When Housekeeping Looks Like Healthcare – What Does It Really Communicate?

In hotels, spas, and hospitality spaces, we often speak about guest experience. Interiors, service quality, and the details that create a sense of care and refinement. Yet one element remains constantly visible and surprisingly under-considered: the workwear of housekeeping and cleaning staff.

Internationally, it is common for housekeeping teams to wear medical-style scrubs. They are comfortable, widely available, and cost-effective. On the surface, the choice makes sense. However, scrubs are not neutral garments — they carry a strong clinical association linked to healthcare environments.

When a guest encounters a staff member dressed like a medical professional in a hotel corridor or a calm spa setting, a subtle cognitive dissonance can arise. Is this a place designed for relaxation, or for treatment? The question is rarely conscious, but it influences perception.

In addition, these garments are often not designed for the specific demands of hospitality work or the aesthetic of service environments. Poor fit, visible wear, and a tired overall appearance do not reflect a lack of professionalism from employees, but rather a system that has not visually valued their role.

And yet, housekeeping staff are the backbone of daily quality in hotels and spas. They are visible, constantly in motion, and their contribution to guest comfort is immediate and tangible.

More and more hotels and spas — including international hospitality brands — are now viewing workwear as part of the overall brand experience. Not as a cost, but as an investment in people and in the atmosphere the property communicates.

Mirtel Design works daily with hotels and spas that have already taken this step — choosing garments specifically designed for hospitality and service environments, often tailored to align with the property’s visual identity and values.

Because hospitality is not only about space.
It is also about the people within it — and how they feel, and what that feeling communicates to the guest.