The new ‘hotel stripping’ trend dividing opinion – so how clean do you leave your room?
COVID has made most of us more conscious of germs while out and about, but some travellers are taking tidying to the extreme.
A new breed of conscientious holidaymakers are strapping on an apron and playing maid while staying in hotels.
Last week, Darren Dowling posted an image to Facebook showing his hotel room etiquette, and it went viral, with members of the public labelling the behaviour extreme.
The photo showed his habit of stripping the sheets from his bed and neatly folding each piece on the mattress before check out. But it turns out, Dowling isn’t alone.
Stephanie Thompson, 50, who lives in Cincinnati, has a check-out cleaning routine that she splits with her husband Jon, to lessen the strain on a hotel’s cleaning staff.
For the past decade, at the end of their travels, Jon arranges the suitcases and checks all the drawers to see if the couple left anything behind.
As that happens, Stephanie strips the bed of its sheets, gathers all the used and unused towels and puts them in the bathtub, and condenses all the trash into one bag and knots it shut.
During their stay, the couple refuses daily housekeeping visits and they leave a $25 (£18) tip at the end with a thank you note.
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Stephanie told The Post “I leave a hand-written note that says, ‘Thank you so much! Have a wonderful day, blessings.’ We’ve been doing it so long, it’s routine.”
She added: “I don’t even know if these people make enough money to even go on a vacation — so their daily life is cleaning up after privileged people.
"My assumption is that there are some times throughout their day where they walk into a room and it’s just disgusting, and they’re depressed.”
Emily Mathison, 34, from New York, agrees, saying that she never thought her habit of helping out at hotels was odd until friends told her otherwise.
She said: “I go to LA one week a month for work, I stay in the same hotel every time, and I tidy my room and get rid of any trash.”
"It’s what my mother does. Also, isn’t it nicer for the chambermaid? I make my bed every day anyway — why change because I’m in a hotel? It’s just what I do at home. Neat and tidy and ship-shape.”
Dede Gotthelf, owner of the in the Hamptons, said that her staff swoons when a guest goes the extra mile.
She said: “While it is their job to clean rooms during and after guest stays, the housekeepers are human beings and very much appreciate people who are considerate and respectful.
“Stripping or re-making the beds is not necessary. But throwing away garbage, mopping up spills, and leaving a room neat and ready for them are very much appreciated.”
“Especially during these times where CDC cleaning protocols and UVC lights take time to prepare for our next guests."
This article was originally published in the and has been reproduced with permission.