Housekeeping Operations

Origin of Hospitality and

Housekeeping
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Hospitality
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Cordial and generous reception and entertainment of
guests and strangers, either socially or commercially.
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People go to a home away from home and they will
need care.
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They will need a clean and comfortable place to rest or
sleep, food service, an area for socializing and
meeting other people, access to stores and shops,
and secure surroundings.
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Travelers in the early 1700s found hospitality in
roadhouses, missions, or private homes and may have
included only a bed made of straw that was changed
weekly.
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Early records indicate that the common lodging choice
was usually available at many trading centers and
crossroads.
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With the growth of transportation, roadways, river
travel, railroads and air travel – people became even
more mobile.
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Lodging establishments have kept pace or fallen by
wayside or been refurbished to meet quality demands
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We have to consider seriously why one specific hotel
or inn might be selected over another.
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There is need to be competitive in terms of food, clean
room, sociable atmosphere, meeting space, and
security
●
Housekeeping
- upkeep and maintenance of cleanliness and order in
a house or a lodging establishment
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Housekeeper
- responsible for administering housekeeping
maintenance and for insuring that everything is in
order.
●
Types of Housekeeping
➢
Domestic Housekeeping – housekeeping
maintenance in a house. Lady of the house acts as
the head housekeeper.
➢
Institutional Housekeeping – housekeeping
maintenance in commercial lodging establishments.
Institutional Housekeeping usually covers the following areas:
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Guest rooms
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Hallways and corridors
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Lobby
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Public areas and restaurants

Offices

Stairways

Grounds and plants
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Linen and laundry

Pest control

It does not include the kitchen and dining areas since these are
handled by the Food and Beverage Section.
 Hotel Housekeeping
●
Housekeeping Department
– Responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance and
aesthetic upkeep of the hotel.
– The personal effort the housekeeping department
makes in giving a guest a desirable room has a
direct bearing on the guests experience in a hotel.

– Organizational Chart:
●
Schematic depiction of relationships between various job
positions in an organization.
 Organizational Chart of the
Housekeeping Department
(for large establishments)

Executive Housekeeper or
Housekeeping Manager

Roomskeeping Public Area Linen & Laundry

Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor

Room Attendant Houseman Linen and Laundry

Attendant

Minibar Runner Pest Control Technician

Steam Presser

Ironer
Gardener/
Grounds Maintenance
Valet Runner
Powder Girl
 3 Divisions of Housekeeping Department

1. Roomskeeping
- guestrooms, minibar
2. Public Area
- all parts of the building which are for public use
3. Linen and Laundry
- processing all requests for laundry service
●
Roomskeeping Supervisor
– Plans, organizes, directs, and monitors rooms
maintenance activities and to ensure consistent
compliance to prescribed rooms keeping standards.
●
Room Attendant
– Cleans and maintains allotted guest rooms as per
set procedures and standards.
– a.k.a. Chambermaids, housemaids, room maids,
room boys
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Minibar Runner
– Replenishment, inventory taking, stock requisition
and other related functions concerning the minibar.
●
Public Area Supervisor
– Direct and control all activities concerning public area
maintenance and to ensure conformity to prescribed
housekeeping standards and policies.
●
Houseman
– Male cleaning personnel allotted to rooms and public areas
to manage heavy cleaning duties.
●
Pest Control Technician
– Prevents and controls pests through preventive and
corrective measures.
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Gardener / Grounds Maintenance
– Maintains the grounds including plants and landscape.
●
Cloak Room Attendant / Powder Girl
– Cleanliness, maintenance, and service in public area guest
toilets. Ensures the supply of clean dry towels, soaps, etc.
●
Linen and Laundry Supervisor
– Directs, leads, monitors, and controls all activities relating to
linen and laundry service.
●
Linen and Laundry Attendant
– Sorting, counting, and issuing newly laundered linens and
uniforms and segregation of defective linens for repair.
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Steam Presser
– Performs steam pressing of delicate materials like wool
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Ironer
– Ironing of linen used by F&B and Housekeeping Dept.
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Valet Runner
– Picks up and delivers guest laundry
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Sorter / Marker – sorts, classifies, and labels laundry items
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Washer – washes and dries guest laundry items and linen
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Dry Cleaner - Spotter – dry cleans and does spot removal
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Seamstress – mends guest laundry, and employee uniforms
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Tailors / Upholsterers – mends uniforms, linen and
upholstery to give them longer life
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Uniform Room Attendants – issues uniforms while
receiving soiled ones for onward transmission to the laundry.
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Control Desk Supervisor – transmits and receives
information from other department, concerning housekeeping.
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Florist / Horticulturist – maintains the gardens of the hotel
as well as supply flowers from the gardens for interior
arrangement.
 SEATWORK!!!
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½ yellow pad crosswise
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Write name, section, date today

1. Why do you think Housekeeping Department

is very important to a hotel?
2. What do you think are the 6 other departments
in the hotel that the Housekeeping Department
needs to coordinate with and why?
 BUTLER SERVICE
●
Butler
– Senior servant in a well-to-do household.
– In the past, the butler was in charge of the dining
room, wine cellar pantry, and sometimes the entire
main floor.
– In modern usage, butler is in charge of food service,
wine, spirits, and silver, supervises other servants,
and may perform a wide array of household
management duties.
– a.k.a. “majordomo”, butler administrator, staff
manager, and head of household staff.
 When the guest arrives, the butler will:
✔
Ensure accommodation is ready
✔
Greet guests upon arrival
✔
Process guest's registration
✔
Offer to unpack luggage
✔
Offer welcome beverage
✔
Offer complimentary pressing
✔
Take note of any requirements the guest may
have on arrival
During the guest's stay, the butler will:
➔
Take room service orders for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner
➔
Handle guest's laundry, dry cleaning or pressing
requests
➔
Liaise with housekeeping over servicing of suite
➔
Offer to draw a scented bubble bath
➔
Tidy guest's wardrobe
➔
Ensure that suite is maintained in perfect condition
➔
Check and restock suite bar
 At departure time, the butler will:
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Offer to pack for the guest
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Present guest account in advance for check out
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Arrange transport requirements
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Coordinate luggage pick-up
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Escort guest to the lobby
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Check the suite for any items the guest might
have forgotten
BUTLER
Other Departments Housekeeping
Coordinates With:
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Front Office
As soon as there are guest departures the F.O. rings
the Housekeeping Desk and reports the room
numbers of rooms vacated so the housekeeping
can take them over to clean and prepare for sale.
Once a room is clean, the Housekeeping Floor
Supervisor rings the F.O. and hands over the rooms
for sale.
●
Food and Beverage
The restaurants and banquets constantly require
clean table linens
●
Human Resource
Housekeeping department coordinates with the
Personnel Department for the recruitment of
Housekeeping staff, salary administration,
indiscipline, grievance procedures, identity cards for
staff, induction, locker facilities, transfers,
promotions, and exit formalities.
●
Purchasing
Purchasing Department procures out-of-stock items
for Housekeeping such as guest amenities, linens,
cleaning materials, etc.
●
Engineering
Engineering Department carries out the task of fixing
out of order furniture and fixtures reported by the
Housekeeping Department. Housekeeping would
also hand over rooms to Engineering for major
repairs and renovation.
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Security
The guestroom is the most private place and a hotel
goes to great lengths to ensure guest privacy and
security. However, the guest can take advantage of
this privacy by gambling, smuggling, etc.
 Housekeeping Control Desk
●
nerve center of the entire Housekeeping Department. It is the
focal point for the dissemination of information and
communication to various parts of the hotel.
 Inter-Relationship between Housekeeping
and Front Office Department:

1.Cleaning and Inspection Process

2.Room Status Report
3.Room Guest Needs Satisfaction
1. Cleaning and Inspection Process
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Different modes under which a hotel might
operate:
– a. Manual System
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The Room Attendants to the Housekeeping
Department to inform them that they have
already cleaned the room and go to the next
room. Or, the Room Attendant will inform the
Housekeeping Department, and then the
department will send an Inspector to check
the work of the Room Attendant. Then the
inspector will go back to the Housekeeping
Department to inform them that the room is
vacant
b. Semi-Automated System
The Room Attendants and Inspectors
might use a phone situated on each floor
to inform the Housekeeping Department
of the room status.

c. Fully Automated System

The Room Attendants and Inspectors can send a coded
message from the guest’s room telephone to the
Housekeeping Department. Then an electronic
message can be sent automatically to the Front Office
confirming that the room is cleaned to standards ad
waiting for the next guest.
2. Room Status Report – is a list that shows the recent
room status of each room in the hotel. Both
Housekeeping and Front Office Departments make the
Room Status Report at the same time and the cross-
referenced and compared to determine discrepancies.
a. Manual System – once each hour
b. Semi-Automated System – at the beginning of each shift
c. Fully Automated System – real time, reconciliation needs to
be done only at the night shift by the Night Auditor.
Inter-Relationship between Housekeeping
and Engineering Department:
✔
Maintenance Register – to be filled up by the Control
Desk Attendant (CDA), mentioning the room number,
nature of request, and name of the Supervisor or
Room attendant who logged the request.
✔
Maintenance Slip – prepared by the CDA in duplicate,
retains one copy in the Maintenance Register and
forwards the other copy to the Engineering
Department
✔
Work Order Slip – prepared by the Engineering
Department to send a technician to the concerned
area of the hotel.
 Other Types of Registers and Files
Maintained in the Housekeeping
Department:
➔
Guest Message Register
➔
Baby-Sitting Register
➔
Room Checklist – serves as a guide to the Supervisor in
examining the room that is already cleaned and ready for
sale
➔
Carpet Shampoo
➔
Duty Roster – list of people who are assigned to do things
at various times
➔
Log Book – Where instructions and endorsements to the
staff of the next shift are written.
➔
Lost and Found Register
 Security Concerns

Guest Theft – guests take hotel items as souvenirs or plainly
because most of the items in the hotel are useful at home.
-Suspicious movements are carefully observed and must be
reported immediately to the security department.

Employee Theft – employees are the most tempted to get items
from the hotel since items are very useful at home and they are
exposed to it every day.
-An employee is given a Gate Pass issued and signed by the
department head if a hotel property is removed from the
hotel.

Bomb Scare – hotels are one of the prime targets of explosions
by terrorism groups who want to make a statement. Be alert
to any suspicious-looking object and person roaming around.
 Lost and Found Procedure
1.If an article is found in a guest room, report it
immediately to the supervisor.
2.Supervisor informs the CDA.
3.CDA will verify with Front Office whether the guest can
be located.
4.If the guest is not available, CDA will fill a Lost and
Found Slip in duplicate (1 attached to the article and 1
kept in a Lost and Found Register)
5.If there is a forwarding address, Executive
Housekeeper will have to write/contact the guest to
either claim it or give further instructions.
6. If the guest returns to claim it, he/she would have to
provide proof of identity, and has to sign the Lost and
Found Slip to acknowledge receiving the item.
7. If the guest instructed to mail the item to the
forwarding address, inform the guest of the charges
and delivered to the guest as cash on delivery.
8. If the guest is not known, housekeeping would have
to wait for the guest to claim it.
9. If the item is unclaimed, it is kept for a period of time
(usually 6 months) and can be given to the one who
found it. The Executive Housekeeper needs to issue
a Gate Pass to the employee for security purposes.
 Security Procedures
●
Follow security procedures when encountering a
security problem like power failure, theft, vandalism,
fight, harassment, loiterers, etc.
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Provide security in guest rooms
Never give guest’s room number to other people
Never tell guests which rooms are vacant or occupied
Never open room door to guests without verifying
identification
Always lock the door
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Report discrepancies in room status such as:
Rooms occupied when they should be vacant
Rooms that should be occupied but are not