Unit 1 HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT – SIGNIFICANCE, PEOPLE AND RELEVENCE.

Housekeeping means performing all the duties towards cleaning, maintaining orderliness,
and running a house or a business property. In case of hotels, the housekeeping
duties involve maintaining the hotel to the best possible state in terms of cleanliness,
and keeping it at highly desirable ambience.
Role of Hotel Housekeeping
The main objectives of hotel housekeeping are:
 To maintain overall cleanliness of the entire hotel at all times.
 To perform cleanliness duties most efficiently and effectively.
 To use good quality, safe cleaning equipment and chemicals.

 To manage laundry and linen. To control pests.

 To keep up the hotel with classy interior decoration.

 To take care of the furniture, fittings, and fixtures of the entire hotel.
To understand the expanse or scope of housekeeping, it is better to understand the divisions
of hotel a hotel, first.
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 : All sales, 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 guests
tend to first enquire about their lost articles.
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:
-groomed with high degree of personal hygiene.
and clean uniform.

Communications skills
The housekeeping staff must:
Conduct themselves with a cooperative attitude.

Interpersonal skills
For serving the guest and working for cleanliness, the housekeeping staff must:

Personal skills and Traits

The housekeeping staff must:

t.
 courteously.

Structure of Housekeeping Staff and Job Description:

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:
aesthetics 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.

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.

Night Supervisor
Ensuring provision of guest supplies such as water, extra bed, fans, or towels.
Uniform Room Supervisor
Providing clean, ironed, and fresh uniforms to the hotel staff.

Linen Room Supervisor

Inspecting linen and sending it to the laundry.

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.
.

Linen Room Attendant

Segregating the dirty linen according to its type and sending it to the laundry.

, pillowcases, table napkins separately into different sections of shelves.

Guest Room Attendant
Reporting to the floor supervisor.

the linen of the guest room and guest bathrooms.

-room beds.

Storekeeper
Reporting to the floor supervisor.

Public Area Attendants

Reporting to public area supervisor.

blic area supervisor.

Night Shift Attendants

Reporting any hotel safety issues to the night supervisor.
Performing housekeeping duties during night.
Internal Department Relationship
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.
Term Meaning

It is a multi-course meal or feast, usually given by the host on

Banquets occasions like a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a
celebration, often precedes or succeeds by honoring speeches.
Bridal Suite Room reserved for the newly married people.
Counter where you announce your arrival or departure to the
Check-In
hotel.
Coffee
Place in a hotel where coffee, light drinks and meals are served.
Shop
Desk Place that provides information or service in a hotel.
Dining
Room where guests have their meals.
Room
En Suite Attached to the room.
Guest
Bedroom for a visitor.
Room
Head Board Upright panel designed or placed behind the head of a bed.
Lobby A hall, foyer, or waiting room at or near the hotel entrance.
Lounge Public area of hotel where people can just sit and relax.
Reception The area/desk at which the guests are received.
It is a detailed information prepared by the manufacturer or
Material
importer of a chemical that describes the physical and chemical
Safety Data
properties, health hazards, routes of exposure, precautions for
Sheet
safe handling and use, and first-aid procedures in case any
(MSDS)
accident happens.
 UNIT II – CLEANING ORGANIZATION

ClassificationofCleaningEquipment
There are broadly categorized as follows:

Manual Cleaning Equipment

As the name suggests, they are used manually to keep the surfaces clean. Some commonly
used manual equipment are:

Abrasives: They are the sharpening stones or grit papers used to polish metal or wooden surfaces. There are
various abrasives depending upon the size of grit and adhesion of grit particles on the paper.

Brushes: They are handheld flat brushes with bristles to dust the plain surfaces as well as the corners. They come
with non-slip handles and stiff scratch-free bristles. They help removing stubborn dust.

Chambermaid’s Trolley/Housekeeping Trolley: This trolley is large enough to keep all the guest room and guest
bathroom supplies in an organized manner. It makes the housekeeping staff to move it around and carry large
number of items in one go while keeping and cleaning the guest rooms.

Dustbins: They are used to collect daily garbage produced in the hotel.

Dusting Cloths: They are soft cloths used for wiping the surface dust.

Dustpans: They are used to collect dust and garbage from the floor and putting it into the dustbin.

Janitor’s trolley: It is a trolley that stores cleaning supplies such as detergents, spray bottles, dustbin, mop, and
dusting cloths, all in a compact manner. It can be moved around easily. It fulfills the challenge of modern day
housekeeping in hotels.

Mops: There are various types of mops such as string mops, flat mops, dust mops, and synthetic mops. Mops are
generally made of flat cotton strings or heavy-duty sponges fixed on the metal frames. The cotton mops have high
absorbing ability but need more care unlike the synthetic mops that offer almost zero absorbing ability and very less
maintenance.

Mop Wringer trolley: A mop bucket cart (or mop trolley) is a wheeled bucket that allows its user to wring out a wet
mop without getting the hands dirty. The mops are squeezed between two surfaces to remove dirty water from it.

Scarifying machine: It is used for keeping gardens, golf courts, and lawn in the hotel premises. It cuts through the
turf, and removes moss and dead grass. It helps grow spongy lawn. Scarifiers have fixed knife blades attached to the
rotary cylinder. They cut through the grass by which the offshoots are separated into lots of individual plants. This
helps to thicken up the turf and improve its health.

Spray Bottles: They are used to spray water or chemical solutions on the surface that needs cleaning. They are also
used to spray water on the delicate flowers or leaves of flower arrangement.
 

Electric Cleaning Equipment

As the name depicts, these equipment require electrical power to operate. They are operated either
on AC power or on the battery. Some important electric equipment are:

Box Sweeper: It is electric sweeper that consists of a friction brush. The brush often is fit to revolve vertically or
horizontally, when the equipment moves on the surface. It can clean floors as well as carpets. The wider the better is
the box sweeper brush.

Vacuum Cleaner: It is again a majorly used equipment in hotel housekeeping. It comes with a suction motor fit in a
case, a hose, and various attachment for delicate as well as tough cleaning requirements.

Polishing Machine: They are used to add a shine to the floors of most frequented areas of the hotel.

Scrubber: It is a floor care accessory that comes with handheld electrically operated scrubber. It is used where only
mopping doesn’t suffice. It can scrub stubborn and sticky stains on the floors of cafeterias, restaurants, lobbies, and
fitness areas where people can take food and beverages.

Vapor Cleaning Machine: They are used where the chemical odors are not desired. They are equipped for
continuous operation. They heat up quickly and work with low amount of moisture. They kill the beg bugs and their
eggs, the yielding a completely clean environment.
 

CleaningAgents Chemicals
Apart from water and regular detergents, the housekeeping staff also uses cleaning
chemicals, which are often available in the form of liquids, blocks, and powders.

Water: It is the most commonly used medium for cleaning and rinsing. The
housekeeping staff needs to use only soft water because hard water cannot dilute
detergents properly. Non-oily and non-greasy stains such as ink stains can be
removed using water.

Vinegar: It is used in removing light stains in the bath.

Bathroom Cleaners: They come in liquid form for easy cleaning. They clean,
descale, and disinfect the bathroom walls, bathtubs, bathroom flooring, sinks, and
showers. They often contain phosphoric acid.

Clean Air Sprays: They are best for freshening the hotel corridors, washrooms,
bathrooms, and reception areas. These sprays remove the pungent smell of
tobacco, smoke, and organic wastes.

Degreaser: This is mainly used in bars to remove the marks of grease and lipstick
that cannot be removed by traditional washing of glasses and cups. Degreaser
restores the surface shine and transparency of the glasses and bowls.
Floor Cleaners and Sealers: One of the important tasks of hotel housekeeping is
cleaning the floor periodically and keeping it sealed with the help of sealer of the
right consistency for optimum maintenance. Some areas in the hotel are busy and
bear heavy traffic such as lobby, corridors, parking areas, restaurants, and dining
halls. Their floorings loses smoothness and shine. In such a case, the floor cleaners
and sealers are used for restoring their look and shine.

Laundry Cleaners: They are liquid concentrates with variable amount of peroxide
that removes tough stains, bleaches the linen, and enhances its whiteness.
A number of chemicals are used in dry-cleaning. They are camphor oil, turpentine
spirits, benzene, kerosene and white gasoline, petroleum solvents such as naphtha
blends, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and liquid carbon dioxide. They remove
the stains from silk tapestry without damaging the fibers.

Surface Sanitizers: They often come in the form of liquid concentrate. They are
water-based and sanitize the surfaces without damaging their appearance. The
sanitizers reduce the presence of bacteria to a great extent. They come with
different concentrations and fragrances.

Toilet Blocks: They deodorize the toilets and leave them with a fresh smell. They
come with two variants: continuous action and instant action. They contain
oxidizing agents such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide, or chlorine that removes
unpleasant organic odor from the surface of a material.

Toilet Cleaners: They are available in liquid form containing strong hydrochloric
acid. They remove stains and plumbing scales easily, and restore the shine of their
surface.
 Carpet Cleaning Agents: Cleaning and maintaining the carpets are important
tasks of hotel housekeeping. As suggested by the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI),
carpet cleaning is complete when the following issues are tackled:
o Soil containment
o Vacuuming
o Spotting
o Interim cleaning
o Restorative cleaning
Carpet cleaning chemicals are often low-moisture, fast-drying cleaners that take
care of the above said issues effectively.

Swimming Pool Cleaners: They are used for cleaning the swimming pool water.
Some of them are TCCA-90 granules or tablets, SDIC, hydrochloric acid (HCL),
liquid chlorine, and alum. The pool cleaning chemicals kill the bacterial and algae
growth in the water.

The chemicals like Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate (SDIC) has 60% of chlorine

content and is used worldwide for disinfecting water. The pool cleaning chemicals
dissolve fast in water and provide quick cleaning results. The housekeeping staff
needs to take extra care while cleaning baby pools using these cleaners.

UNIT III OPERATIONAL AREAS & CLEANING PROCEDURES

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

Here are some prominent advantages, the housekeeping department offers to its guests:

Clean and hygienic atmosphere

Comfortable and convenient stay
Privacy
Safety and security
Provision of amenities
Making guests Feel good

Having seen the advantages, let us see the principles of housekeeping towards providing
these to the guests while working safely.
PurposeofCleaning
Cleaning is conducted to remove harmful bacteria present in the dust deposited on the
hotel property because of air pollution. This may cause unhealthy effects on the working
staff as well as the guests. Cleanliness reduces the threat of any infections and offers
comfortable stay to the guests in the hotel.

CleaningandHygienePrinciples
The worker must follow the given principles while cleaning:

Carry out the cleaning procedures in sequence. Say, sweeping-> Dusting ->
Mopping/Suction Cleaning -> Disinfecting -> Air Freshening.

Must take care while cleaning and polishing; not to damage various surfaces and
hamper their appearance.
Should start cleaning from extreme inner end continuing towards exit.

 Should park the chambermaid’s trolley such that it leaves space for corridor traffic.

Must take proper precautions while handling cleaning equipment, detergents, and
guest luggage.

Must remove hard water stains and spider webs as soon as they occur.

Must never use guest room linen for cleaning or blocking room entree
 SafetyandSecurityPrinciples
The workers must follow the safety rules mentioned below.

Protect their body from harmful chemicals by wearing thick gloves.

Protect their eyes by wearing masks or goggles if required.

Must use caution sign to mark wet floors.

Clean spilled liquids immediately to reduce chances of slipping.

Handle cleaning chemicals carefully while transporting, disposing, or refilling the

containers.

Mix any chemicals required in the presence of proper ventilation.

Must not open unlabeled chemical containers.

Use swivel head mops to avoid inappropriate body posture while cleaning.

Wear close toe-non slip footwear while working.

Use appropriate body postures while working to avoid cramps.

Request for peer assistance while moving heavy loads such as furniture.

Report to the supervisor in case of any accident due to mishandling of flammable

liquids or otherwise.

Keep the guests safe with the help of security department.

 Keep the guests’ documents, ornaments, or other articles safe.

Cleaning the Check-In Room

The Check in rooms are cleaned when the guest is about to occupy the room. A checklist
of room readiness is shared between the guest room supervisor and the guest room
attendants. The supervisor inspects the readiness of the room for occupancy.

The guest room attendant performs the following cleanings:

Checking power switches, air conditioner, TV, and other electronic appliances for
healthy condition.

Making bed with the fresh linen, pillow cases, and bedside mat.

Cleaning ashtrays and dustbins, replacing if required; and putting fresh paper
 stripes.

Checking stationery and vanity supplies. Replacing/refilling if required.

Cleaning the bathroom: floor, walls, toilet, shower area, and tub.

Checking bathroom supplies. Replacing the used supplies with the new ones.

Checking the room curtains and drapes for stains, replacing if needed, and closing.

Discarding the used supplies in the guest room.

Spraying the room freshener.

CLEANING AN OCCUPIED ROOM

The room is cleaned when the guest is occupying the room. It includes cleaning and
keeping all occupied rooms twice per day on guests’ requests and convenience.

Entering the guest room by following the set procedure.

Clearing the dustbins.

Collecting the used linen and putting it in the linen bag.

Making the bed.

Carrying out the guest room dusting.

Vacuuming of carpet and bedside mats.

Cleaning the bathroom and replenishing the bathroom supplies.

Checking the functionality of light bulbs, television, electric kettle, and intercom
device.

Cleaning the Check-Out Room

This cleaning is performed when the guest vacates the guest room and proceeds for hotel
check-out formalities. The cleaning involves:

Assembling bed, chairs, settees, and other furniture and placing it appropriately.
Wiping guest room floor with wet mop.
Cleaning the writing tables, assembling and placing stationery appropriately.
Checking under the beds and chairs, and in the locker for any articles the guest left
behind.
All personal stuff, documents, articles left in the room (if any) are removed and
deposited to Lost and Found desk.
Cleaning all walls of bathroom with wet wipe.
Cleaning all electric appliances such as microwave, fan, refrigerator and others.
 Keeping heaters/air conditioners at lowest power consuming option.
Switching off the room light and television.
Locking the guest room door and cleaning area outside it.
Depositing the keys at front office desk.

PERIODIC CLEANING IN HOTEL

The task of cleaning is very exhausting. It is divided among a number of housekeeping
staff depending upon expertise. Some cleaning such as occupied guest room cleaning
requires to be carried out twice on daily basis. The check-in and check-out cleanings are
little less frequent.

Further, the cleaning of air-conditioner and refrigerator is less frequent. Thus, depending
upon frequency of use of a particular area or device, the frequency of cleaning varies.

Spring Cleaning
This type of cleaning is practiced in the hotels located in cold as well as warm regions. The name depicts
cleaning the house in the first few warm days of spring when there is adequate sunlight to reach the corners and the
floors of the room. The areas, which are not much accessed, are also cleaned during the Spring Cleaning.

Spring cleaning is generally performed once a year by moving furniture and cleaning the
guest rooms entirely for dust, stains, broken furniture, and garbage. It is also called as
Deep Cleaning as it is ensured that no portion of the area is left uncleaned.

Cleaning and Keeping Public Areas of Hotel

The public areas are shared commonly among guests. They include:

Keeping Front office, Lobby, and Corridors

Front Office and Lobby is highly frequented. It must be clean at all hours of the day. The
housekeeping staff needs to clean desks, fans, ceiling, chairs, and computers. The staff
also cleans and disinfects the telephone devices, keyboards, flooring, corridors, and glass
doors at the entrance of the lobby.

Keeping the Dining Area

The dining area is the next most frequently visited area. The housekeeping staff puts in
good efforts for lighting, chandeliers, and cleaning the ceiling, furniture, and décor items.
It also includes spreading the clean dining linen on the dining tables and keeping the floor
clean. It is generally done when the area is not busy.

Cleaning the Lifts

The house keeping staff cleans lifts preferably early morning to avoid rush for use. They
stop it at the ground floor, its doors are kept open, and it is then cleaned starting from
top and working towards bottom.

Cleaning the Swimming Pools

Cleaning of the swimming pools is highly required during summer. It can be conducted by
the hotel if it has an in-house expertise, or it can be contracted with an agency. Cleaning
of swimming pool involves catching any leaves, purifying the pool water, and cleaning the
areas surrounding the pool; including shower and changing rooms.

Cleaning and Keeping the Hotel Garden

These days, the hotels keep their private team of gardeners. Watering and trimming the
trees and shrubs, fertilizing the plants, raking the fall leaves, and Arbosculpture (an art of
shaping trees into wonderful shapes), is taken care by this team.

Cleaning the Parking Area

It mostly involves hard sweeping the parking space, removing the cobwebs under the
parking shades, and putting up appropriate guiding signs.

SOPforEnteringtheGuestRoom
The housekeeping staff should follow the SOP given below for entering the guest room.

Leave the DND (Do not Disturb) rooms undisturbed.

 Knock the door with knuckles and announce in pleasant voice, “Housekeeping…”.
 Wait for five seconds to hear the guest’s response.

In case of no response, announce the same again.

In there is no answer second time too, open the door with the key.

Enter the room.

If the guest is found sleeping, withdraw from the room quietly.

In case the guest answers, ask politely when would he like to service the room.

In case the guest wants it later, acknowledge his reply and withdraw from the
room.

If the housekeeping work is in progress and the guest returns from outside, greet
him and ask if the guest would like to return in some time.

SOPsforCleaningtheGuestRoom
The SOP for cleaning the guest room is given below. Once the staff enters the room and
starts the housekeeping work, he must:

Not use guest room linen as a door stopper or for cleaning and dusting the room.
Keep the guest room door open while working.
 Open the curtains and patio door.
Assemble the furniture and place appropriately.
Keep the vacuum cleaner and other cleaning apparatus in the room.
Check the type of bed.
Take the bed linen of appropriate size and place it on the nearest chair.
Remove previous bedspread and place on the chair.
Inspect the bed and pillows for their condition as well as for any lost-and-found.
In case of checkout room, deposit the left guest items to the floor supervisor. If
the room is still occupied by the guest, place the item such that it is safe as well as
visible to the guest.
Put soiled sheets and pillow covers in the soiled linen cart of the trolley.
Empty ashtrays and rubbish from the guest room and bathroom dustbins into the
trash cart of the trolley.
Pick up used glasses, mugs, ashtray, trays, and place them on bathroom platform.
Spray the bathtub, basin, glasses, mugs, and trays with cleaning liquid. Let them
soak the chemicals from the liquid.
Make the bed.
Start dusting from an extreme inside corner of the room and work outwards.
Clean wipe TV.
Straighten the guest items.
Sweep the room and patio floor.
Mop the room and patio floor.
Clean the glasses, mugs, and tray.
Sanitize glasses, mugs, telephone device, and TV remote.
Inspect the condition of bathroom slippers and bathrobe. Replace if soiled.
Close the patio door.
Close all the curtains
Clean the entrance door.
Close and lock the room door.
Report any damage spotted to the supervisor.

SOPsforCleaningtheGuestBathRoom
The SOP for cleaning the guest bathroom is given below.

Open bathroom ventilation.

Sweep the bathroom floor.
Scrub and finish the platform, bathtub, and basin.
Scrub and finish the toilet bowl, rim, ring, and hinge.
Wipe the mirror.
Clean bathroom walls using wet mop or sponge.
Replace amenities such as toilet roll, toilet block, shampoo, conditioners, and
moisturizers.
Replace bathroom mat.
Wipe down shower curtain working from top to bottom with a dry cloth.
Replace bath towels and hand towels.
Replace the dustbin liner.
Close the bathroom ventilation.
Clean the bathroom door.
 Keep the bathroom door open after cleaning.
Check bathroom doormat. Replace if required.
Report any damage spotted to the supervisor.

SOPs for Cleaning Balcony / Patio

The balcony or the patio are the extensions of the guest room. The SOPs for cleaning them
are given below.

Enter the balcony.

Spray walls, railings,
Scrub and clean the bird droppings
Wipe down rocking or sitting chairs and table
Clean the door tracks appeared on the floor.
Sweep the floor.
Mop the floor.
SOPsforDo-Not-Disturb(DND)Rooms
Every room has to be entered at least once a day by any housekeeping staff. The guests
who do not want to get disturbed by any housekeeping service tag their rooms with a Do-
Not-Disturb (DND) sign.

The SOP for these rooms is as given below.

 Do not disturb by placing a call until 2:00 o’clock in the noon.

 After 2:00 p.m., the Supervisor calls the room to know the guest’s needs.

The housekeeping staff contacts the supervisor to make sure whether to service
the room.

If the call was not answered by the guest after two calling attempts, the room is
serviced.

To his best judgement, the housekeeping staff enters the room and continues with
the usual housekeeping work.

Public Area Cleaning SOP

There are various public areas frequented by the hotel guests. The areas and their
respective SOPs for housekeeping are as given:

SOPs for Cleaning the Lifts

Carry out the lift cleaning task early morning when the least number of guests
are expected to use it.
Call the elevator on the ground floor.
Open its door.
Put appropriate signboard near it.
Clean the lift using the appropriate cleaning liquid according to the wall material
of the lift cabin.
Wipe the lift doors.
Work from top to bottom while cleaning a lift cabin.
Keep the lift door open till the floor and walls are dried completely.
Spray clean air freshener.

SOPs for Cleaning the Front Office and Lobby

The lobby is active 24 hours. The furniture, carpets, flooring, and ceiling; everything needs
to be kept extremely clean at any given time. The SOPs are as follows:

Clear all ashtrays into the trash ensuring no cigarettes are burning.
Clean and restore them to proper places.
Clear the dustbins near front office desk.
 Replace their lining and keep them as they were.
Dust and wipe the telephone device, fax machine, Computers, and kiosks. Sanitize
the telephone device, computer key board, and touchpad of the kiosk.
Remove spider webs from ceiling.
Remove the dust deposited on walls, windows, furniture, and floor.
Remove stains on the carpet and furniture.
Clean all artifacts using damp and soft cloth carefully.
Sweep and mop the flooring of lobby and front office desk area.
Dust and polish any vases, paintings, and art pieces.
Spray the air clean spray with signature aroma.
Play a very light and soothing instrumental music.

SOPs for Cleaning Parking Area

The parking area takes the load of pollution created by hotel owned vehicles and guests’
private vehicles. It is heavily polluted with dirt and dust. The parking area needs
cleanliness with respect to the following terms:

Control the ventilation.

Control pollutant discharges occurring from broken drainage or water systems of
the hotel.
Remove fine-grained sediment particles on parking floor.
Clean the area near lift.
Hard-sweep the parking floor using street sweeping equipment.
Collect and dispose the debris appropriately.
Bringing presence of any unusual debris to the notice of public area supervisor.

SOPs for Keeping the Garden

The gardener or the team of gardeners work to keep the garden looking beautiful. They
must:

Water the plants regularly according to the season and requirement of the plants;
generally early morning.
Remove the weed and fall leaves daily.
Implement the art of Arbosculpture to enhance the beauty of the trees and
bushes.
Keep the gardening tools clean and safe.
Report any damage or requirement of tools or plants to the public area supervisor.
Keep the lawn grass in healthy condition by periodic cutting with the help of
scarifying machine.
Keep any artificial waterfalls or artificial water body clean.
Fertilizing and manuring the plants as per the schedule.
Recycle the food wastage in the hotel to prepare organic fertilizer.
SOPs for Cleaning the Dining Area
The dining areas need daily cleaning before their working hours start as well as when the
restaurant staff requests cleaning. The SOP is given below.

Collect all the cleaning equipment and dining area keys.

Switch on all the electric lamps.-

Open all the drapes and blinds for letting in the natural light.

Observer the entire area to plan the work.

Align all the chairs away from the table to make room for cleaning.

Clean the carpet area, using vacuum cleaner.

Remove any food stains from the carpet using appropriate cleaner.

If there is no carpet on the floor, sweep and mop it.

Dust all the furniture in the dining area.

Polish the furniture if required.

Using a feather duster, dust all the pictures, paintings, artworks, and corners.

Clean and disinfect the telephone devices.

Polish metal, glass, and wood items if required.

Clean the mirrors and windows by wiping them with wet sponge.

If requirement of maintenance is spotted, consult engineering department.

If any guest items are found then deposit it with housekeeping control desk.

Collect all dirty table linens and replace with the fresh ones.

Return the keys to the security department.

Record in the housekeeping register.

SOPs for Cleaning the Swimming Pool

The swimming pool cleaning activity can be conducted in-house by training and employing
housekeeping staff; as there could be separate swimming pools such as indoor and outdoor
as well as for adults and for children. The following steps are taken to clean and maintain
the swimming pool:

Check water quality more than once a week.

Check any broken tiles/pipes inside the swimming pool.
Clean the water as soon as possible when required.
Check the pool water for contamination daily. Remove leaves using leaf catchers.
 Check for slippery floor area and the pool bottom. Apply and maintain the anti-slip
mats near the pool. Scrub and clean the bottom of the pool.
Keep the life-saving and floating apparatus ready all time.
Keep poolside area and basking chairs clean.
Keep an appropriate and noticeable signage showing the depth of the swimming
pool.
Check and keep changing rooms up to good quality.
Keep the changing room door open when it is not occupied.
Employee lifeguards to provide general safety check for swimming pool once a day
during the operating hours.

Add adequate amount of chlorine in the pool water.

SOPs for Spring Cleaning

Since Spring-cleaning is a time taking process, it is conducted during low occupancy
period. The standard procedures are:

Request a spring-cleaning date the front office desk. (The housekeeping

department needs to honor whatever date they give, as it is the matter of revenue
generation.)

 Tag the room as “Not for Sale”.

Remove the guest amenities, curtains, and art pieces from the room.
Send the curtains to the laundry for dry cleaning.
Empty the mini bar and send the beverage items to Food and Beverage store.
Roll the curtains and cover them with dustsheet.
Inspect the furniture and send to the furniture yard for repair or upholstery.
Inspect the locks, knobs, latches, leaking pipes, and bathroom.
Hand over the room to maintenance department for any painting, sealing, and
repairing work required.
Once the maintenance work is complete, remove any residual smell of paint and
varnish by airing the room.
 Polish and clean the permanent fixtures.
Open, lay, and shampoo the carpet.
Check the bathroom sealing and clean the bathroom.
Make the bed using fresh bed linen.
Restore the art pieces, furniture, and guest supplies.
Call room service for restoring mini bar, glasses, and trays.
Show the room to the floor supervisor.
Release it to the front office desk for selling.

SOPs for Closing Down the Shifts

The floor supervisor closes the shift formally by ensuring the following points from the
attendants:

 Empty garbage bags of the chambermaid’s trolley into the garbage receptacle.
 Ensure they the soiled linen collected into chambermaid’s trolley bags are sent to
laundry.

 Remove the chambermaid’s trolley and check it for ant damage and dirt
accumulation.

Empty the vacuum cleaner bags and replace them with new ones.

Tidy the housekeeping department area by stacking the items at their appropriate
places.

Clean the toilet brushes with hot water for ten minutes every week.

Rinse mops in light detergents and hang for drying.

Close the doors and handover the keys to the housekeeping control desk.

Sign off the shift.








UNIT IV _ PROCEDURES AND SPECIAL SERVICES
It is the most important duty of the housekeeping staff to prepare the guest room and the
other places in the hotel so that the guest is most comfortable. Due to this, the
housekeeping staff places some necessary supplies in the guest rooms and guest
 bathrooms. The idea behind is, the guest need not pack and carry each and every essential
article while travelling.

As per the hotel policy, and the standard of the room, the lists of these supplies may
change. The housekeeping staff needs to ensure that those supplies are kept in appropriate
numbers and condition while preparing room for guest check-in.

Let us see more on the guest supplies.

ListofSuppliesforGuestRoom
The guest room supplies are considered as guest essentials. The housekeeping staff places
the following standard supplies in the guest room:

Furniture: It includes bed, bedside table, chairs, wardrobe with locker facility,
writing table, dressing table, center table, and a magazine holder.

Bedding: It includes mattress, bed sheet, bed cover, quilt, quilt cover, pillows, and
pillow cases.

Bedside Supplies: They include non-slip mats on the either sides of the bed.

 Bedside Table Supplies: They involve a telephone device, and a printed compiled
list of important intercom numbers such as reception, restaurant, and laundry of
the hotel. The housekeeping staff also provides a copy of Bible, Geeta, or Koran,
depending upon the prior knowledge of the guest’s religious orientation.

Center Table Supplies: It includes room service, laundry service, and spa and
health club rate cards. It also has an ash tray and a small decorative center piece.

Clothing and Clothing Care: It involves bathrobe, coffee table cover, rocking
chair cover, and hangers for clothes and ties.

Hospitality Tray: It is a small tray with compartments that holds sachets of coffee,
tea, cocoa powder, creamer, and sugar. Some hotels also offer the sachets of
condiments like black and white pepper powder, and salt. They also keep an electric
kettle, a couple of cups, saucers, spoons, and water bottle so that the guest can
make the beverage of his choice once in a day.

Mini Bar Supplies: It includes a small personal refrigerator filled with a couple of
soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, soda, and ice cubes. It also involves a couple of
personal servings of salted peanuts, cashew nuts, or chips.

 Writing Desk Supplies: A writing pad, a pencil, an eraser, promotional brochures,

La carte menu, and the short list of places of historical and commercial importance
in the city for guest’s reference.
List of Supplies for Guest Bathroom
They are also considered as guest essentials. The guests are expected to use these
supplies or take them away on departure. Depending upon the type of room, the list of
supplies for guest bathroom are:

Bathroom Attachments: Bath area with shower and handheld shower

attachments, a bath tub with hot-cold water mixer and handheld shower
attachment, soap dispenser, toilet paper attachment, towel holder, and a basin
with hot-cold water mixer attachment.

Towels: The couple of pairs of a large and a small towels each for the guests to
be used according to their requirement.

Dustbin: A small dustbin with lid, which can be often, opened by the foot and lined
with a plastic bag from inside.

Non-slip Foot-mat: It is often, kept near the bathtub.

Slippers: Flat non-slip slippers for the guest.

Mirror: A large mirror is often, fit on the wall above the basin.

Hair Dryer: A wall mounted fixed hair dryer for the guest is kept in the bathrooms.

Vanity Tray: It contains small bottles of shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner.
Some hotels also provide moisturizer, shower cap, hand and foot cream, ear buds,
and a small manicure kit. It may also contain a couple of empty glasses, disposable
toothbrushes, and a small bottle of mouthwash.

ItemsProvidedonRequest
The items provided on request are given to the guests when they ask for them. These are
the supplies apart from regular supplies required by some guests. These are often provided
as the guest expendables. Some of them are:

Alarm clock
Comb
Crib or Cradle
Disposable Diapers
Disposable razor
Electric blanket
Electric fan
Extra blankets
First aid medical kit
Handheld shower attachment
Hearing equipment
Hot water bag
Iron
Ironing board
Pillow
Potty Ring for toilet
Raised toilet seat



 GUEST CALL REGISTER

Sr Date Room Guest Call/ Time to Forwarded FU By Status

No No. Name Request Deliver To

Guest Loan Register

This register is maintained to record the delivery and recovery of the loan items given to
the guests. The general format of this register is as follows:

GUEST LOAN REGISTER

Sr Date Room Guest Req Time to Time to Deliver Recover Stat

No No. Name Deliver Recover ed By ed By us

Missing Article Register

If any article owned by the hotel (other than consumable items) is found missing in a
Check-Out room, then it is recorded in this Register.

Guest Supplies Control Register

This register is maintained to record guest supplies. The general format is as shown below:

GUEST SUPPLIES

Sr Floor/Item Pens/ Beverage/ Shower ... Vanity Description

No Pencils Sugar/ Caps Sets
Creamer
Sachets

Damage/Breakage Register
If any hotel property placed in the guest room is found damaged or broken, it is recorded
in this Register. Here is a sample register:

DAMAGE/BREAKAGE REGISTER

Sr Date Damaged Room No. Found By Description

No Item

Lost/Found Register
If a housekeeping guest room attendant finds any guest-owned article left in the Check-
Out room then it is recorded into the Lost/Found Register and sent to the same cell of the
housekeeping department. It also records any personal article found in the hotel premises.

LOST AND FOUND REGISTER

Sr Date Item Descript Found Found Picked Addr Contact Sign

No ion By At up By Number

Key Register
It is a register for noting down the issued keys of the guest rooms, mater keys of the
rooms and important safes, and floor keys.

KEY REGISTER

Sr Date Key Floor Room Time of Status at End of

No ID No. No. Issue Shift
(Returned/Missing)

Linen Control Register

It records the movement of linen between the laundry and the guest rooms or dining area.
It makes the housekeeping staff easy to keep the track of clean and soiled laundry.
ChecklistsandReportsinHousekeeping
There are various housekeeping checklists and reports automatically generated by the
hotel management software.

Checklists
Checklists help to ensure all work is done appropriately without anything left to be
completed. There are various checklists referred and filled by the housekeeping staff.
Some important ones are:

Guest Supplies Checklist

Guest Room Cleaning Checklist
Guest Bathroom Cleaning Checklist
Beach Area Cleaning Checklist
Swimming Pool Cleaning Checklist
Garden Keeping Checklist
Housekeeping Standard Checklist for SPA
Housekeeping Standard Checklist for Fitness Center

Reports
The reports are useful to study past records of occupancy, cleaning schedules, and predict
the future status of the rooms. Let us see the reports generated for housekeeping
department:

Housekeeping Report
This can be generated at the end of each shift to report the housekeeping status of each
room.

Housekeeping Report

Room Room Ckeck- Turnover Room H/K Status Housekeeper

No. Type Out Occupancy
Date

Housekeeping Assignment Report

It is required for scheduling the room attendants and recording the room inspections.
 Assignment
Report
Tur Room H/K
Rm Rm Guest Check No. of Check House
n Occupa Statu
No. Type Name Adult Child Nights Keeper
-in -out over ncy s
Dat
e

SPRING CLEANING :

This type of cleaning is practiced in the hotels located in cold as well as warm regions. The
name depicts cleaning the house in the first few warm days of spring when there is
adequate sunlight to reach the corners and the floors of the room. The areas, which are
not much accessed, are also cleaned during the Spring Cleaning.

Spring cleaning is generally performed once a year by moving furniture and cleaning the
guest rooms entirely for dust, stains, broken furniture, and garbage. It is also called as
Deep Cleaning as it is ensured that no portion of the area is left uncleaned.

Housekeeping Occupancy Report

This report shows the list of guests who have checked-in the hotel with details such as
number of adults and children, number of nights, and housekeeping status. This report is
generated for the occupied rooms, rooms expected to be occupied, checked-out rooms,
and vacant or blocked rooms. This report is generated for scheduling rooms for cleaning.

Occupancy Report

Room Room Guest Adult Child No. of Turnover H/K Status

No. Type Name Nights Date