The “Do Not Disturb” Sign Means… “Do Not Disturb”

When housekeeping sees a sign (or electronic light, at the case may be) on my door which says “Do Not Disturb” they should…

(A) Knock on the door
(B) Call to ask whether I want my room serviced
(C) Not disturb me

Answer: C

That is all.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Unfortunately A and B have happened to me a number of times. They now frequently justify this by saying it is a “security policy”. Grrrrrr.

  2. Oh, housekeepers. How I can relate to this post, all too well. The do not disturb sign is perhaps the most ignored item on Earth. I’ve often recieved the dreaded “Housekeeping, Housekeeping” call as early as 6 AM.

    Who better to speak our pain than Family Guy? Especially, the third clip in the series 🙂

    http://megavideo.com/?v=7KMFOGA8

  3. Hah, I can soooo relate. Just as frustrating, in my opinion, is when they knock once and then immediately try to open the door. What ever happened to waiting a few seconds?

  4. I always yell out “come back later” and they come back in 5 minutes!

    One time, the wife and I were off to a late start for, let’s say, “grown up” reasons, and we HAD our privacy indicator on the doorknob, but failed to bolt lock. The next thing you know, someone’s walking in to our room without knocking. “Sorry I thought you were gone”. You don’t want to know how embarrassed we were being caught like that. I let the desk manager know what I thought of his hotel.

  5. “Security reasons” my foot. OK if the sign has been up all day long, I won’t be upset if you call at 4pm and make sure I’m not dead. But otherwise DO NOT DISTURB!

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