This goat is the perfect example of my face this weekend...not a smiling goat.
Although I say I want to travel, spend time off the farm, and explore new areas, the reality, dear reader, is I am a homebody. There is no other place in the world I would rather be than here on my farm with my barnyard family, the land I love, and the people who make me happy. I love participating in The Shaker Woods Festival but hate being away from home. What made it even more unpleasant to be away from home was the service we received at our hotel. I can't get over how very low the bar is now set for what passes as customer service. Sigh.
The hotel where we usually stay during The Shaker Woods Festival was booked a year in advance, so we made a reservation for a "luxury" end hotel in the neighboring town. The hotel is new; everything is clean, fresh, and updated. However, that is where the positive experience ends. I am flabbergasted that hotels no longer offer housekeeping services. Not only do they not offer housekeeping services, but they also discourage the use of daily clean towels, and unless requested, they are not offered. I find this practice unacceptable.
I understand that reusing one's towels saves water and costs and creates less pollution. If I believed for a moment that was the motivation behind this policy, I would be on board. However, a savvy consumer knows that with most prominent brands, the ruling motivation is money. The hotel industry has adopted this policy as its new norm under the guise of saving the environment. The reality is it has found a way to put a propaganda-filled spin on improving its bottom line by cutting corners and guest services. I call bullshit.
Our hotel room was outfitted with a set of towels for each of us. After going to the lobby to get us coffee after the first night, The Bibbed Wonder informed me I would have to request clean towels for what should be a courtesy service to be fulfilled. On our way out the door to the festival, I stopped by the front desk to request clean towels and housekeeping. I was informed that housekeeping is no longer a service that is provided. Employees no longer go into the rooms. As for clean towels being provided, this could only happen if I placed my soiled towels on the floor in the hallway. I was incredulous, but I bit my tongue. I smiled at the woman who clearly did not like her job, told her to have a good day, and was ignored until I moved on. Sigh. I trudged back to our room, gathered the dirty towels, and placed them on the floor before our door.
On the way to the festival, I lamented over the lack of professionalism of the front desk worker who is the face of the hotel, the lack of service, the inflated rate of the room that offers such poor service, and the fact that it is now the norm for hotel guests to be expected to do half the work for the staff, and use "butt towels." I was exasperated, bordering furious. I don't usually lose my cool over such things. Most of the time, I roll with it, understand that rules are in place for a reason, and move on. I was struggling with this one, dear reader. In what universe is it okay for a service industry to not provide any service? Sigh.
With the excitement of the festival, I forgot my indignation over the hotel experience. However, after eight hours on my feet, peopling (a challenge for an introvert), I wanted to shower, put my feet up, and read my book in peace and quiet. The Bean, being a teenager, was not ready to do any of the above. Instead, we had a "Bean Night." The Bean called the shots on where we dined and what we did for the evening. This included eating at a noisy, packed Texas Roadhouse, shopping at Ulta, and trying a new flavor at Handel's Ice Cream. I remember what it was like to be young and have boundless energy, it just seems so long ago. Finally, it was time to go back to the hotel.
A white plastic bag was hanging on our door when we arrived at our room. This was our towel service. It did not escape me that if this company were genuinely concerned about saving the environment, they would not have provided us with towels stuffed into a plastic bag, but I was being petty. (I am not wrong, though) When I took our plastic-covered package into our room and unpacked it, I discovered we had been given one set of towels. There was one washcloth, one bath towel, and one hand towel. Sigh. This would not do. I immediately called the front desk.
I was greeted with a gruff "Front desk." I pleasantly told the front desk manager my name and my room and requested two sets of towels. I was tersely informed, "I can't give you extra towels; it's against company policy." My ire was up, and I was in no mood. Trying to be as pleasant as possible, I explained that it was not extra towels; there were three guests and one set of towels. I was then told with a sigh that if I wanted new towels, I needed to put my dirty ones out in the hall, and they would be replaced. I then equally as tersely explained that I had done that this morning, and only one set of towels was provided. The woman on the other end of the line began to argue with me, and I uncharacteristically cut her off. I said, "Allow me to make this clear to you; there are three people in this room with one washcloth, one bath towel, and one hand towel. It is not extra towels I am asking for; it is what is needed." I was then told to "hold on," and the line went dead. Sigh. Now I was furious.
I am not a rude person by nature. I am not a confrontational person by nature. A severe flaw in my character is I will put up with a lot of rudeness, inconsideration, and nonsense before I lose my cool. My cool was lost. As The Bibbed Wonder laid on the bed quacking at me not to call the front desk back, saying they would rub our "clean towels" on "their junk" on the way up to our room and spit in the coffee machine, along with other non-hygenic nightmares for payback, I continued to dial the front desk. Once again, I was greeted with a gruff "Front desk." I explained who I was and my room number; I had just called about towels, and we were disconnected. I waited a moment and was told, "Yeah, I'm sending towels to your room." Hello, how does that translate from "hold on?" Whatever, I got what I wanted. I grudgingly said, "Thank you," but the front desk worker had already hung up. Sigh.
The sheer ridiculousness of the situation hit me. What if I wanted to take two showers? What if I wanted to shower in the evening and the morning? I would have to use "butt towels." Do they not understand the bacteria load that hangs out in one's butt crack? I don't want to wash my face with a washcloth that was used the night before to wash my butt. A warm, wet environment is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. It's gross. What kind of hotel does not give you extra towels upon request? A bad one. I hate paying for such a poor, lazy, bottom-line feeding service. However, this year, we are over the proverbial barrel.
I told The Bibbed Wonder that we would be renting an Airbnb or VRBO next year. We might as well pay extra, give the money to the little guy, have a place to ourselves, not have to listen to a children's birthday party go on until 11:00 p.m., and work with someone who probably cares about giving guests a wonderful experience. Lesson learned. With the rise in vacation rental options, the horrendous service, and consumers calling bullshit on lousy customer service, the big chain hotels could be in real trouble. Perhaps they should be in trouble. No extra towels...ridiculous.
On this lovely August day, stay safe, be smart, treat people the way you would like to be treated, don't hide behind environmental issues as an excuse for poor policies and practices, call bullshit, and keep washing your hands...not with a washcloth used the night before to wash your butt. Gross.
