1 Sem HK
1 Sem HK
1 Sem HK
Housekeeping
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
1
Mohanlal Sukhadia University Udaipur
Housekeeping may be defined as the provision of a clean, comfortable
and safe environment, It’s is not confined to the housekeeping
department as every member of staff in the establishment should be
concerned with the provision of these facilities in their own department,
eg. the chef ‘housekeepers’ in the kitchen, the restaurant manager or
head waiter ‘housekeepers’ in the restaurant, and the general manager
has overall responsibility.
In any establishment there are three department particularly concerned
with accommodation:
1. The reception department, whose staff sell and allocate the
rooms.
2. The housekeeping department, whose staff plan, provide and
service the rooms.
3. The maintenance department, whose staff provide adequate hot
and cold water, sanitation, heating, lighting and ventilation as
well as maintaining and repairing individual articles and area
within the rooms operation.
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
2
Mohanlal Sukhadia University Udaipur
• To coordinate with the purchase department for the procurement
of guest supplies, cleaning agents, cleaning equipments etc.
• To deal with lost and found articles.
• To ensure training, control and supervision of all the shifts
attached to the department.
• To establish a good working relationship with other departments.
• To ensure that safety regulations are more known to all the staff of
the department.
• To keep the general manager or administration informed of all the
matters requiring attention.
• Maintaining the Façade & surroundings of the building.
• Handling all Lost & Found articles in the hotel.
• Pest control in the hotel.
• Coordinating with hotel engineering department for all repair
works.
IMPORTANCE OF HOUSEKEEPING
Housekeeping is an operational department in a hotel, which is
responsible for cleanliness, maintenance, aesthetic upkeep of rooms,
public area, back area and surroundings. A hotel survives on the sale of
room, food, beverages and other minor services such as the laundry,
health club spa and so on. The sale of rooms constituter a minimum of
50 per cent of these sales. Thus, the major part of the hotel’s margin of
profit comes from the room sales, because a room once made can be sold
over and over again. The effort that a housekeeping department makes
in giving a guest a desirable room has a direct bearing on the guest’s
experience in a hotel. Guestrooms are the heart of the hotel. The
housekeeping department not only prepares clean guestroom on a
timely basis for arriving guest, but also cleans and maintains everything
in the hotel so that the property is as fresh and attractive as the day it
opened for business. Housekeeping, thus, is an ancillary department
that contributes in a big way towards the overall reputation of a
property.
It is rightly said that housekeeping is a 24 x 7 x 365 operation. Imagine
the stacks of linen needed to make up all the beds in a hotel, the miles if
carpeting, floor, walls and ceiling to be cleaned and maintained, and
cleaning compounds along with special tools and equipment needed in
order to clean.
Other than hotels, professional housekeeping services are very much in
demand in hospitals, on cruise liners, at offices and more. Since most
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
3
Mohanlal Sukhadia University Udaipur
such organizations prefer to outsource these functions, contract
housekeeping is becoming a popular in these days.
ROLE OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT
Housekeeping plays a very important role in hospitality industry such
as:-
To achieve the maximum possible efficiency in ensuring the care
and comfort of guests and in the smooth running of the
department.
To establish a welcoming atmosphere and ensure courteous,
reliable service from all staff of the department.
To ensure a high standards of cleanliness and general upkeep in
all areas for which the department is responsible.
To provide linen in rooms, restaurants, banquet hall, conference
venues, health clubs, and so on, as well as maintain an
inventory for the same.
To provide uniforms for all the staff and maintain adequate
inventories for the same.
To cater to the laundering requirements of the hotel linen, staff
uniforms and guest clothing.
To Provide and maintain the floral decorations and maintain the
landscaped areas of the hotel.
To coordinate renovation and refurnishing of the property as
and when, in consultation with the management and with
interior designers.
To deal with lost and found articles.
To ensure training, control and supervision of all staff attached
to the department.
To establish a good working relationship with other
department.0
To ensure that safety and security regulations are made known
to all staff of the department.
Guest Rooms
Guest Bathrooms
Public Areas such as Lobby and Lifts
Banquets and Conference Halls
Parking Area
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
4
Mohanlal Sukhadia University Udaipur
Sales and Admin Offices
Garden
Apart from the cleaning task, the housekeeping is also responsible for
handling keys of each floor. In addition, it manages the laundry, which
is often at some places considered as a sub-department of housekeeping
IMPORTANCE OF GUEST ROOMS
It is extremely important to understand the expectations of a guest when
he/she pays to stay in a room. People nowadays travel a lot more than
they did earlier, and the expectations from hotels are constantly on the
rise. In such a scenario, continuous analysis of guest expectations
becomes necessary. Given that a hotel is often referred to as a home
away from home‘, there would be similarities in a guest‘s expectations
from a hotel and from a home. These similarities would dictate that the
guestrooms be neat, hygienic, comfortable, private, and above all, safe.
The most important consideration here is staff needs to
understand and respect the guest‘s expectations from the
guestroom and the hotel staff. Primarily, a neat room is the basic
minimum expectation of any guest, and the staff needs to ensure
this by laying out fresh linen and presenting a clean room on a
daily basis.
The room should not only be attractive, but also comfortable
and functional. Hotel guests expect a high degree of cleanliness,
leading to a hygienic environment to stay in. For instance, guest
that the hotel has provided them a sanitized toilet when they see
a disinfected paper strip on the toilet seat.
The basic necessities in a guestroom are constantly varying.
Nowadays these may include Internet and Wi-Fi connectivity,
channel music, television, temperature control, and so on.
Guests also expect that they will not be disturbed often and that
the location of the rooms would be such that they have a good
view.
Safety, as we have already mentioned, is a key factor with
regard to guestrooms – guest would like the guestroom location
to be safe and not accessible to one and all.
The doors of a guestroom should have a double locking system
operable from inside, along with strict control measures in the
hotel with regard to the handling of guestroom keys and master
keys.
Fire-exit layouts being placed in the rooms is a necessity as well.
Irrespective of its location, a guestroom should also offer easy
access to other guest service areas, such as restaurants,
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
5
Mohanlal Sukhadia University Udaipur
gymnasiums, swimming pools, and so on, with clear directions
to and from the room or elevator being posted in corridors.
The guest would also expect to be able to get in touch with
ancillary departments providing other services to guests from
the room itself. The various services- such as room service,
restaurants, housekeeping, valet, and so on- should be clearly
indicated with explanation and intercom numbers in the
literature on the house rules and in the information kits placed
in each guestroom.
These attributes are based on the following term:
1. Personal hygiene
The staff must take a regular bath. They must have clean hair. Manicure
figure nails, clean hands and feet, and body or mouth odor should be
present. Any transferable diseased must be reported immediately.
2. Personal grooming
Housekeeping staff would be normally uniformed hence each staff
member must ensure his/her uniform is crisp, clean and well ironed.
Lady staff must wear light makeup and restrict their jewelers .a soft
cologne is preferred. Hair must be tied in a bun.
3. Honesty
Honesty is the best policy and it is a very essential attribute. For
housekeeping staff as they have access to all guest bedrooms, sometimes
guest belongings, either valuable or invaluable are often found lying
around the room which may arouse temptation. Hence only honest
personnel can defy the temptation.
4. Eye for detail
This attribute enables housekeeping staffs to take note of the minute
details in any given area. This term means that the person has a sharp
eye to detect things. It is a view of this competency that women are
selected as housekeepers and it is presumed that women acquire a
greater eye for detail from their role at home. However, a man also
comes into housekeeping and have shown this competency.
5. Courtesy
It is a hallmark of the hotel profession which is used within the staffs
and towards guests. Courtesy is a nature and sign of one’s desires to
please to those with whom one comes in contact with. Courtesy must be
spontaneous and genuine manner but not a technique. Being courtesy
not only makes operation smooth but also enhances relationships.
6. Tact and diplomacy
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
6
Mohanlal Sukhadia University Udaipur
Often guest may request for facility and service that are outside the
management policy. It takes a lot of tact and diplomacy to decline
without hurting a guest feel.
7. Physical fitness
Most work in housekeeping is manual. A housekeeping member on
duty is on his /her feet on almost continuously. It would require sturdy
physical built to cope with the demand of housekeeping work.
8. Cooperativeness
Housekeeping staffs need to be cooperative with all employs from a
different department to achieve efficiency in their work. Very often these
attributes help to create a cozy environment.
Key terms
Vacant and ready: The room has been cleaned and inspected and is
ready for an arriving guest.
Lockout: The room has been locked so that the guest cannot re-enter
until a hotel official clears him or her.
Stayover: The guest is not expected to check out today and will remain
at least one more night.
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
7
Mohanlal Sukhadia University Udaipur
Sleep-out: A guest is registered to the room, but the bed has not been
used.
Skipper: The guest has left the hotel without making arrangements to
settle his or her account.
Sleeper: The guest has settled his or her account and left the hotel, but
the front office staff has failed to properly update the room’s status.
Back of the house: The functional areas of the hotel in which employees
have little or no guest contact, such as the engineering and maintenance
department, laundry room and so on.
Chandra Shekhar
MLSU udaipur
8