Lesson 4
Divisions of a Hotel
There are various divisions (or departments) of a hotel. They are given below.
Front Office
It is responsible for guest check-in and check-
out, mail and information services, and
concierge services such as tour booking,
reserving theatre and restaurants, providing
airport taxi service, etc.
Food and Beverage
Food and Beverage department is
responsible for preparing menus, foods,
and managing inventory of food and
beverage items. It includes food and
beverage preparation and service for
restaurant, lounge, coffee shops, bars,
parties, and room service.
Uniformed Service Department
It includes parking and door attendants,
drivers, porters, and bell attendants.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping includes the duties of keeping
the areas of the hotel clean, tidy, hygienic, and
pleasant. It also performs the duties pertaining
to decoration of hotel premises.
Sales and Marketing
Allsales, services, advertising, promotions,
and public relations are taken care of by this
team.
Security
Security manager and security workers work
to keep the property safe and secured from
external hazards.
Accounts
It conducts all financial activities like
producing bills and receiving payments,
computing employees’ compensations and
delivering payments. They also carry out the
activities such as compiling monthly and
annual income statements, depositing and
securing cash, and controlling and monitoring
assets.
Maintenance
The Maintenance department is responsible for the maintenance of
the property. It takes care of repairing furniture and fixtures, and
painting the required area. When the hotel is small, these works are
contracted from an outside agency.
Engineering and Technology
It is responsible for keeping all of its equipment operational. The
duties include maintaining telephone, hotel management software,
internet etc. It is also responsible for implementing any new
changes required such as upgrading the software and hardware.
Human Resource Department
Human Resource department is responsible for
interviewing and recruiting qualified staff to be
placed at appropriate positions. They also conduct
exit interviews for the employees who wish to quit
the work. HRD works to set wages and salaries
based on regional market rates and ensures that
the hotel business meets safety and health
administration standards.
In all these departments, the efforts of
housekeeping department are overt.
They are directly visible to the guests
even before they try food or avail
other amenities. Housekeeping
creates the first impression about the
hotel in the guests’ minds. Hence this
department can be said as the heart of
the hotel business.
Housekeeping Department Layout
in Hotel
The layout of the housekeeping department depends on the total
number of Guestrooms, Outlets, and Required Staff. The following areas
of the department are the most prominent ones:
Office of the Executive Housekeeper: The administrative
work of the department is carried out here.
Housekeeping Control Desk: It is accessible and operational 24
hours a day. The housekeeping staff reports at the start and end of
the shift here. There are notice boards, storage shelves, registers,
lost and found cupboard, and key-hanger matrix.
Laundry Area: Washing, ironing, dry cleaning, folding of linen and
staff uniform takes place here.
Linen Room: Here, the linen of the hotel such as bed-sheets,
towels, pillow cases, etc., are stored, collected, and carried to the
required places in the hotel.
Uniform Room: The staff uniforms are collected, stored, and
distributed from here.
Tailor Room: Here, stitching and repairing of linen and uniforms
takes place.
Housekeeping Stores: It is a storage area where the
cleaning equipment and items, and guest supplies are
securely stored.
Flower Room: It is an air-conditioned room with
worktables, sink and water supply, cupboards to store
vases and stones, and a counter.
Lost and found: It stores all the items left by the guests.
It directly communicates with the front office desk, as there
the guests tend to first enquire about their lost articles.
Housekeeping: Areas of Responsibility
The housekeeping department is responsible to keep the following areas clean and
tidy.
Guest Rooms
Guest Bathrooms
Public Areas such as Lobby and Lifts
Banquets and Conference Halls
Parking Area
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.
STAFF DUTIES
“A new broom sweeps clean; but an old broom
knows the corners.”
- An
Irish Saying.
There is a huge workload on the hotel housekeeping
staff. The housekeeping work is carried out at various
levels such as managerial level, supervisory level, and
operational level. Let us see more about the staff and
qualities they should possess.
Structure of Housekeeping Staff
The general structure of housekeeping staff is as shown below:
Executive Housekeeper / Manager of Housekeeping
The Executive Manager is the chief of housekeeping department. The Deputy
Housekeeper and Assistant Manager of Housekeeping report to him. Their
responsibilities include:
Ensuring overall cleanliness and aesthetics of the hotel.
Ensuring overall sanitation, comfort, and ambience of the hotel.
Training the new joiners and motivate the existing employees.
Modelling and establishing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for cleaning and
decorating.
Monitoring regular inventory of guest supplies and linen.
Monitoring housekeeping equipment and hotel property.
Evaluating employee performance, and handling their training, promotions, and
transfers.
Organize flower arrangements for events.
Presenting the estimate of the required budget to the General Manager of the hotel.
Supervisors of Housekeeping
The supervisors report to the Assistant Housekeeper. Their positions and their
respective responsibilities include:
Floor Supervisor
Issuing keys to the room attendants.
Coordinating floor operations and tray clearance with room attendants.
Inspecting rooms for readiness and reporting to the front office for the same.
Catering for VIP facilities and providing special supplies such as hot drinking water,
baby-sitting provision.
Public Area Supervisor
Ensuring that cleanliness is maintained at all times
in public areas such as lobby, lifts, parking,
swimming pool, coffee shop, conference hall,
banquet hall, and restaurant.
Ensuring banquet and conference halls are well kept
and ready.
Ensuring the concerned operating staff is available
as per the schedule.
Night Supervisor
Ensuring provision of guest supplies such as water, extra bed, fans, or towels.
Ensuring the operating staff working at night is following all cleaning SOPs.
Supervising hotel area at night and ensuring cleanliness in all areas of hotel.
Uniform Room Supervisor
Providing clean, ironed, and fresh uniforms to the hotel staff.
Suggesting procurement of any uniforms required.
Checking repaired linen from tailor room.
Keeping track of number and condition of uniforms.
Linen Room Supervisor
Inspecting linen and sending it to the
laundry.
Checking linen from laundry and sending
it for ironing.
Maintaining linen influx and out flux
register.
Checking repaired linen from tailor room.
Suggesting linen replacements if required.
Operating Staff / Attendants
The positions and responsibilities of the Operating Staff/Attendants are explained below.
Uniform Room Attendant
Collecting uniforms of staff at the end of every shift and maintaining them to be used for the
next time.
Maintaining the shelves of uniforms and linens clearly.
Giving and taking back the uniforms from the staff.
Linen Room Attendant
Segregating the dirty linen according to its type and sending it to the laundry.
Keeping the track of linen count before and after laundry.
Stacking towels, bed sheets, pillowcases, table napkins separately into different sections of shelves.
Guest Room Attendant
Reporting to the floor supervisor.
Cleaning the guest rooms, guest bathrooms, and the corridors.
Changing the linen of the guest room and guest bathrooms.
Topping up the guest supplies. Making guest-room beds.
Replenishing the hotel cleaner’s trolley with supplies and linens for the next shift staff.
Storekeeper
Reporting to the floor supervisor.
Keeping the count of cleaning equipment and items such as cleaners and detergents.
Generating requisition to purchase the required material.
Public Area Attendants
Reporting to public area supervisor.
Keeping the parking, lobbies, guest rooms, lifts, and
corridors in best maintained status.
Keeping these areas smelling fresh and clean.
Night Shift Attendants
Reporting any hotel safety issues to the night supervisor.
Performing housekeeping duties during night.
Qualities of Housekeeping Staff
There are certain professional qualities the housekeeping staff is required to possess:
Personal Hygiene and Appearance
The housekeeping staff on duty must:
Be well-groomed with high degree of personal hygiene.
Have trimmed nails and hair, and clean uniform.
Have a clean and pleasant appearance.
Communications skills
The housekeeping staff must:
Conduct themselves with a cooperative attitude.
Speak in a friendly but sincere tone.
Speak clearly in audible voice of moderate pitch.
Maintain polite eye contact while interacting with the hotel guests.
Interpersonal skills
For serving the guest and working for cleanliness, the housekeeping
staff must:
Possess right attitude.
Have good listening skills to avoid any miscommunication.
Be a good team player.
Personalskills and Traits
The housekeeping staff must:
Be able to retain and pursue the demand of the guest until it is
fulfilled.
Be sincere and physically fit.
Respect each hotel guest they are dealing with. They must conduct
themselves confidently and courteously.
Have high integrity.
