re not another Paul Weiss sock puppet? Because you’re certainly not an accountant.
I guess you are unaware that many words have technical meaning within an industry, and commonplace meaning outside of it (hence my quotation of Merriam-Webster). Everyone understood exactly what I meant because I'm speaking English and not sitting for the Certified Public Asshole exam, which you apparently aced.
But the bigger question is really why you decided to randomly pick a fight on a benign comment. Are you really that bored and insecure?
Some people just don't belong in hotels. I've seen people take the whole bedding set for the fold out bed from a Residence Inn (still in its case) without batting an eye.
In a hotel I stayed at in a tourist city in China, all the furnishings in the room had a price sticker on it. When you went to check out, someone was sent up to your room to inspect it. Anything that was damaged or missing would be charged to your bill before you received it.
Baseball great Yogi Berra once noted that the towels in a particular hotel were so plush that he could hardly close his suitcase. Then, of course, there are the lowlifes who go into an Amex lounge with an empty gym bag only to leave with it stuffed with food.
it is not only ladies. At drive up motel layout especially, we guys need to clean our motorcycles with something, and the white towel is sometimes the only thing available. Responsible guests ask for something else but…
The “only thing available” to clean your motorcycle should be the bike-towel that YOU brought with you. You wouldn’t use your bathroom towels for this. Think about the families who will be using these items the next day. Sheesh.
Even if you are technically liable, you would only owe the hotel the present value of the towel? What is the present value of a used towel? Close to zero…
Ar some point the towel needs to get replaced anyway. I do not want anyone to misuse towels, just use them responsibly like your own.
I’ve been to a few hotels that have small brown hand towels in the bathroom specifically targeted for make up removal. There was also a sign asking guests to only use those towels for that purpose and that using the white towels would result in a room charge.
This is 100% about makeup removal for women. It’s a way to nudge women to use the provided makeup remover wipes rather than the towels. Someone figured this is a better sign than one that says: “Attention Women: you must use makeup remover wipes. If you ruin a towel, we will charge you for it!”
This. Contemporary makeup formulations that stay in place all day can permanently stain towels and bed linens. If you're wearing a product on your face that even an industrial laundry process can't remove from a towel, perhaps you might want to reconsider putting that product on your skin? Just sayin'...
Completely agree.
Why would anyone want to swallow/absorb wax, let alone PFAs?!
If you drop the word “Women,” I think your proposed sign would be fine. Doesn’t matter if the person is a woman, the makeup is the culprit.
No man wears makeup.
So no, the word woman is appropriate.
So... if one of your towels gets excessively dirty, you're better off tossing it in a public bin and grabbing a new, replacement towel from the housekeeping cart while passing by.
I had the same thought!
To likely be considered theft and subject to being caught on hallway camera in the act
Dont try this in certain middle eastern countries unless fine with losing your hands
I think what they are saying is that the towel should not get excessively dirty for their normal usage, at least to the degree that it cannot be washed and reused. I think that is a reasonable idea and they provided those examples, make up removal or cleaning shoes...
They also acknowledged that accidents happen, so if you accidently spill something or if you had to stop the water leak with towels to prevent...
I think what they are saying is that the towel should not get excessively dirty for their normal usage, at least to the degree that it cannot be washed and reused. I think that is a reasonable idea and they provided those examples, make up removal or cleaning shoes...
They also acknowledged that accidents happen, so if you accidently spill something or if you had to stop the water leak with towels to prevent further damage etc. I think you should tell them about it and them accepting those reasons and not charging the guest is a reasonable thing to do as well.
Yes, the notice probably says at least as much about the actions of a minority of guests as about the attitude of the management.
And their action plus Ben's article has educated me about how bad modern make-up is for everything it touches.
Worked in a hotel for many years, so many people use them as a makeup remover it’s crazy! The towels are trash afterwards as it can’t be cleaned to remove the makeup. Like pack wipes just like you pack paper towel wipes.
Small TYPO IN ONE OF THE BULLET POINTS:
As it reads:
"Stains: Please inform our housekeeping staff if a HOTEL becomes stained."
May I suggest:
"Stains: Please inform our housekeeping staff if a TOWEL becomes stained."
Ben, you need a e-mail contact point. If you have one, its buried.
There's no email contact point because Ben simply isn't interested in hearing from you (or any of us).
I continue to go Airbnb for all personal travel. People claim outrage over Airbnb's cleaning fees and yet pay yet one more ridiculous hotel fee or surcharge.
Yeah, because there have been no stories and no property reviews regarding hosts and unreasonable charges for "dirty" or "damaged" items. And that $50 to $150 cleaning fee is really worth it for short stays.
A company that makes billions every year and can’t afford new towels on their own dime? Okay then.
Yeah but those companies don't actually own the properties so they could care less. Likely the property's rules and not Marriott. They only own 2% of Marriott branded hotel buildings.
This is good news. This is a towel replacement fee, not a dirty towel fee.