What Does MUR Stand For in a Hotel?

Make Up Room, word by word

The three words are ordinary English, but "make up" is used in an older sense. To make up a room or a bed means to put it in order so it is ready to use again. Hotels have used the phrase for a long time, and the short form fits neatly on a small switch.

What does MUR stand for in a hotel room panel?

Many newer hotels have a panel inside the room with two buttons, MUR and DND. When you press MUR, a light shows on a small panel outside your door, and in some hotels the request also appears on a screen the housekeeping team watches. The room attendant sees it and puts your room on the cleaning list.

• Panel button: press MUR inside, a green or white light appears outside.
• Hang tag: one side reads "Please make up room," the other side "Do not disturb."
• Front desk or app request: some hotels let you ask by phone or message instead.

MUR vs DND

The two signals answer the same question in opposite ways.

Most panels will not let both lights stay on at once, since the messages conflict. If neither light is on, housekeeping usually follows the hotel's normal plan, which might be a daily clean, a clean every few days or a clean only on request. Policies differ, so the front desk can tell you what happens at that property.

MUR in housekeeping reports

Hotel staff use MUR in their own shorthand too. A room status report might list rooms as MUR, DND, checkout or occupied. A supervisor may say, "Room 412 has an MUR, take it next." In that setting MUR is a noun meaning a cleaning request.

Staff lists often carry other short forms, such as OOO for out of order and VIP for a guest who gets extra attention. Our VIP page covers that one.

Other meanings of MUR

Outside a hotel, the same letters mean other things:

• MUR, the Mauritian rupee: the official code used for the money of Mauritius, seen on exchange boards and bank forms.
• Mur, the French word: mur means wall in French. In lowercase it is just a French noun with nothing shortened.

If the letters sit on a switch by a door or in a hotel email, read them as Make Up Room. On a currency list, they mean the rupee.

Saying and writing MUR

Staff read it out as "M U R," three letters, and print it in uppercase without dots. The letter M is pronounced "em," so "an" comes before it: "an MUR request." Many hotels write it out in full on guest signs, so you may see "Make Up Room" or "Please Service Room" instead of the letters.

MUR is an initialism, since each letter is spoken. For the basics, see acronym vs abbreviation, and our famous acronyms page gathers other letters you meet on trips and in daily life.