For decades, hotels have treated housekeeping as logistics: a cycle of cleaning and resetting. Yet what guests remember isn’t the cleanliness itself, but what it represents: attention, safety, and respect. The pandemic showed hotels can skip housekeeping and save on costs. But when they do, what else disappears?

The hotel industry is continuously reshaping the meaning of  hospitality to meet changing guest expectations. In 2008, research by Goldstein and colleagues showed that guests could be nudged toward more sustainable actions, such as reusing towels or delaying linen changes. These small acts reframed housekeeping as a touchpoint for environmental responsibility, a way to align individual behavior with the collective good.

More than a decade later, the pandemic radically redefined that relationship: hygiene and safety became decisive booking criteria, replacing environmental concerns with perceptions of cleanliness and risk (Herédia-Colaço & Rodrigues, 2021). The visible presence of housekeeping staff reassured guests, as cleaning became a sign of safety and trust.

Now, the industry is facing a third wave of change. Guests crave autonomy, operational efficiency, but also bear what some call "eco fatigue" (Moscardo & Pierce, 2019). This fatigue is not a rejection of sustainability itself but a growing weariness that emerges when environmental efforts feel symbolic rather than systemic. It also happens when too much responsibility is placed on consumers, reinforcing their skepticism.

The once-invisible service of housekeeping is being reimagined once again through two contrasting operating models: opt-in and opt-out housekeeping. In the opt-in model, rooms are cleaned only upon guest request. For example, at Hilton’s Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites brands, stay-over housekeeping is available only if the guest requests it or is provided every other day. Industry advocates highlight reduced water and energy consumption, lighter staff workloads, and enhanced privacy. Yet a recent poll of 260 participants from a Católica-Lisbon study reveals a more complex picture: about 45 percent of respondents view  opt-in primarily as a cost-saving initiative, while only a quarter see it as an act of personalization or empowerment. Several also mentioned greenwashing, suggesting that hotels risk being perceived as prioritizing profit under the guise of sustainability.

This dynamic forces a critical question into the guest's mind: Is this policy part of a genuine, systemic effort, or is it just a convenient way for the hotel to save money while making me feel responsible for their environmental impact?

By contrast, opt-out housekeeping, where daily cleaning remains the default unless declined, continues to represent the traditional promise of hospitality. For example, Accor offers its "Skip the Clean" option through its loyalty programme, allowing guests to opt-out of daily housekeeping and earn reward points in return.

Poll participants associate this model with trust, comfort, and care. Around 40 percent emphasize hygiene and quality assurance, while another 25 percent refer to consistency and reputation. Rather than seeing it as wasteful, these guests perceive daily service as a symbol of genuine hospitality, an expression of attention and reliability that reassures them of their value. Behavioral science reminds us that defaults matter (Thaler & Sunstein, 2021). Changing the norm from “clean automatically” to “clean on request” is more than an operational adjustment; it reshapes the meaning of hospitality itself. When communicated poorly, opt-in policies can easily appear as neglect or cost-cutting, a sentiment echoed in guest complaints on public forums such as Reddit. Ultimately, the debate over opt-in versus opt-out housekeeping is less about operational efficiency than about the emotional landscape hotels create. The challenge is to grant guests autonomy without eroding the essential feeling of care, perhaps through hybrid models that balance control, sustainability, and reliability.

Responsible hospitality isn't about doing less; it's about doing better. Leadership in this field won't be measured by how much service can be saved, but by how meaningfully service can be reimagined. True sustainability isn't about reducing touchpoints but ensuring that every interaction, from towels to the tone of communication, shows respect for people, place, and purpose. Hospitality’s future won’t be defined by how often we clean, but by how deeply we care.

Have a great and impactful week!

Vera Herédia Colaço, Professor and Researcher at CATÓLICA-LISBON