Why housekeeping staff 'karate chop' pillows & other hotel secrets

When you are making your bed at home, do you ever wonder how housekeeping staff at hotels manage to keep their bodies away from the pillows?

To get the pillow in, the common method is to tuck it under your chin and pull up the case like wearing a pair of pants.

But, if hotel staff do that, it might be unhygienic for their bodies - especially their faces - to come into contact with the pillow.

According to Jacob Tomsky, who has worked at the front lines in hotels, guests don't have to worry about that.

You don't need expert skills to get the pillow into the case, he shared, but a solid karate chop to fold it in half and a shove will do the trick.

With over 10 years of experience in the hotel industry, Tomsky shared in his book, Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality, secrets behind the daily operations at a hotel.

From housekeeping to room booking, Tomsky shared the possible reasons why people get rejected for rooms, how glasses have a lemon-y scent and why wheeled luggage are the bane of bell boys.

Hotels have an average 10 per cent no-show rate daily so they will usually overbook their property capacity to 110 per cent, said Tomsky.

However, if all the guests turn up and there are no more rooms, there are some ways to determine if they will get to stay or get "walked" - to be accommodated at a comparable hotel at no charge for the first night.

According to Tomsky, a guest will likely to get "walked" if he booked using an online travel website which gave him a discounted rate.

Also, if hotel records showed that he has never stay before or is only a one-night guest - he will be selected as a "walked" guest too. Lastly, if the traveller is being a jerk, the hotel has no qualms turning him away.

Another thing is, when you stay at a hotel, be sure to give the glasses a rinse before using them for drinks.

To get the glasses to look crystal clear with no finger prints or streaks, some hotels use Pledge - a product to polish wood furniture, on them.

The effect is quick and effective but it might not exactly be safe for consumption. To know if the glasses had been cleaned with Pledge, take a whiff - if it has a lemon-y smell, it is likely to have been used with it.

wjeanne@sph.com.sg