Grrrr

You know, Florida is in a drought. Despite the rain of the past few days we are still hurting for rain. And the Everglades is an environmentally sensitive area. Florida City hotels cater mostly to people who are visiting the Everglades. People who visit the Everglades tend to be environmentally conscious.

So why on earth would a hotel in Florida City not offer the opportunity to conserve water and energy by re-using the towels in the room instead of giving new towels every day? Not only, not offer the opportunity, but force the occupants to have new towels every day. That’s right folks, force. Not only do I want to be environmentally conscious and re-use my towels I prefer to not have my room made up. I travel with camera, computer and this time with artwork. With all the signs around that they are not responsible for anything stolen I prefer to not have anyone see what I have in my room. Note, I always tip the maid anyway, seems the right thing to do. So I left my room on Tuesday morning and put out the “make up room later” sign. That should have been my first clue. There was no “Do Not Disturb” sign. When I returned my room had been made up, new towels replacing the previous barely used ones and the curtains left open for everyone to see my laptop sitting on the table. When I complained, I was told that it was the owner’s policy. I COULD NOT request that my room not be made up. I offered to bring the trash out to them. I offered to let them inspect the room to see that I was doing nothing illegal in there. No dice. The manager wouldn’t even tell me the reason for the policy so I could explore some sort of compromise.

Why would a hotel want to treat a customer this way? Why would they not want to accommodate a simple request? I’m still waiting for an answer Best Western.