Marriott Finally Realizes Guests Might Not Want USA Today Outside Their Door Each Morning
from the think-of-the-savings dept
In the last two boutique hotels I stayed at, when I checked in, they asked if I wanted a physical newspaper delivered each morning. This is a good thing, as, for me, mornings in hotels consist of me checking up on the news via my laptop, and then getting annoyed when I finally open the door to head out and realize there's as newspaper there I need to throw out. However, the big hotels have continued to force it on you whether you want it or not. Perhaps that's finally changing. Marriott is the first major hotel chain to say that it will now stop automatically delivering a paper to hotel rooms, instead giving guests the option as to whether or not they want it. While I'm sure some newspapers (especially USA Today) may be freaking out about this decision, it only makes sense. The hotels will certainly save a lot of money, guests are happier and everyone wastes a lot less paper.
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Filed Under: hotels, newspapers
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Does anyone want to go outside and pick something up out of the grass to bring it inside to read? I can hardly believe that distribution system ever worked.
Anyway, 2 or 3 times a week I have to clean up litter in my yard. I have no idea how to get them to stop.
The great irony is that I called to see what Sunday delivery would cost. First, I had to get the whole paper, and not just the coupons. Second, it cost more than buying it at the newsstand.
You would never think their income stream depends on selling advertisements.
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Communication - it really does work
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Ok, I'm back already, the answer is NO.
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You are kidding, right? It worked well for decades
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http://consumerist.com/367478/8-ways-to-opt-out-of-junk-mail-lists
Its unbelievably awesome to not have to check the mail daily to keep it from overflowing.
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It's not about competing with "free"...
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Re: It's not about competing with "free"...
Or are you one of the people that could care less about any kind of environmental responsibility even when it's this simple?
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Huh?
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Re: Huh?
some people are ecologically super friendly and it irritates them that a small redwood gave it's life that morning so a hotel filled with people could ignore it.
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Don't get laid often eh?
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Re: Huh?
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Just let the door close behind you. That old lady that was only two steps behind you can open it for herself.
Just leave all your lights on in your house when you're not there. You can afford it and the power company will just burn more fuel to keep the electricity coming.
Just go through life not considering the impact your actions have on others.
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You're joking right?
Or do you bring the hotel sheets to the laundromat and wash them as well for the staff?
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delivering a newspaper that will not be read - wasteful
sleeping on a sheet that is later laundered - not wasteful
Sure, everything we do can be viewed as wasteful to some extent, but if something simple can be done to reduce it, you have a problem with this? You're pro-waste?
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Throwing garbage on the ground - disgusting.
Leaving your lights on - wastful, but who am I to judge.
Ignoring free things that a hotel provides - rude?
Leaving a newspaper on the floor where it was to begin with because you have no intrest in it, and the people that are paid to put it there are also paid to clean it up - rude?
I'm not sure I follow you.
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I'm not sure I follow you.
I was responding to you comment about bringing my own sheets to a hotel. I think most people would have understood that I was saying I don't bring my own sheets because I don't think it's wasteful.
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You (at least I think it was you, becuase you refuse to give yourself any sort of identification) posted:
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Just throw your cigarette butts out the window of your car. The road crews will clean it up.
Just let the door close behind you. That old lady that was only two steps behind you can open it for herself.
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How are these specifically wastful? Rude, maybe, but they are not wasteful in context to what you're responding to, which was...
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Just leave it on the hallway floor. The hotel staff put it there, they can pick it up if another guest doesn't do it.
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Where the OP is talking about the action of ignoring something that the hotel staff left out indicating that they can also clean it up from.
So, back to what you were replying to. Is it wasteful or rude or disgusting to allow the cleaning staff to more or clean up after themselves?
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Or are you one of the people that could care less about any kind of environmental responsibility even when it's this simple?
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Bar charting
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A lot considering that the USA Today only has one day worth of very narrowly selected news, while the laptop will you keep you updated throughout your visit. Not to mention that the laptop can play games and movies, while the USA Today simply represents a dead tree.
And you're ignoring the fact that the laptop will almost certainly go regardless of whether you get a free copy of USA Today. It's not like someone is going to be torn between the choice of carrying a USA Today with them or their laptop (or iPhone, iPod Touch, DSi, PSP, or any other device that can the latest news.)
And your assertion that you have to "lug" a laptop or that it's somehow difficult to navigate through corridors carrying such a device is simply ludicrous. You might not know this, but laptops have gotten a lot smaller lately. And even a giant laptop is much smaller than your luggage.
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Good Chain. Highly Recommended. The Marriott Express doesn't get as high ratings it deserves. Never read the USA Today, would rather receive the local newspaper, or perhaps (fingers crossed) a surprise like the WSJ. If that surprise showed up on the doorstep, it could turn out to be a long term relationship for all involved.
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why is this so annoying? I just step over them and head to the elevator?
Do you even realize how callous this statement makes you look like? As long as you can ignore a problem, it's not really a problem? Is that it? Well, you may possibly have noticed in recent years, there's been a focus on conservation. People like you may think there's no problem with wasteful consumption, but at least if given the choice, there are others out there that would prefer not to the waste.
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I fail to see a problem? Mike says he finds it annoying to throw them away . . . I dont even pick them up? Im not ignoring anything, they DONT INTEREST ME . . . so there is no problem here for me?
If you want to make some larger ecological argument fine, but I dont recall any such argument in the article above so I was curious about why this was so annoying for him?
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Me me me. Believe it or not, this issue is not about you and your emotions about stepping over a newspaper. It's about the broader topic of whethere there should even be a newspaper there for you to step over and, more importantly, the time and energy it takes to create and get that newspaper in front of all those hotel rooms that more and more people don't even want.
If you want to make some larger ecological argument fine, but I dont recall any such argument in the article
Apparently you didn't read to the end of the article, specifically, the last six words.
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Maybe I should feel more strongly about it, but as it stands, I feel the same way as Mike about the newspapers, irritated.
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> if its stops, my only point is, I dont
> find it irritating?
> you must spend alot of your time really
> miserable and angry?
You really should learn the proper use of the question mark. You put one at the end of every sentence, whether it's actually a question or not. Makes your comments very annoying to read.
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and that makes my point invalid . . . how?
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I don't know. I never said that you should, so why are you asking me?
You call it callous. I call you self-important. Stop being all holier-than-thou and think.
I called the statement that he ignored the problem callous. It's like looking at film of famine victims and saying, "Well, that doesn't affect me, so I don't see any problem with this!" Sure, not everyone -- including me -- does everything they can to address the problems that we see, but I don't go around saying they aren't problem because I am not personally affected.
And what's up with the holier-than-thou statement? This has never made sense to me. Someone really has to be "free of sin" to make any kind of critical remark? If that were the case, no one could ever make a critical remark.
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Always a hoot. If you can find him.
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Do you even realize that this is the next best thing to complaining at the front desk about the paper being there?
Don't pick it up because you don't want to leave it there. Don't pick it up because it was "meant for you." Don't pick it up to be neat. Don't pick it up to throw it away. Don't pick it up out of boredom and disinterest. Don't pick it up to leave it inside for the next guest.
Do ANY of these and it appears that the paper is a wanted and welcome item. If enough people step over it, leave it laying there, or even kick it across the hall, then the hotel quickly realizes that it's not wanted and quits supplying them.
Yeah, they'd realize it quicker if people complained at the desk, but even in this nation of whiners, very few will whine for a good purpose.
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Just like the Yellow Pages will stop automatically delivering to houses once they realize the majority of people just go online to look up phone numbers? But wait, that happened years ago, so why are they still wasting all of this paper? Because they, like the hotels, have a vested interest in it. Even though most people do look up phone numbers online, there are enough businesses out there that still think buying space in the Yellow Pages is worth it. And even though the hotels know that most people don't want a newspaper at their front door -- or at least want the choice -- they have a vested interest in either charging for the newspaper or just imbedding it into the overall price of the room.
In short, the hotel already knows that you don't want the newspaper, so leaving it conspicuously at your door doesn't do any good.
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Nonsense. Hotels don't make enough direct money from placing USA Today, or any other paper, at your doorstep to be doing it for that reason. They do it because some people want a paper, and a whole lot more use (or appear to use) one if it's available. It's essentially a low cost to break even act that appears to them to satisfy more customers than it annoys and they consider that a good promotion. If it appeared that few people were interested they wouldn't waste the time.
>Just like the Yellow Pages will stop automatically delivering to houses once they realize the majority of people just go online to look up phone numbers?
I don't, unless I happen to be sitting at my computer, and my computer is always on if I'm awake. None of my family or friends do unless they can't find the number in the directory. Online yellow-pages absolutely suck compared to local directories, even though the latter aren't very good themselves, because it takes more time to weed through all the suggestions and close matches and non-local businesses to find the one you wanted - often even if you were perfectly specific.
Most carriers don't even provide yellow pages these days and, for our area, even AT&T quit providing directories unless they were requested. They got so many complaints that they re-instated them, but you still have to request some directories that used to be automatic.
The reason there are yellow pages being dumped on yards is because 1) those businesses know they still get a large volume of calls from them 2) third party printers make a good profit convincing businesses that their directories are more useful and will get more views than the real ones. Sometimes they actually do, sometimes they don't.
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By "imbedding it into the overall price of the room", I meant that the hotel marginally increases the cost of the room and appears to give their customers a nice little benefit. Not that they sit around and count up all the extra money they made by "selling" newspapers to their customers.
They do it because some people want a paper, and a whole lot more use (or appear to use) one if it's available. It's essentially a low cost to break even act that appears to them to satisfy more customers than it annoys and they consider that a good promotion.
The issue is that the formula is changing. Instead of looking at the newspaper and thinking, "Oh, that's nice. I can read the news as I eat breakfast at the buffet" more people are thinking "What a shame. All of this paper going to waste when so many people read their news online now."
Most carriers don't even provide yellow pages these days and, for our area, even AT&T quit providing directories unless they were requested.
In my area, everyone gets the Yellow Pages whether you want them or not. This topic has actually come up before on Techdirt. As I recell, someone suggested that everyone who is sick and tired of getting unwanted Yellow Pages take them to the phone company's headquarters and dump them their.
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I absolutely agree with this. I can never find a phone number online that easily; it seems like you have to wade through a million ads to find any info. The books have a lead time of 9 months - 1 year from the time an ad is sold to when it is printed and delivered, which makes them ancient in today's terms when they even get to your door. But hey, the ambulance chasers like to advertise in them.
What kills me is that our phone company still prints and delivers the white pages. Who needs it? Like I'm going to be bored, and look through half a million names just to find someone to call? Now that is a waste of paper and resources.
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When you're looking up a general service, say Furnace Repair, the internet is not always the best solution.
For the time that you spend online, and weeded out the bad information, you could have already called 3 places.
Hell, my home address is still listed as an Auto Repair shop on some websites, when there's never been one there, EVER. The previous owner did own one at one time, but it's never had a physical location at the house.
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Let me go through your house and get ride of anything I find a waste.
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That you are basically trying to change the world to your specific view of things regardless of anyone else?
No, I don't hyperbole much.
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That always bothered me too...
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OK, point taken about the benefit of reading something on paper, but even farmed trees and recycling takes energy. If hundreds of thousands of newspapers just end up getting stepped over in the world's hotels, then all of the energy put into farming the trees, transporting the trees, processing the paper, transporting the paper, printing the newspapers, transporting the newspapers to the customer, tranporting the newspapers to the recyclers, and recycling the newspapers is wasteful.
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Buying a newspaper and reading it - Not wasteful. Energy was expended to make the newspaper. Someone enjoyed it. Everyone's happy. No waste.
Hotels putting newspaper in the front of everyone's room on the off chance that people will read them - Wasteful. Energy was expended and, for the paper's not read, there was no benefit from the newspapers. Waste.
Now, if you want to talk about this rationally, there is waste in any process. But obviously that's not what we're talking about here. When something is not used at all, then it couldn't be more obvious that it's waste. I'm not saying that you should change your whole lifestyle. I'm simply stating that not using something is wasteful.
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Because the newspapers don't have a use to you, does not mean that they do not have a use for anyone else.
I'm all for opt-in for newspapers. Sure, whatever floats your boat. But not everyone has a laptop with a network connection attached to their hip. As a matter of fact, some people actually REFUSE to take their laptop on vacation with them, because, shocking enough, they are on vacation, and not on call from their job. A newspaper is a much better source of news when you're on the go then TV news, and that's even assuming that the hotel has a good news channel.
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That would be so awesome. I don't read the newspaper, but that I would pay for.
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Silly Marriott
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Marriott Newspapers
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My point is that the hotels may not "save a lot of money" because they are already passing the cost of the paper on to you. What I think will happen is that the system will shift from an opt-out to an opt-in model.
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Now if only we could get them to give free wifi
Please someone explain it.
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Re: Now if only we could get them to give free wifi
Sucker!
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Nevermind.
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You throw it away???
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About time
It's about time that some high-up mucky muck got involved.
Next issue: the hotels always leave notices that tell us about the costs & damage of excess laundry but at plenty of hotels towels & sheets would always be washed, regardless of what I did or what lofty ideals they'd express on plaques.
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Never underestimate the power of the Linksys WTR54GS, my son.
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That's the best device known to man. Put it in repeater mode, and stick it behind a pop machine, and you're golden!
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Make that WRT54GL
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It really is good to see them finally going from opt-out to opt-in. However, I do see one problem: most travelers, especially frequent travelers, just want to get their keys and go when they check in, and yet there is already a litany of questions that must be answered before they can do so. (Most Marriott Rewards members, in my experience, will create a profile with just name, address, and usually credit card number. They don't remember to update preferences and thus get asked these questions again and again.) This is just one more to add to the pile.
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Why you pay for wifi at expensive hotels
When WiFi first started getting poplular there were companies that signed contracts (10 year in the case of this hotel) that said that the company would provide Wifi equipment and connectivity and the hotel would charge for the connections. Expensive hotels signed the contracts and economy ones did not. Eventually hotels and motels realized that they could attract customers with free Wifi and that it was relatively cheap to install and support. Expensive hotels are still locked into the contract, but the economy places are not. I am guessing that as the contracts expire hotels will have to make a choice. Some will be converting to free. Others may want to maintain the revenue stream; it is often hard for businesses to give up actual revenue streams in favor of hard-to-quantify factors like how many customers can I attract with free WiFi?
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Re: Why you pay for wifi at expensive hotels
I know, you thought nobody read those things, right? They're actually quite important.
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Local Paper Please
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Can you kindly ban originators of comments 36-41?
They haven't learned how to work with people.
Thank you.
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Starwood Hotels gives you the paper option too!
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Re: Starwood Hotels gives you the paper option too!
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http://www.welcometowhotels.com/pride365/
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Easily annoyed?
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Get a Life
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Re: Get a Life
BTW, has there ever been an instance of someone saying "get a life" where the person didn't come across as a self-important douchnozzle?
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USA Today
I don't normally read the paper and it gave me a chance to thumb through one.
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Newspapers
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They continued to deliver the junk fliers every day and then duplicated the fliers in the free Sunday paper.
I even got the poor delivery kid and asked him why he ignored my request... his response was he had to deliver or he would get into trouble or even fired if he failed to deliver to each house no matter what. I called his boss and followed the latter up. Out of frustration I finally said if any representative ever steps foot on my property again I will charge them with trespassing and do everything I can to get them charge with littering.
Needless to say they stopped for a little bit... until a new kid took the flier route and they just ignored the sign again. I simply responded in formal registered mail to stop and re-iterated my trespassing threat plus I include a rather large (but reasonable) bill (my IT consultant minimum 3 hours billable time for each day) to clean up the mess of fliers. They never payed my bill but they also never delivered fliers to my house again.
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They continued to deliver the junk fliers every day and then duplicated the fliers in the free Sunday paper."
Call the post office, in the United States it is illegal for ANYONE besides your postman or yourself to place anything in or take anything out of your mailbox. The postal system takes this quite seriously too.
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DS
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Now here's a good reason to decline the paper
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Who Says it Means the Paper Stops?
The only problem is...now the papers would be in a position to have to convince hotels to do this!
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Tsk tsk.
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Stepped on
There are a couple reasons for not reading the paper. First, it doesn't carry the news I'm interested in. I'm a Unix/Linux system administrator, and I taught system administrators how to do their job. I'm just not that interested in finance, sports, obits and other sections that came in the paper. Second, I get all my news through RSS in Google Reader, most of which is tech-related, such as this site. So, when I was out the door at 7:45 each morning, I had already caught up on everything I was interested in, and didn't have to worry about thumbing through pages that I wasn't.
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