After guests checked out of a corner room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort on Waikiki beach, housekeeper Luz Espejo collected enough trash, some strewn under beds, to stuff seven large garbage bags.

She stripped the linens from the beds, wiped built-up dust off furniture and scrubbed away layers of grime on the toilet and bathtub. She even got on her hands and knees to pick confetti from the carpet that a heavy-duty vacuum failed to swallow up.

Like many other hotels across the United States, the Hilton Hawaiian Village has done away with daily housekeeping service, making what was already one of the toughest jobs in the hospitality industry even more grueling.

Industry insiders say the move away from daily cleaning, which gained traction during the pandemic, is driven by customer preferences. But others say it has more to do with profit and has allowed hotels to cut the number of housekeepers at a time when many of the mostly immigrant women who take those jobs are still reeling from lost work during coronavirus shutdowns.

Many housekeepers still employed say their hours have been cut and they are being asked to do far more work in that time.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a big change for us,91裸聊视频� said Espejo, a 60-year-old originally from the Philippines who has cleaned rooms at the world91裸聊视频檚 largest Hilton for 18 years, minus about a year she was laid off during the pandemic. 91裸聊视频淲e are so busy at work now. We cannot finish cleaning our rooms.91裸聊视频�

Before the pandemic there were 670 housekeepers working at Espejo91裸聊视频檚 resort. More than two years later, 150 of them haven91裸聊视频檛 been hired back or are on-call status, spending each day from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. waiting for a phone call saying there91裸聊视频檚 work for them. The number not hired back or on call stood at 300 just a few weeks ago.

91裸聊视频淭his is all about more money in the owners91裸聊视频� pocket by putting a greater workload on the frontline workers and eliminating jobs,91裸聊视频� said D. Taylor, president of UNITE HERE, a union representing hotel workers.

While some hotels started experimenting with less frequent cleaning in the name of sustainability, it became far more widespread early in the pandemic, when to promote social distancing and other safety protocols, many hotels switched to offering room cleaning only if a guest requested, and sometimes only after staying a certain number of days. Guests were instructed to leave trash outside their door and call the front desk for clean towels.

But even as safety restrictions fade and demand picks up as the country enters peak travel season, many hotels are keeping their new cleaning policies in place.

A spokesperson for the Hilton Hawaiian Village said no Hilton representative was available for an interview about such policies at any Hilton property. Representatives for several major hotel chains, including Marriott and Caesars Entertainment, either declined to be interviewed or didn91裸聊视频檛 respond to Associated Press requests for comment.

Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, a trade group whose members include hotel brands, owners and management companies, said it was the demands of guests 91裸聊视频� not hotel profits 91裸聊视频� that guided decisions about pandemic housekeeper services.

91裸聊视频淎 lot of guests, to this day, don91裸聊视频檛 want people coming into their room during their stay,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淭o force something onto a guest that they don91裸聊视频檛 want is the antithesis of what it means to work in the hospitality industry.91裸聊视频�

The pandemic changed the standard of most hotel guests wanting daily cleaning, he said, adding it91裸聊视频檚 not yet clear if that will result in a permanent shift.

Housekeeping policies vary based on the type of hotel, Rogers said, with luxury hotels tending to provide daily housekeeping unless guests opt out.

Ben McLeod, of Bend, Oregon, and his family didn91裸聊视频檛 request housekeeping during a four-night stay at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort on Hawaii91裸聊视频檚 Big Island in March.

91裸聊视频淢y wife and I just have never really understood why there would be daily housekeeping 91裸聊视频� when that91裸聊视频檚 not the case at home and it91裸聊视频檚 wasteful,91裸聊视频� he said.

He said he expects his kids to tidy up after themselves.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 a Type-A, so I get out of bed and I make my bed, so I don91裸聊视频檛 need someone else to make my bed,91裸聊视频� he said.

Unionized hotel workers are trying get the message out that turning down daily room cleaning is hurting housekeepers and threatening jobs.

Martha Bonilla, who has spent 10 years working at the Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino in New Jersey, said she wants guests to ask for daily cleaning, noting it makes her job less difficult. Even though hotels in New Jersey are required by law to offer daily cleaning, some guests still turn it down.

91裸聊视频淲hen I come home from work now, the only thing I want to do is go to bed,91裸聊视频� said Bonilla, originally from the Dominican Republic and a single mother of a 6-year-old daughter. 91裸聊视频淚 am physically exhausted.91裸聊视频�

It91裸聊视频檚 not just partying guests like the ones who threw confetti around in Hawaii that leave behind filthy rooms, housekeepers say. Even with typical use, rooms left uncleaned for days become much harder to restore to the gleaming, pristine rooms guests expect when they check in.

Elvia Angulo, a housekeeper at the Oakland Marriott City Center for 17 years, is the main breadwinner in her family.

For the first year of the pandemic, she worked a day or two a month. She has regained her 40 hours a week, but with rooms no longer cleaned daily the number of people working each shift has been cut in half, from 25 to 12.

91裸聊视频淭hank God I have seniority here so I now have my five days again, and my salary is the same,91裸聊视频� said Angulo, 54, who is from Mexico. 91裸聊视频淏ut the work really is now harder. If you don91裸聊视频檛 clean a room for five days you have five days of scum in the bathrooms. It91裸聊视频檚 scum over scum.91裸聊视频�

Many housekeepers still aren91裸聊视频檛 getting enough hours to qualify for benefits.

Sonia Guevara, who has worked at a Seattle Hilton for seven years, used to really enjoy the benefits at her job. But since returning to work after being laid off for 18 months, she hasn91裸聊视频檛 qualified for health insurance.

91裸聊视频淎t first I was thinking to get a new job, but I feel like I want to wait,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 want to see if my hours change at the hotel.91裸聊视频�

She said there are few other job options with hours conducive for having two children in school.

Now politicians are picking up on the issue, including Hawaii state Rep. Sonny Ganaden, who represents Kalihi, a Honolulu neighborhood where many hotel workers live.

91裸聊视频淎lmost every time I talk to people at their doors, I meet someone who works in a hotel and then we talk about how they are overworked and what is happening and working conditions,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檝e got a lot of first- and second-generation immigrant folks that are kind of left high and dry by these non-daily room cleaning requirements.91裸聊视频�

Ganaden is among the lawmakers who introduced a resolution requesting Hawaii hotels 91裸聊视频渋mmediately rehire or recall employees who were laid off or placed on leave91裸聊视频� because of the pandemic.

If that91裸聊视频檚 not enough, Ganaden said he would be open to more forceful measures like some other places have taken.

Washington, D.C.91裸聊视频檚 city council in April passed emergency legislation requiring hotels in the district to service rooms daily unless guests opt-out.

Amal Hligue, an immigrant from Morocco, hopes the rules mean more hours at the Washington Hilton where she has worked for 22 years. She needs them so her husband can get health insurance.

91裸聊视频淚 hope he has this month because I worked last month,91裸聊视频� she said.

At 57 years old, she doesn91裸聊视频檛 want to find a new job. 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 not young, you know,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 have to stay.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频擩ennifer Sinco Kelleher And Anita Snow, The Associated Press