First, when you choose to say 'no' to a room cleaning, a simple thing happens – we donate 3 EUR on your behalf to citizenMovement. And, like all good things in life, it's not the only reaction in the chain.
There is a benefit to the environment too. Less room cleaning means we take fewer trips to our laundry provider, use less energy, water, detergents and cleaning supplies. In making these decisions, we were hugely inspired by our guests' feedback. In the summer of 2021, we officially asked them to take part in our first-ever environmental survey, They ranked saying ‘no thanks’ to housekeeping for stays under four nights a huge 7.8 out of 10. When choosing a hotel, 75% of the respondents said it's important their hotel takes sustainability actions, with 'energy use' in the top 3 of the most important factors.
The pandemic had already forced us (and nearly the entire hotel industry) to introduce on-demand room cleaning in the interest of safety. citizenM adapted the 'after every third night’ cleaning model (with extra days on request, at no additional fee). It turned out, our guests love having that choice – so we will continue giving them that option.