Chapter 9 Housekeeping

The Role of the Housekeeping Department: Public Spaces Lobby areas / public restrooms / front desk areas / management offices / game rooms / exercise areas / pool and spa areas / employee break rooms and locker rooms / selected meeting and food service areas Major executive housekeeper responsibilities: Decisions about required number of cleaning employees Frequency of cleaning Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

The Role of the Housekeeping Department: Guest Rooms Guest Room Areas Elevators / corridors / stairwells / guest rooms Communication role in relaying room status information to front-desk staff and room-maintenance issues to engineering and maintenance department Room will be assigned when: Properly cleaned by the housekeeping department Verified as clean by a second member of housekeeping Room’s status has been reported to the front desk Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

The Role of the Housekeeping Department: Guest Rooms (cont.) Room Status Terminology Clean and Vacant Room is vacant, has been cleaned, and can be assigned to a guest Occupied Room is registered to a current guest On-Change Room is vacant but not yet cleaned Do Not Disturb Room is occupied but not yet cleaned due to guest’s request not to be disturbed Sleep-out Room is reported as occupied, but room was not used and guest may have left Stay-over Guest will stay in room at least one more night Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

The Role of the Housekeeping Department: Guest Rooms (cont.) Room Status Terminology (cont.) Due Out Guest has indicated this is last day he or she will use the room Check Out Guest has departed Out of Order Room is unrentable and thus unassignable at this time Lock Out Guest left personal items in the room but will be denied access until approved to reenter by management Late Check Out Guest has requested and been given an extension of regular check-out time Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

The Role of the Housekeeping Department: Laundry Laundry Areas Laundry preparation areas / laundry supply closets / guest linen, terry, and supplies storage areas Laundry often represents one of the hotel’s largest expenses. Housekeeping department and executive housekeeper’s role: Managing on-premise laundry (OPL) and its effective operation Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Staffing the Department Executive housekeeper should: Have management skills (planning, organizing, directing, and controlling departmental activities) Have commitment to cleanliness and impeccable cleaning standard Create an appropriate inspection checklist and revise it as necessary Know about personal administration, budgeting, laundry sanitation, fabrics and uniforms, room cleaning chemicals, and routines Be guest-oriented Room inspector’s major responsibilities: Assess quality of room cleanliness Point out deficiencies to room attendants, get those deficiencies corrected, and report revision of room status to executive housekeeper or front desk Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Staffing the Department (cont.) Ways to build highly motivated, dedicated room attendants: Treat them with respect at all times Ensure they are supervised only by excellent supervisors Have room cleaning assignment policies that are perceived as fair Provide excellent, ongoing training Provide a realistic career ladder for room attendants Enforce housekeeping department policies consistently and without favoritism Ensure room attendant safety through training and appropriate hotel policies Provide benefit packages that are competitive for the area Pay fair wages Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Managing Housekeeping: Safety Equipment and Supplies This group’s accident rates generally the highest in the hotel thus Housekeeping employees are one of the hotel’s largest groups Physical nature of jobs Equipment and Supplies Rule Housekeeping employees should handle only those machinery items and supplies they are properly trained to handle. Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Managing Housekeeping: Safety (cont.) Areas of training concern: Chemical handling Cleaning procedures Correct lifting techniques Properly entering guest rooms Contending with guest rooms containing: Firearms / uncaged animals / individuals perceived as threatening / ill or unconscious guests / drugs and drug paraphernalia / blood and potential blood-borne pathogens Guest service Guest room security Lost and found procedures Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Managing Housekeeping: Employee Scheduling Scheduling the number of room attendants depends on: Size of guest rooms / amenities in rooms / actual number of rooms to be cleaned / amount, if any, of deep cleaning How to establish room attendant schedules: Inexperienced executive housekeeper relies exclusively on minutes per room Total # of minutes worked by room attendants / Total # of guest rooms cleaned = Minutes per room Experienced executive housekeeper relies on both minutes per room and knowledge of guests and sales patterns Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Managing Housekeeping: Inventory Management Inventory items maintained by executive housekeeper: Sheets (all sizes) / pillowcases / bedspreads / bath towels / hand towels / washcloths / soaps / shampoos / conditioners / sewing kits / glass cleaners/ furniture polish / acid-based cleaners / glassware / cups / coffee and coffee filters / in-room literature / telephone books / pens / paper pads Values of monthly inventories: Check how much of each item is in use, in storage, on order Executive housekeeper computes monthly product usage reports Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Managing Housekeeping: Inventory Management (cont.) Waldo Hotel Product Usage Report 117 Total Monthly Usage 877 unitis Count on: __________________ 850 units Plus 144 unitis Purchased in month 994 unitis Total in service Less ______________________________ Date: __________________________ Item:__________________________ For Period: ______________________ Prepared by: ____________________ Department:_____________________ January 1 February 1 Housekeeping King-sized sheets Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Managing Housekeeping: Lost and Found Three types of unclaimed property: Mislaid Property Owner has unintentionally left item(s) behind Lost Property Owner has unintentionally left item(s) behind, then forgotten them Abandoned Property Owner has intentionally left item(s) behind Law and/or policy requirements: Hotel must safeguard mislaid property until rightful owner returns Hotel must hold lost property until rightful owner claims it Hotel not required to find abandoned property’s owner Property left behind in room or found in lobby to be treated as mislaid or lost Establish how long any mislaid/lost property to be held before disposing it Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Managing Housekeeping: Lost and Found (cont.) When item is found: When returned to rightful owner or disposed of: Date item was found Description of item Location where item was found (room number, if applicable) Name of finder Supervisor who received item Date item was returned Owner’s name/address/ telephone number Housekeeping manager returning item Method of return Date property was declared to be abandoned Name of hotel employee receiving abandoned property Written Report Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Facility Care and Cleaning Public Space Cleaning Forms basis for a guest’s initial impression of property Guest Room Cleaning Effective guest room cleaning is heart of housekeeping department Determines long-term success or failure of property Sleeping area: The first part seen by guest when entering room Bathroom area: Closely inspected by guests for cleanliness Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Facility Care and Cleaning (cont.) GMs’ roles in facility care and cleaning: GMs should know what to look for when inspecting the hotel GMs must inspect public space, guest room, and laundry operation areas regularly GMs should not evaluate effectiveness of their housekeeping departments based only on lower costs per occupied room or fewer minutes per room cleaning (these factors are not always better!) Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Laundry Operating an effective on-premise laundry (OPL) is a multi-step process. Collecting Sorting/Repairing Washing Drying Finishing/Folding Delivering Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Operating an effective on-premise laundry (OPL): Laundry (cont.) Operating an effective on-premise laundry (OPL): Collecting Dirty linen and terry should never be used as guest room cleaning rags. Bloodstained linen or terry must be placed separately in a biohazard waste bag (pre-sort in guest room). Biohazard waste bag should be on every housekeeping cart. Sorting Once in OPL, laundry is sorted both in terms of fabric type and degree of staining. Washing This is the most complex part of the laundering process. Monitor a) length of washing time, b) wash water temperature, c) chemicals, and d) agitation length and strength. Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Operating an effective on-premise laundry (OPL) (cont.): Laundry (cont.) Operating an effective on-premise laundry (OPL) (cont.): Drying Drying is simply a process of moving hot air (140–145 degrees F) through fabrics to vaporize and remove moisture. Fabrics that are dried must go through a cool-down period in the dryer before they are removed from it. Finishing/ Folding Space required for finishing laundry must be adequate. Storing Many fabrics must “rest” after washing and drying. 24-hour rest time needed for cleaned laundry. Housekeeping department should maintain laundry par levels of three times normal use. Delivering Storage areas containing these items should be locked. Hotel Operations Management, 2nd ed. ©2007 Pearson Education Hayes/Ninemeier Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458