Chapter 6

Daily Routines and Systems

© Oxford University Press 2015.

All rights reserved.
 Objectives
To be able to
• define terms used in describing ‘the housekeeping day’
• understand the forms, reports and formats used to accomplish
the daily routine
• explain the activities taking place as part of ‘the housekeeping
day’
• list the order of servicing guestrooms
• gain an insight into the procedure of availing leave
• understand the importance of a gate pass

© Oxford University Press 2015.

All rights reserved.
 The housekeeping day

• The housekeeping day refers to the part of the 24 hours when

the housekeeping operations are in full swing. For a systematic
study of the daily routine of the housekeeping department, the
housekeeping day is divided into three shifts,

© Oxford University Press 2015.

All rights reserved.
Morning shift activities

Briefing is taken for the all employees at the beginning

of a work shift, by the managerial staff, that is, the
Deputy Housekeeper or the Executive Housekeeper
herself. The process facilitates a two way
communication between the management and the staff.
Usually this is the time when grooming standards are
checked before allocating jobs to the staff.

© Oxford University Press 2015.

All rights reserved.
Afternoon/Evening shift activities

In the early afternoon the rooms that displayed a DND

Card in the morning were serviced. The reports from
GRAs are consolidated again and after approval from
the Executive Housekeeper sent to the Front Desk final
Consolidated Housekeeping Status Report is sent to the
Front Desk and a copy is forwarded to the Financial
Controller. Other evening activities include turn down
service, brush ups, attending to guest requests, and
preparing the maid’s cart for next days work.

© Oxford University Press 2015.

All rights reserved.
Night shift activities

The Night Supervisor files the following documents

• Night Report to Housekeeping (collected from the Front Desk

to open the house in the morning)
• Originals and copies of all the Daily Work Reports
• All the Section Work Sheets
• Copies of the Housekeeping Status Report
• Completed Key Control Sheet
• Night Supervisors Report for evening activities
• Early in the morning, the Night Supervisor collects the Night
Report and the Arrival Departure List from the Front Desk to
open the house.

© Oxford University Press 2015.

All rights reserved.
Gate Pass

A gate pass is a document of validity that is made and given to

any employee who is legally taking out of hotel premises the
following:
• a housekeeping department’s property for repair or cleaning.
(Returnable article)
• discarded items of the housekeeping department. (Non
returnable article)
• articles auctioned by the housekeeping department. (Non
returnable article)
• any gift given by the guests as a token of appreciation. (Non
returnable article)

© Oxford University Press 2015.

All rights reserved.