do not disturb

Hotels are a huge waste of well, crap. The cute little shampoo bottles, the soap, the plastic cups covered in more plastic so you know they are clean. Crap crap crap. Most of it gets thrown away after you leave.

But wait, you leave for a few hours and come back, wanting to grab that cup you unwrapped and what has happened, a new, wrapped one is in its place. The maid has been in and cleaned up, and she not only took all your disposable goodnesses, but you have fresh towels, washcloths, and even bed sheets. I actually think this would be wonderful if things got magically replaced like this, but alas, no. Magic? Ha! All that crap she just took from your room is going to be washed. Yep, with lots of water and chemicals.

When I went on choir tour for the first time without parents, my roommates were scared on the maid stealing things. So, we took the cute little do not disturb sign and hung it on our door. Even since I have not so much been scared of my things going missing, but afraid as to what was really going on in my room while I was gone. When I go out now by myself, I still hang that sign on the door. It makes me feel much better when I come back to a room with my bed still a mess.

I was horrified on my latest trip to New York. I stayed at a hostile, with bunk beds and fresh towels waiting on my bed. I don't know why I felt so safe. I guess it was because I was with a bunch of my fellow students (10 guys, one other girl) and I was use to letting all of my things just sit around like we do at school, leaving tons of valuable things out. It somehow never occurred to me that they were going to wash my things that day, I thought they would wait for us to leave. But when I came back, at 11 at night and my bed was remade, and a fresh towel was waiting I was a bit disturbed. I hadn't left it in a very clean manner, the towel mixed up with my clothes from the night before all laying under the bed. I didn't know what had happened, but nothing seemed to go missing, and so I guess nothing funny happened. But honestly? I didn't use the washcloth. I didn't even use the blanket, it had been folded at the end of the bed and because of the warm night (we wouldn't open the window, the guy near it was afraid of falling out) I think it just ended up staying there the whole night. It slightly bugged me, it was all going to be washed, and I totally could have used it for another week or so, or at least the second night I was there.

Not all hotels are bad. Some have been trying to do things better. Such as installing low flow water features. And some out there are really doing their best to cut down on what they do.

My tip, find these places that make an effort. Or, request the place you stay at try to do something. Or, just put that do not disturb sign up they will wait until you leave to re-crap the place. Oh, and those disposable things, you can take them home and reuse them, they are pretty sturdy.