The global hotel industry closed 2021’s first quarter with corridors recovering unevenly around the world. Following a year of what Hotstats, the Worcester, U.K.-based hospitality tracker, described as “struggling” occupancy, some improvement was noticeable everywhere. For laundries, whose recovery depends on the sector, it was a hopeful turn, but more of an indication of how far the sector still has to go.

Reflecting the need for improvement: increases cited in the Hotstats report were on a year-over-year basis, measuring on a percentage basis against March 2020, when lockdowns were prevalent. As David Eisen, the firm’s hotel intelligence and customer solutions ...