Comments on: I-team story on dirty hotel glasses: How would you respond?

By: David

David — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:49:40 +0000

Hi
Great video.
This work should be kept going and keep being shown.
Perhaps then hotels would do more to check staff and their cleanliness towards their paying customers.
Keep up the good work.

David

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:28:13 +0000

I just became sick during a stay at the Embassy Suites in Charlotte, NC. I returned to my room mid-day, and my room was not cleaned, so I decided to continue to work in my room until early evening. The housekeeper came into my room, began to wipe the bathroom down with a “white dirty sponge”, then took the used glasses and coffee cup into the bathroom, which I thought was strange, washed them with the same sponge that was used on the tub, toilet, sink, and placed them back with new covers.
I think the lesson that this road warrior has learned, if the housekeeping carts in the morning has no cup holders on them, then request paper or plastic cups!

By: The Publicity Hound’s Blog » Dirty hotel glasses story on D.C. radio show today

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:50:40 +0000

[...] in Laurel, Maryland, for letting me know that the story on dirty hotel glasses, which I wrote about several weeks ago, was featured this morning on “The Steve Harvey Morning [...]

By: Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistant — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:59:34 +0000

Fess up and comment it was all the employees fault.We can’t possibly watch everyone that works here all the time. LOL You know that’s what they will say. :}

By: KLyK

KLyK — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 04:53:06 +0000

Should I have the leeway as a manager of the hotel to put policy in place, this is what I would do and say:

“Since the advent of the videocamera, footage has been captured in every industry in every type of establishment catching employees who act in ways contrary to their training and to the policy of their employers. We are glad that it has come to our attention that we are not immune to such behavior. This footage has prompted us to enact a new procedure at our hotel which will ensure all of our guests a restful stay.

The best way to fight fire is with fire…video with video. We are adding a video camera to the uniform of each member of our cleaning staff. If at any time you question what happened in your room before or during your stay, we will be happy to review the tape with you. We are confident that you will be impressed with the level of service with which your room was serviced.”

I chose this approach because it doesn’t focus on the specific incident which is just one small one that we worry about when going to a hotel. Were the sheets changed? Did they rifle through my suitcase? Was the tub scrubbed? The floor vacuumed? This solution addresses them all and keeps employees on their best behavior at the same time. A bonus would go to employees whose tapes are reviewed and shown to have done a satisfactory job.

By: MichaelS

MichaelS — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:09:03 +0000

When you get nailed like that, you have to comment – and be cooperative with the media. If I had been in the hotel manager’s place, and taken a call from the reporter, my first comment to her would have been, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” Rather than dodging the issue, which just looks worse, they should have emphasized they take the health and welfare of their guests seriously and will work to immediately fix the problem.
In an official statement to the TV station, the manager should have made these 3 points:
(1) Accept responsibility, but also try to mitigate damage to the company by downplaying the hotel’s responsibility in favor of the individual employees. – Point out that ‘the hotel has official sanitation and safety guidelines in place that specifically require each housekeeper to report all used glasses to the hotel’s industrial dishwasher for sterilization, prior to being reused’ and the ‘housekeeper shown in this video is violating hotel policy and will be terminated immediately.’
(2) Be proactive. Take care of the problem. – Announce to the media that your hotel will ‘launch our own internal investigation of this reported problem to prevent any future malfeasance’ and will ‘immediately discipline any housekeeping staff found to have violated any part of the hotel’s sanitation and safety policies.’ In addition to this, announce further actions to show you will fix the problem, including that you are ‘immediately suspending the use of glassware in the hotel rooms, and will substitute sealed, single-use plastic cups instead’ and ‘hotel management will personally interview each member of our housekeeping staff to thoroughly review the company’s official guidelines on sanitation and safety and require them to sign each page of the corporate policy before being permitted to service guest rooms.’ You could also provide a number for consumers to call if they have further questions for the hotel and handle as many of these calls personally as you can. This wouldn’t be announced publicly, but the manager should also paln to comp or partially comp future hotel stays to guests that call to complain.
(3) Emphasize the hotel’s standing and credibility. – Remind the public that the hotel has been around since whenever, and point out any distinctions that might be relevant to the issue of the hotel’s credibility, responsibility in the community, etc.

By: George Torok

George Torok — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:53:53 +0000

Initial response from the hotel spokesperson should have been, “I am concerned and we will investigate to learn if this is just an isolated incident.”

“Concern” demonstrates interest and empathy without admitting anything.
“Investigate” demonstrates action.
“Just an isolated incident” are the last words in this quote and thus more likely to stick in people’s minds. We want to downplay the issue.

Next Step
Assuming that is a regular practice this is a marketing opportunity for the hotel. And the first one to move wins.

Remove all the glasses from all the rooms and replace them with individually-wrapped disposable cups. Place cards in the rooms that state, “Individually wrapped for your protection.”

Record the removal of glasses and replacement with the new cups on video. Post the video on You Tube. Tell the I team about the change and congratulate them on bringing this overlooked antiquated industry practice to your attention. Invite the media to visit the hotel and see for themselves.

After thought
This also raises the issue of hidden cameras in hotel rooms – another can of worms.

By: Hannah

Hannah — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:46:29 +0000

I certainly would make a statement … maybe something like this:

We’ve hired an outside firm to access our housekeeping teams. Once the assessment is complete, we will design and implement a training program that will assure that our corporate health and cleanliness standards are implemented in each facility. Additionally, we are hiring more supervisory staff to work with our housekeepers to make sure that procedures are followed precisely. We will call a press conference to report our findings and announce our solution. Please know that this is an important issue for us. We will fix this problem, starting right now.

By: Melissa Wadsworth

Melissa Wadsworth — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:13:36 +0000

Top hotel managements needs to get with the training supervisors for these housekeeping staffs to review procedural manuals and training procedures. Management should find out if they have in writing that glasses and cups are to be taken out of the room and to the kitchen for sanitary cleaning at a proper temperature. If not, this step needs to be added to the training for housekeepers. Then, regardless of what is “supposed” to have happened they need to admit that obviously the standards to which the hotel hold themselves have not been met in this case and that appropriate steps will be taken to remendy the issue. The steps should be outlined, if possible. Guests should be appologized to. Of course, the hotel’s legal representation will want to apprise the hotel management of any legal ramifications, but this should not prevent the hotel from taking action steps, such as those suggested above.

By: Shelley Lieber

Shelley Lieber — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 22:46:42 +0000

I would suggest that hotel management take a cue from Oprah and how she handled the sexual abuse issue at her girls’ school. They should take immediate action to review the situation and then take appropriate measures to replace the staff responsible for the unacceptable service. Additional measures could be taken to provide sealed sanitary wipes or sprays in the bathrooms so that guests could swipe the faucets and other surfaces that touch the skin. (Perhaps replacing glasses with disposable cups would be more user friendly under the circumstances–of course, that could lead to criticism about not being eco-friendly, but at least it wouldn’t spread disease.) Regardless of the measures taken, the hotel management would be best served by responding to the public rather than “no comment.”