i do NOT understand the "do not disturb" signs on hotel room doors

Top Noticer wrote:

Are they still giving away free t-shirts? I think this thread should get a free t-shirt.

I would like to add my vote to this.

Great post. Glad you're still around this place.

The funny thing is that I was just thinking about this the other day when I was reading Dickens. In a Tale of Two Cities, the description of the scenes from the inn are quite nice, but I am always thinking about how annoying it would be to have someone standing right over you while you ate. I am a very DIY type of person, but my father is the exact opposite. Growing up, we would vacation at places like the Greenbrier and the like and there were always people hanging around. I hate that to this day. I am a fan of the new kind of waiter: the hipster who is knowledgeable and attentive but can do so without being in your face.

I put the sign up the whole time I am in a hotel room unless I need to have maid service.

I've been in a hotel room for 4 days before and didn't need maid service, so I left it on the door the whole time...no intrusion from maids.

Reasons to put the sign on the door:

1) Makes potential burglars believe someone is in the room. I also ALWAYS leave the television on when I am not in the room to deter anyone from wanting to break in.

2) Keeps maids out. Don't need a maid stealing stuff or someone else pretending to be the occupant there stealing stuff or the mainds bringing in the cart that was in another person's room that could have had bedbugs. I always check the beds before I sleep in a hotel room, and if I don't see evidence of bedbugs, then I don't want to risk someone bringing some in the room.

Someone else said the maids clean the room anyway, but I have NEVER had that happen. When I put the sign on the door, they don't clean the room.

Thanks but no wrote:

they don't work anyway wrote:

The signs do nothing. Out of concern for privacy I allways hang one when I am leaving the room in the morning and they still clean the room, obviously ignoring the sign.

I don't know what kind of hotels you stay at, but in over 30 years of travel this has never happened to me. In fact, there is usually a note slipped under the door along the lines of "We didn't service your room because of the do not disturb sign. If you need anything, let us know."

Exactly. I stay roughly 120 nights each year in a Marriott and this has never happened ever.

I put it on the minute I enter the room and leave it there til I check out

I can't say I agree with you, but it was an excellently written post.

As I understand it, the sign keeps the bedbugs from coming in while you are having sex. That's a big problem nowadays.

I hang a "do not disturb" sign on the basement door when I watch porn. Mommy will just leave my dinner outside then.

exciting wrote:

Don't put it up when you're having sex, it adds a little spice to have the cleaning lady walk in on you.

Made the mistake once of forgetting to while having sex, won't happen again

to my understanding, it does indeed have something to do with sex. I have always thought it was to prevent maids/children/room service from opening the door while you are having sex.

hotel edakitt can be complicated. yes it is your room and you can do what you want in there, but it is bad edakitt when there are people next door who have small children who do not know what sexual sounds are at that age.

for the record, I like to put my ear up against the wall and listen to the neighbors while they are mating.

i dont understand. wrote:

is it because you don't want little kids to hear you?

How would putting up the sign stop little kids from hearing sexual sounds you are making?

It's time we go with "Don't Disturb". "Do not" sikes you out....

Do.... 'alright I get to disturb this guy'.... Not.. 'SHIT'. We need to embrace the contraction

RIP Mitch

i dont understand. wrote:

is it only allowed to be used when you are having sex with someone? is it an automatic indicator that you are in there having sex? is it because you don't want little kids to hear you?

Those signs are so that the cleaning crew / maids don't just walk in while you're sleeping or whatever. Kee-rist, you don't get out much.

All good hotels have similar signs of anxiety, and rightly so. https://planetofhotels.com/en/ provides a wide range of rental hotels and apartments. There are people who are annoyed by certain points of the policy during their stay and this can be eliminated right away even while booking and everything will be fine.

The problem with "do not disturb" signs is it's already understood that people don't want to be disturbed, by the definition of the word. It should say something less obvious like "don't knock."

Err wrote:

You put the sign on the door if you do not want to be disturbed.

Don't work when the maid don't read English, which is usually the case.

obviousss wrote:

You have to hang the sign on the outside of the door.

Well done ! Subtle is best and made me laugh. But next time don't tuck the sheets.

It’s funny, I had a rich, older relative who needed a live-in caregiver. He loved it (whereas many people hate strangers living in their home), because he’d often had servants, employees, and relatives in & out of his house all his life.