Bissell PowerForce Helix is the defacto vacuum for lodging establishments

superocd · 2021-08-30T03:45:55+00:00

Is it Sanitaire? Windsor? Oreck? Nope -- it has to be the Walmart special Bissell PowerForce Helix. I recently stayed in six different mid-range hotels (Days Inn, Quality Inn, AmericInn, etc) while on a trip. Five used the Helix. One used a Shark Navigator. In fact, at one hotel (AmericInn) I noticed some hair and fine debris and made a bet as to what I'd find on the housekeeping cart the next morning. Surprise, surprise, it was the PowerForce Helix. Using cheap bargain vacuums seems to be another part of extreme cost-cutting measures franchisors have taken. (Off topic) I get it, times are hard for the hospitality industry due to COVID, but the cheapening of the hotel experience has been a thing way before COVID. I've noticed that a couple have stopped providing the little bars of soap and bottles of shampoo in the rooms -- now, I bring my own, but some people may find that off-putting and it was a shock to me. The computers they offer for use at the "business centers" are old and running Windows 7, what I used in high school. The towels don't seem as clean as they used to be -- heck, my white towels can blind someone and I just have a LG-made Kenmore front loader and use Persil and bleach, you'd think with their commercial equipment and access to heavy duty chemicals the towels wouldn't be off-white -- maybe they're relying on Walmart for their laundry supplies as well and getting the lowest cost detergent they offer (Extra?).