Green housekeeping: turn skipped cleans into planted trees

Most hoteliers want green housekeeping that guests notice, staff believe in and the budget can carry. The trouble is that many green measures cost money up front or end up as a card on the bathroom shelf. One practice works the other way round: the guest skips the stayover clean, the hotel saves on housekeeping, and part of that saving pays for a tree that gets planted and grown.

Floris Licht, a hotelier with roles at Hilton and Accor behind him and the founder of Hotels for Trees, has run this model since July 2021. It started with 10 hotels from his own network and, by his count, has planted close to 700,000 trees across about 30 projects, run by a team of roughly 1.1 FTE. His lessons apply to any hotel that wants a green measure with a clear business logic.

Why the stayover clean is a smart place to start

The stayover clean is the in-between cleaning of an occupied room during a multi-night stay. In Floris Licht's experience, many hotels hire an outside partner for room cleaning, and in Europe a clean costs anywhere between 8 and 12 euros, depending on the star rating and the size of the room. A guest on a four day stay who makes their own bed and does not need the sink cleaned every day can generate that saving two, three or four times. Every clean that does happen still needs a solid hotel housekeeping process.

That makes this form of green housekeeping different from many other green measures. The saving is real and immediate, it is linked to a single guest choice, and it scales with occupancy. Floris Licht's view is that the hotel can use part of that money for a tree, and he sums it up plainly: from that money, a tree gets planted.

How a skip the clean programme works in practice

The mechanics are simple, which is the point. Floris Licht describes a no cure, no pay model: there is no contract and no fee, and a hotel only funds a tree when a guest actually skips a clean.

“If a guest doesn't skip the clean, then you don't need to pay for a tree.”

Floris Licht, 24:25

For a hotel, the practical setup comes down to a few steps:

• Offer guests the choice through a green door hanger with a QR code, which also shows what the hotel has achieved so far.
• Where the property management system supports it, let guests choose during online check-in, so housekeeping and front office know in advance and can adjust the roster.
• Keep the door hanger as the analogue version next to any digital option.
• Fund one tree per skipped clean, and nothing when no clean is skipped.
• Stop whenever you want: without a contract, a hotel can simply return the door hangers.

Because the barrier is so low, the model spreads quickly. By Floris Licht's numbers there are close to 270 partners in 40 countries, and only three or four have ever stopped, for reasons such as a change of ownership or bankruptcy.

Planting trees versus growing trees

Guests and staff are right to ask whether a tree is actually planted. Floris Licht points out that you can buy a tree online for a dollar, but the real questions are where it is planted, whether the land is maintained and whether it is protected from wildlife.

“There's a big difference between planting trees and growing trees. And we are very much about growing trees. So whatever we plant is between 50 centimeters and a meter tall.”

Floris Licht, 27:56

In his approach that means planting with respect for local biodiversity, so no monocultures, and planting with the local community where that is relevant. He gives the example of projects in Africa where farmers cut down trees for charcoal and the desert keeps expanding, so education is part of the work. He also admits this is not the cheapest way to plant trees. He is careful about the claim as well: the programme does not promise carbon compensation, it promises a planted tree. For any hotel, that is a useful rule for green housekeeping and every other green claim: claim only what you can show.

What green housekeeping does for staff and guests

A green measure is easier to keep alive when people inside the hotel care about it. In Floris Licht's experience, this one is popular with staff, and especially with younger employees.

“The staff like it, especially younger generations like it because they want to be part of something bigger than them and want to work for an employer that also is taking care of the planet, so to say.”

Floris Licht, 0:31

Planting days make that tangible. Hoteliers and employees from partner hotels are invited to plant the trees themselves; at one recent day near Utrecht there were 50 to 60 people. Floris Licht says that is when people see the tree, feel connected and share it on social media, which also answers the question of trust.

Guests like that they can somewhat offset the impact of their travel. Small choices count too, from skipped cleans to eco friendly hotel amenities like a reusable bottle. Meeting and event planners use it too: for a group of 200 people staying three days, they can agree to skip cleans for the length of stay minus one, and announce that the group plants 400 trees together.

Making sustainability part of hotel culture

A single programme works best inside a hotel that already takes sustainability seriously. When Floris Licht opened a new airport hotel near Amsterdam for Accor, sustainability was part of how the team ran the hotel, driven by himself and the team and supported by the owner. He points to Accor's Planet 21 programme, an online dashboard with over 150 initiatives, such as a bee garden or a green roof, with inspiration and best practices from other hotels. For a wider view, see which sustainable hotel practices pay back and which fail.

The lesson for other hotels is to treat sustainability as part of the culture rather than a one off campaign: give the team tools, share examples and let them see the results. You can watch the full conversation for his full story, or explore more episodes in The Sustainable Stay series.

Frequently asked questions

How does green housekeeping save a hotel money?

One example is asking guests to skip the stayover clean during a multi-night stay. In Floris Licht's experience, an outsourced clean in Europe costs between 8 and 12 euros, so a guest who skips two or three cleans frees up enough to fund a planted tree. The hotel only pays when a clean is actually skipped, which keeps the practice cost neutral.

How much does a hotel save when a guest skips housekeeping?

According to Floris Licht, the cost of cleaning a room in Europe lies between 8 and 12 euros, depending on the star rating and the size of the room. That figure applies mainly to hotels that work with an outside cleaning partner. On a four night stay, a guest who cleans up after themselves can generate that saving two, three or four times.

Does skipping room cleaning count as carbon compensation?

Not as a formal claim. Floris Licht is explicit that his programme does not claim carbon compensation: it plants a tree, and that is what it promises. Guests like that they can somewhat offset the impact of their travel, but the honest message is the planted and maintained tree, not a calculated amount of carbon.

How quickly can a hotel start a skip the clean programme?

Fast. Hotels register on hotelsfortrees.com by selecting their own Google listing, which supplies the location, images and text. Some hotels were online within 48 hours of saying they wanted to join. After that the hotel places the door hangers in the rooms, or lets guests choose during online check-in if its property management system supports it.