Actually signing up for and taking one of my own tours gives me a very important insight into the day-to-day lives of our tour members. Is every day’s itinerary designed to get the absolute maximum experience for our travelers? Are the gluten-free folks being taken care of? Is the bus comfortable? When it comes to hotels, is “characteristic” coming at the expense of “comfort”? How’s the guide connecting? Three days into this tour, it’s clear to me: Our guides and tour operations staff have this one nailed.
After a busy day of sightseeing, most Americans need their Wi-Fi fix to be in touch with life back home. In remote areas, Wi-Fi can be iffy. Very often, a hotel provides it, but all the ancient stony walls mean that it works best in the living room. So, typically, after dinner, it’s the ritual gathering of the iPads and laptops by the fireplace like this.
Travelers know they are taking a toll on the environment by jetting around the world. They want to minimize their impact in little ways. All over the world, hotels have put up stickers like this one in the bathrooms — promising that to help save the planet, you can minimize needlessly washing things by hanging up your towel to drip-dry and re-use another day. If you want a fresh towel, just throw the dirty one on the floor. Most of us appreciate this opportunity — small as it may be — to save a little energy by reusing our towels. And so, for years, I’ve carefully hung my towel back up. But I can’t remember a hotel that followed through with their offer. Housekeepers are hell-bent on replacing everything, as if that’s the way to win a traveler’s approval. Please, hotels: Tell your staff to let us re-use our towels. It helps assuage our climate-change guilt. What’s your take on this?
We have found the same to be true no matter where we are visiting, including the US. We are happy to hang our towels and do so. Nearly always new ones are left neatly folded on the racks or counters the next day. Is there really anything we can do? Yes, the guilt…….
We just returned from three weeks in the UK, staying in a variety of small hotels (mostly as recommended in Rick’s guidebooks). We did indeed wind up with fresh towels each day, in some cases because there wasn’t any space in the tiny bathroom to hang used ones to dry.
It had been a few years since we traveled outside North America and we forgot that washcloths are considered to be personal items and are not provided in most “modest” hotels in the UK and Europe. The “upside” of our oversight is that my husband finally tried using a “puff”, because it was easier to find one of those to purchase than a washcloth, and liked it!
Thanks so much for this blog, Rick — your tidbits of information, delightful photos and short videos have become a welcome part of my day! Definitely keep on traveling…
I travel pretty much every week for business, and the first thing I do upon entering my room is hang the ‘Do not distrub’ sign, and it stays put all week. I simply do not make enough of a mess in my room over three nights, to warrant any cleaning. As for leisure travel, the same thing pretty much applies, even when my wife and sometimes even kids are with me.
Most of the Rick Steves approved hotels do have pretty small baths. So we try to hang them up but if they are over the shower or anything they get taken. Also when you travel and Pack the Rick Steves way, you come home with very little laundry to wash, so that is saving too!
We just returned from two weeks in Ireland and I must say that this is the very first time we didn’t get clean towels when we hung them on the racks. A very pleasant change! We found Ireland to be exactly as advertised! The people are fabulous and the countryside wonderful. Loved using our Rick Steves’ guidebook.
In B&Bs and guest houses we always hang our towels, and most of the time they leave them for us. On those occasions we stay in big chain hotels (the Sheraton, Holiday Inn), I get new towels every night to avoid housekeeping being laid off.
Also, I was told that wherever you stay, they will change every towel before the next guests have the room, so feel free to use however many towels are issued at the start of your stay.
I’m with Mike, I also hang the Do Not Disturb sign every time I check into a hotel as I’ve never really required cleaning on any trip up to 4 or so nights, and it’s more homey to return to how I’ve sloppily arranged my things on the floor, desk, etc.
I too like to reuse my towels. And many times the only way to insure that I don’t get replacement towels (and anything else) is to hang the Do Not Disturb sign.
That anything else is the soap provided by the hotel. Almost all the time I have opened up the soap to use and the next day it was replaced. I had barely used it and it gets replaced.
To be fair I had just gotten back from two weeks in Europe and only once did my barely used soap get replaced. I did get new soap but the barely used one stayed around except for one time.
Oh, and I’m allergic to Wheat/Gluten too.
I totally agree with Rick, traveling is a priviledge and we should respect that anyway we can. if that means hanging up your towels to save water, then so be it..
‘Just got back from London and for the first time, stayed in a hotel that did leave our hung towels. The IBIS hotel was tidy and efficient and stuck to the sign they post about those towels. Maybe this is true of their whole chain?
It’s quite sad to see these people sitting playing on their ipads & smartphones. They should be in a local pub or a cafe getting in touch with the locals. Europe through the Back Door is all about being with the ‘locals’ not playing on their gadgets. Have a pint or whiskey with a local & chat, & try to forget about home for a bit. People are way to obsessed with the smartphones & ipads.
I agree completely, Joe. What’s the point of being overseas if you’re not taking in the local culture? There is sooo much to see and do in Europe that I always feel like I need to come back to do the things I didn’t have time for. What a waste to spend that precious time tethered to a device!
Reza
I’m going to disagree with Joe and Reza. These folks have spent the day traveling and seeing people. In about an hour they will likely be in that pub. What they are doing now, is the equivalent of writing postcards home; telling everyone about their great trip. Sure, some are probably dealing with home issues, but the ability to deal with those issues in a timely manner is probably what let them leave home in the first place. And, on my last trip to Scotland, after a full day of walking, and after a lovely relaxing shower, I loved coming down to the Whisky Bar with my computer with my newly loaded photos and picking out the best pix to share with my friends as we all enjoyed a pint. Then a lovely dinner with a late night whisky. It was great. In the deep dark olden days people were also tethered to a “device.” It was called a pen. It was used to write lengthy letters home.
Sorry, Pam, I stand by my original post. If you look carefully at the photo, it’s broad daylight outside. When people wrote postcards home (and some still do), they would often do that while on the bus, or late at night before bed, to maximize their time in a foreign country.
Reza
Sorry Reza, my mom still does postcards and she does them right before dinner. And this is Scotland. You do know that sun still shines at 9 PM, right? Was woken up by the sun at 2 AM in Orkney, which granted is a bit further north than where Rick is now. Besides, why not live and let live? No need to impose your idea of fun on other people, right? It’s their money and their time.
I’m delighted to reuse my towel but the hotel has to give me a place to hang it out so it can dry and not mildew. Here’s my gripe: most hotel bathrooms need more towel racks and/or hooks so we CAN hang up our towels to dry out for the next use. The shower curtain rod can work but far better would be long enough towel bars. Hooks and nooks to store toiletries are always in very good taste!
I agree to live and let live; I just think it’s sad.
I pack a suction-cup hook and an over-the-door hook to increase opportunities to hang my stuff up. Also, love the Scandanavian-style towels with hanging loops – so much easier to let dry.