Nestled in amongst the strong jobs report today was news that the leisure and hospitality industry has finally returned to pre-pandemic employment levels. Can we finally expect the end of the COVID cost cuts and better service? Sadly, I doubt it.
Hospitality Industry Employment Roars Back, But Why Hasn’t Hotel Service Done the Same?
Per the New York Times:
In a landmark, the leisure and hospitality industry returned to its employment level in February 2020, and now sits at about 16.9 million jobs.
So can we finally expect hotel lounges to reopen, rooms to be cleaned, valet service at mid-market hotels, and more than one waitress running around a full restaurant?
I would not be too optimistic.
We’ve seen service levels return at most high-end properties and that is very welcome. But at many mid-level properties, it seems some of the cutbacks are permanent. Among them:
- Lounges closed or hours reduced
- Pools closed
- Limited restaurant hours + menus
- Breakfast buffets reduced
- No valet parking
- No room service
- Dirty rooms and common areas (frayed carpets, scratched furniture, broken lights)
- Poor staff training
- Rooms not ready by check-in time
- Room cleaning by request only
That last one is the big one…I lamented about dirty airplanes the other day but we also see hotels cutting corners in cleaning. “We’ll clean your room every other day and replace sheets and towels only on request” is quite common now.
And frankly, we just do not see a quality product at so many mid-market hotels (Westin, Marriott, Hyatt Regency)…prices are up, but the service is not great…and much more like a limited-service property. While it has improved overall from the dark days of 2020 and 2021, it is still not back to pre-COVID levels. Amenities like hotel gyms are not being updated, common areas are falling apart, and rooms are tired. If you put a room service tray outside your door at night, chances are it will still be there in the morning.
More importantly, staff are often very poorly trained in how to be gracious in talking to customers or handle service recovery.
I’m speaking in generalties of course…but I suspect most of you would agree with me, no?
CONCLUSION
It would certainly be nice to see hotels investing more in their properties, but it seems that even with a return to pre-pandemic employment in the hospitality sector, hotels have eased into a new era of “take it or leave” service levels in which you really have to question whether the marginal cost of mid-market hotels over limited service properties is even worthwhile when you can expect a mediocre experience at both…
image: Marriott
I really think this is a US issue. Things have been normal in Europe, Asia, Africa, Mid East, and LATAM (maybe not Mexico) for nearly 2 years now. There might be the odd lounge in the UK that hasn’t reopened, but they’re the exception, not the rule.
I think it’s less about COVID cost cuts, and more about the overall degradation of the concept of service in the US. The issue of tipping makes every interaction transactional. Employees demand more tips, hotels pay them less as a result, and we get less.
Lounges sucked in the US anyway, so surely you don’t miss them that much. I’ve also not really faced problems getting my room cleaned, but I certainly do have to be proactive about it.
This is one of the many reasons why me, you, and most of this blog’s readers spend most of our leisure time abroad.
@Jerry … +1 . Japan , Germany , and Austria remain reliable .
+1. You are spot on.
If the pandemic had never happened I still think we would have seen a gradual slippage of service and benefits. It just gave corporations a reason to maximize profits and shareholder value on the backs of the people who actually pay their bills–the customer. Compared to other countries this model si broken and delivers limited value.
@Marissa … +1 . Plus they tack on extra fees , such as the phony facility or resort fee .
@Marissa: I agree with you but I think Americans don’t know how to use Economics 101 . It is the basics of supply and demand. If you don’t like the service, price, fees, etc.. it is very easy to simply not to give them your money anymore. If nobody books hotels with resort fees, those hotels have to change that. However, as long as people are paying, why would they stop charging it? Europeans have a much shorter tolerance for bad service and BS charges. Try once and you are done. I shared here many times that I spend zero money in the US for leisure. If many do the same, things will have to improve or businesses will have to shut down.
That’s exactly what I tend to do!
We just traveled to Panama City, Panama and Cartegna, Colombia. Marriott in Panama had excellent service and daily housekeeping! Hyatt in Cartegna also had daily housekeeping, and very good service. It is truly the USA who is cutting corners!
The term “customer service” is no longer part of any English dictionary. Forget about it.
@Santastico … +1 . You are wise to vacation in Europe . However , I suggest you avoid Albania .
Albania is not on my list. Usually we focus our summer vacations in Italy, Spain, Greece, and France as a mix of great beaches, great food and amazing history. Croatia is on the list but we haven’t been yet.
Travel is risky. You can catch some illness and get sick from dirty surfaces, catch a respiratory virus from dirty air vents from a hotel or an airplane. Get sick from spoiled food from a restaurant or even a grocery store! You need to protect yourself. And how do we do that? Just in time for my retirement in a few years!
We’re heading to Europe soon and a bank teller here in the USA told me yesterday she’d be worried about traveling “over there,” where “lots of stuff is going on.” I told her I feel safer in Rome, Athens, Paris and Budapest than I would in Chicago. If I was ever to go back to Chicago, which is very, very unlikely.
This is spot on. Why anyone pays a mid rate at a mid level “full service” hotel is insane. Go luxury or go limited and cheap. The middle is a complete mess these days and horrid.
I will agree with others…this is primarily a U.S. problem and the standards allowed to franchisees.
Adding one thing. As the employment number rise the real issue is that they are bringing all of these new people on board and not properly training them. They are often clueless outside of punching anything on the screen in front of them. That’s the fault of the hour franchise system. They just don’t care. At limited service you have less interaction so it doesn’t matter at much. At luxury they take the time. You are so right, Matthew, the middle is a mess of identity.
Oh yes, the line between mid-rate and economy properties is blurred. And I so miss the room service that has gone the route of dinosaurs. Sad for me.
Hospitality Businesses are not willing to go back to the pre pandemic ways in which paying customers were treated. It’s all about making money in non customer service ways.