In a recent column, travel writer for MSNBC, Christopher Elliott, reported on the demands of housekeeping staff and the frustrations those demands might cause hotel guests. He went on to identify six steps vitisors could take to reduce those headaches and help out the housekeeping staff at the same time. Cleaners can review these steps in an effort to better service their hotel guests. The article read:

Hotels, like other businesses, are constantly trying to improve the efficiency of their work force. A skilled manager can save thousands of dollars in labor over the period of several months by skimming just a few seconds off the time it takes to service a room, although the results are not always as productive as they expected.

At a time when the lodging industry is raking in record profits — it earned an eye-popping $48 billion in 2007 — the pressure to squeeze a little extra work from their staff, and improve on last year’s numbers, is particularly intense.

But that’s not the only reason that more doors are being left ajar and guests are being shooed into the hallway. At the risk of oversimplifying this problem, it often just comes down to bad communication. And I’m not necessarily thinking of English-speaking managers who can’t communicate with non-native-speaking housekeepers, but also guests who simply refuse to talk with either.

Between the rush to clean rooms and this apparent communication gap are all the makings of some very dissatisfied hotel guests, not to mention exhausted hotel employees. You don’t have to end up as an angry customer. Here are six tips for avoiding housekeeping hell:

1. Three words: do not disturb — The best way to keep a housekeeper from barging in on your room is to hang the “do not disturb” sign on your door.
2. Mention your housekeeping preferences in your guest profile — It can’t hurt to let a hotel representative know your preferences and to specifically ask about a notation being made in your profile regarding your housekeeping needs.
3. Don’t give them a reason to visit your room — Not every hotel employee that intrudes into the privacy of your quarters is there to clean. There are maintenance people, technicians, managers and ... the dreaded minibar police.
4. Do it yourself and help save the environment — Unless I’m on an extended stay, I prefer to reuse my towels, make my own bed and keep the housekeepers out of my room.
5. Reward good behavior — There’s no rule that you have to wait until the end of your stay before tipping your housekeeper. If your maid is behaving, why not reward her — or him — by leaving a little something in the envelope before leaving?
6. And punish bad behavior — Withholding a tip, reporting the employee to a manager and complaining to headquarters are just a few of the choices you have as a disgruntled visitor.

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