Representatives for several major hotel chains, including Marriott and Caesars Entertainment, either declined to be interviewed or didn’t respond to Associated Press requests for comment.Ĭhip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, a trade group whose members include hotel brands, owners and management companies, said it was the demands of guests-not hotel profits-that guided decisions about pandemic housekeeper services. Taylor, president of UNITE HERE, a union representing hotel workers.Ī spokesperson for the Hilton Hawaiian Village said no Hilton representative was available for an interview about such policies at any Hilton property. “This is all about more money in the owners’ pocket by putting a greater workload on the frontline workers and eliminating jobs,” said D.
The number not hired back or on call stood at 300 just a few weeks ago. waiting for a phone call saying there’s work for them. More than two years later, 150 of them haven’t been hired back or are on-call status, spending each day from 5:30 a.m. We cannot finish cleaning our rooms.”īefore the pandemic there were 670 housekeepers working at Espejo’s resort. “It’s a big change for us,” said Espejo, a 60-year-old originally from the Philippines who has cleaned rooms at the world’s largest Hilton for 18 years, minus about a year she was laid off during the pandemic. Many housekeepers still employed say their hours have been cut and they are being asked to do far more work in that time. Read more: Business Travel’s Demise Could Have Far-Reaching Consequences But others say it has more to do with profit and has allowed hotels to cut the number of housekeepers at a time when many of the mostly immigrant women who take those jobs are still reeling from lost work during coronavirus shutdowns. Industry insiders say the move away from daily cleaning, which gained traction during the pandemic, is driven by customer preferences. Like many other hotels across the United States, the Hilton Hawaiian Village has done away with daily housekeeping service, making what was already one of the toughest jobs in the hospitality industry even more grueling.