The Unsung Work of the Hotel Housekeeper

I'm on a business trip in Milan and working on deadline in my high-rise hotel room one morning when the doorbell rings. It's the housekeeper, hauling a heavy cart of amenities and cleaning supplies. Slightly annoyed by her arrival, I ask if she can come back later. She apologizes, smiling. I hear her go to the next room, where she's also turned away, less politely.

It's easy to forget that, at many hotels, housekeepers have to clean hundreds of rooms every day, and at each one they're at the mercy of the guest's mood and schedule. They're typically among the lowest ranking and lowest paid members of a hospitality staff and are often subjected to intensive background checks before being hired. They perform some of the riskiest and most physically demanding tasks in the industry, which can expose them to toxic chemicals or require them to be alone in a room with a stranger. And yet whenever anything goes wrong—laundry isn't delivered on time or a belonging goes missing—we fault them. It's time we stop taking housekeepers for granted and acknowledge all the hard work—seen and unseen—that goes into the job. If you're in a tipping country, do your housekeeping team the courtesy of tipping them. And hang the "Do Not Disturb" or "No Cleaning Needed" sign on your door. If you don't have one, tell the housekeeper yourself. So what if you have to reuse a towel or miss out on a mint? The best turndown amenity, guaranteed to result in a good night's sleep, is a clean conscience.