Managing Front Office &

Housekeeping – Chapter 5
 Need to Classify
▪ Materials under the care of housekeeping range from guestroom furniture and
accessories to departmental equipment and supplies.
▪ To control all of them need to identify and classify
▪ Use the budget to control their use
 Classification of Material
A successful housekeeper must be able to:
▪ select and purchase supplies and equipment
▪ their proper use
▪ suitable control of the amount of money invested
▪ ensure the existence of a sufficient amount of goods to supply the needs of the property
Major categories are:
▪ Fixed assets
▪ Operating assets
Fixed Assets
▪ Items that have a long-term life span, generally over
one year
▪ Usually cost over $100 and are depreciated at the end
of the fiscal year
▪ Sub-categorized:
▪ F.F.&E. (furniture, fixtures, and equipment)
▪ Items that have a 5- to 7-year life span
▪ Beds, chairs, paintings, mattresses and television
sets.
 Fixed Assets
▪ Software
▪ Guestroom fixtures of a textile nature that are not bed linens or bath linens, such as curtains, bedspreads,
pillows and blankets.
▪ Usually, 3 to 5 years
 Fixed Assets
▪ Department equipment
▪ Heavier, mobile equipment used in the housekeeping department for cleaning or transportation purposes
▪ The life span of these items is between 3 and 7 years
▪ Items such as vacuum cleaners, shampoo machines and glass washers.
 Operating Assets
▪ Generally used in the day-to-day operations of the department
▪ Considered cost items whose money outlay is charged to operating expenses
▪ It must be regularly inventoried
Usually sub-categorized into:
▪ Cleaning supplies
▪ Linens
▪ Uniforms
▪ Guest supplies
 Operating Assets
▪ Cleaning supplies
▪ Includes every one of the items used for cleaning purposes
▪ Cleaning solutions, disinfectants, polishers, brooms, mops and rags

▪ Linens
▪ Bed linen - Includes sheets and pillowcases
▪ Bathroom linen - Comprises towels, washcloths, bath mats, and washable shower curtains

▪ Uniforms
▪ Apparel used in the housekeeping department by supervisors, section housekeepers, housepersons, laundry, and linen room
personnel

▪ Guest supplies - Items used by guests

▪ Non-reusable – soaps, pens, paper items, mints, etc.
▪ Reusable items – ashtrays, clothes hangers and wastebaskets
 Capital Expenditure And Operating Budgets
▪ Before a hotel opens, all items are included in a pre-opening budget
▪ Once operation begin, budgets for fixed and operating material items necessary for
operating the property during the next twelve months must be prepared.
▪ Capital expenditure budget is to record the fixed assets needed for the upcoming fiscal
year
▪ Operating budgets are also prepared annually for the property’s fiscal year operation
▪ Unlike capital expenditure budgets, operating budgets have a direct relationship to the
day-to-day revenue resulting from the sale of guestrooms.
 Buying Process
▪ Before buying a product, prices should be obtained from at least three different vendors.
▪ Product price and vendor dependability and service should be reviewed once or twice
every three months.
▪ Enchasing decisions should be made based not only on price but on quality, suitability,
and storage availability as well.
▪ Always be on the lookout for new items on the market.
▪ Testing for new, better, or less expensive products often leads to improving the
department’s bottom line.
▪ Visit trade shows and review product magazines.
 Buying Process
▪ Three types of entities involved in the purchasing function: producers, middlemen,
and consumers.
▪ Middlemen may bring the different commodities to their own warehouses from which
they distribute them to consumers or act as order takers and have the goods shipped
directly from the manufacturer.
▪ Middlemen always add a charge to the product’s price.
▪ Lodging properties benefit from buying through brokers (middlemen) because these
can provide better service and in some cases employee training at no cost.
▪ Another disadvantage from buying from manufacturers is that they often require the
purchase of large quantities of goods.
 Procurement Documents
▪ Purchase order:
▪ To order products directly from a manufacturer
▪ Is a sales contract stating the specifications of the product to be delivered and the conditions
including payment.

▪ Requisition form:
▪ The merchandise has been previously bought by the property’s buyer and stored in the main
storeroom
▪ The housekeeping department usually needs to fill out a requisition form before the products can be
obtained.
 Inventory Control
▪ Management of material includes:
▪ Purchasing
▪ Receiving
▪ Storing
▪ Issuing
▪ Accounting

▪ Large range of inventory in lodging operations

 Purchasing
▪ Defining dearly what is to be procured, who will be in charge of the buying, what
specifications are to be considered, and what quantities will be needed.
▪ The executive housekeeper is ultimately responsible for the cost and results of what is
purchased.
 Purchasing
▪ For some products, linen for instance, pars need to be established.
▪ Defined as the number of required on-hand items to perform housekeeping operations.

▪ For others, for example soaps and paper products, maximum and minimum quantities
are set up.
▪ The maximum quantity is the greatest number of units that should be in stock at any given time
▪ The minimum quantity refers to the fewest number of units
▪ This system eliminates the risk of overstocking or of running out of products.
 Receiving
▪ Unless adequate inspection and receiving procedures are used, the best purchasing
system may fail because it is at this point that determination must be made of whether
or not the products meet the specifications and quantities of the order previously
placed.
▪ May result in higher costs, lower quality, theft, and fraud.
▪ If the goods meet the pre-arranged requirements, they are accepted by signing the
invoke or delivery memo.
▪ If the products do not meet inspection requirements, they should be refused and a
notation indicating the reasons for refusing the delivery made.
 Storing
▪ Access to storerooms must be limited to authorized personnel only.
▪ The storeroom should be locked off-hours and a record should be kept of the person
entering it and of the merchandise taken.
▪ Valuable items like towels and some guest supplies should be stored in an area that
remains locked at all times.
▪ The storage area should be designed to hold the specific products stored in it.
▪ A rotation system should be established by which oldest stock is placed in front and
issued first.
 Issuing
▪ In large operations, staff need to fill a requisition form to request products.
▪ Every requisition should bear the signature of a person designated by the executive
housekeeper to sign it.
▪ Similarly for products are stored in the housekeeping department.
▪ Floor closet storage should also be locked at all times and access limited to the
section housekeepers, housepersons, or supervisors in charge of the area.
Accounting
▪ To account for the cost of housekeeping operating assets used, physical inventories
are conducted regularly.
▪ Linens, uniforms, and cleaning and guest supplies inventories are taken by counting
all items on hand and listing them on a physical inventory form.
▪ The purpose of taking physical inventories is to find out what amount of items for
each category is on hand and to work out its current market value.
▪ Once the value of items used is ascertained, the costs are expensed against the
revenue produced for the same period and the percentages obtained compared to the
amounts budgeted for the different categories.
 Department Equipment
▪ Equipment to clean guest, public, and employee areas and to transport clean and
soiled linen, trash, and supplies.
▪ Of heavy-duty quality, able to withstand rough and continuous use.
▪ Most significant piece of housekeeping equipment is the housekeeping cart:
▪ One cart is assigned to the cleaner of each section of guestrooms
▪ Large enough and have enough shelves to carry a full complement of supplies needed in each
working shift in order to avoid unnecessary trips to the linen room.
▪ Must be light and maneuverable enough to be pushed by one person from door to door and from
floor to floor, including pushing it into and out of service elevators.
▪ Contoured with rubber bumpers to protect walls and wall corners and have casters with brakes of
superior quality.
▪ Plastic baskets or caddies containing guest amenities and cleaning supplies are generally placed on
the top shelf of carts.
 Vacuums
▪ Heavy-duty and powerful enough to provide efficient, one-pass cleaning.
▪ Typical used in guestroom carpet cleaning is upright type.
▪ Features:
▪ Having collector cups or zipper receptacles instead of paper bags
▪ Long electric cable
▪ Wraparound bumpers
▪ Secondary filters to protect the vacuum motor
▪ Adjustable brush settings
▪ Three-position handles
▪ Self-lubricating brushes
 Vacuums
▪ Large-area vacuums are used in hallways and lobbies that contain extensive areas of
carpeting.
▪ Wet/dry vacuums are designed for wet pickup on any type of hard flooring surface.
▪ Back vacuums worn by the housekeeper, are convenient for dusting and cleaning
vertical or high surfaces and fixtures, especially curtains, drapes, and wall coverings.
 Floor Machines
▪ To mechanically polish, buff, strip, scrub, grind, sand, burnish, and shampoo surfaces.
▪ Usually one multipurpose machine can be used for several tasks by changing the pad
as needed to accomplish the task at hand.
▪ Burnishers are for large areas of terrazzo or tile floors
▪ Polishers grind, sand, and polish marble and other stone floors
▪ Scrubbers automatically scrub hard or resilient surfaces by applying a stripping
solution and recovering the liquid as the machine is pushed along the surface
▪ Extractors clean carpets and rugs. One tank holds the cleaning solution and one that
collects the suctioned liquid.
 Others
▪ When large lodging properties use drinking glasses made of glass (rather than plastic),
glass washers are necessary.
▪ Rather than transporting trash, soiled linen, and supplies in plastic bags, lodging
properties should use light trucks or hoppers.
 Cleaning Supplies
Comprise:
▪ The chemicals necessary to perform the myriad cleaning jobs throughout the property
▪ The non chemical utensils needed to apply, scrub, rub, cleanse, wipe the chemicals
onto all types of surfaces
 Purchasing Supplies
▪ The executive housekeeper determines what products to use in the department.
▪ Will inform the purchasing agent of the specifications and characteristics required for the supplies to be bought.
▪ Before purchase, products should be tested by the employees who will use them regularly.
▪ Agreement should be made between the department and the vendor to train workers, at no cost, on how to use the
cleaning supplies properly.
▪ Price should be only one of the factors regarding the purchasing decision
▪ The others being availability, service and quality
▪ Bulk purchasing of chemicals generally allows for great savings in price to the housekeeping department.
▪ Disadvantages of bulk buying are:
▪ Overbuying products may mean having to store them for long periods of time
▪ Tying up resources and space
▪ Chemicals may also deteriorate while in storage
▪ And actually be more labor intensive
▪ Human error when mixing concentrates and water or causing spills
 Housekeeping Chemicals
▪ The three major purposes of chemicals used in the housekeeping department are:
▪ To remove dirt
▪ To destroy harmful microorganisms
▪ To preserve and beautify furniture, fixtures, and surfaces
▪ Generally, high-alkaline cleaners are effective degreasers while acidic cleaners are
good for fighting lime and rust, which are always found in urinals and toilets.
▪ Detergents act chemically to emulsify dirt, holding it in suspension so it can be
removed away from the surface.
▪ All-purpose cleaners have neutral pH-balanced formulas for general-purpose cleaning
jobs.
▪ All-purpose cleaners may have corrosion inhibitors to protect metal surfaces.
▪ Single-purpose cleaners are heavy-duty cleaners used for specific cleaning jobs.
 Housekeeping Chemicals
▪ Deodorizers, or air fresheners, should neutralize odors without adding strong perfume
scents in the space to be deodorized.
▪ Furniture polishes are liquid waxes or oils or silicone-based sprays designed to protect
and give shine to wood, leather, vinyl, metal, and plastic surfaces.
▪ Strong liquid metal polishes can remove rust, corrosion, tarnish, and grime from
brass, stainless steel, copper, chrome, and aluminum.
 Cleaning Accessories
▪ Upright brooms are sold under several denominations, such as janitor, warehouse,
household, lobby, porter, and whisk brooms.
▪ Wet mops also come in a variety of forms: four-ply cotton-synthetic fiber blend mops
have good absorption; mops with looped ends are more durable than cut-ended.
▪ Mop buckets/wringers come in different shapes and forms as well. Dual bucket
systems consist of two overlapping buckets mounted on a mobile platform with
casters.
 Guests Supplies
▪ To make their stay as convenient and comfortable as possible.
▪ Non-reusable Supplies
▪ Also called amenities
▪ Items that guests are expected to use up or may take away with them
▪ The higher the room rate is, the more luxurious amenities should be
▪ See next slide for examples

▪ Reusable Supplies
▪ Can range from the barely essential to the highly sophisticated, state-of-the-art technology
▪ Coat hangers, ice buckets, wastebaskets, ashtrays, Bible, and, recently, electronic equipment
▪ The appearance of all guest supplies is greatly enhanced by imprinting the property’s or chain logo on them.
▪ Computers with Internet access, fax machines, voice mail, video-cassette players, and high-quality stereo
receivers
 Bathroom Amenities
▪ The basic bathroom amenities are deodorant and hand soaps, shampoo and conditioner
(often provided combined in one container), shower caps, and paper products.
▪ Soap bars should be of reasonable size, usually 1.5 ounces for bath and ¾ ounce for facial.
▪ Shampoo and conditioner should be provided in easy-to-open bottles with large tops or snap
caps, as packets are very difficult to tear open with soapy hands.
▪ Shower caps are a necessity for guests to shower or bathe.
▪ The facial tissue must be soft, absorbent, and durable, preferably with 2-ply rather than one.
▪ Bath tissue should have a large number of sheets per roll so that less time is spent refilling
dispensers. Adequate thickness and strength, as well as softness, are also necessary.
 Sample of Bathroom Amenities
After-shave lotion Cosmetics Nail clippers
Bath gel Deodorant Perfume
Bath salts Fabric wash Razor
Bath soap Facial tissue Scissors
Body lotion Hand lotion Shampoo and
conditioner
Body powder Hand soap Shaving cream
Cologne Mouthwash Shower cap
 Guestroom Amenities
▪ A vast range of amenities aimed at pampering their guests while they relax in their
rooms.
▪ Today’s hoteliers view personal-care amenities as a positioning tool for their lodging
properties, in that the more plentiful and novel they are, the higher value for the rate
paid is perceived by guests.
▪ Coffee makers, together with several blends of gourmet and decaffeinated coffee and a
variety of teas, are common.
▪ Candy placed on the pillow at turndown-service time.
▪ Belgian and Italian chocolates or fancy fortune mints.
▪ Chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, cosmetics, and safe-for-all-fabric stain removers.
 Sample Guestroom Amenities
Bathrobe Fruit Postcards
Chocolates Laundry bags Sewing kit
Coffee and tea Matches Shoe horn
Cookies Mints Shoe mit
Corkscrew Notepads Slippers
Flowers Pens Stationery
 Uniforms
▪ Uniforms for section housekeepers and housepersons should be functional, good-looking,
and comfortable, with sleeves that allow for ease of movement.
▪ Because of turnover, smocks, shirts, and pants must be easily alterable and able to stand
frequent washings.
▪ While 100 percent cotton uniforms are comfortable to wear, they usually shrink, wrinkle,
and cost more.
▪ Polyester/cotton blends are wrinkle-, shrink-, and soil-resistant, less costly, and easier to
wash.
▪ Establish an adequate par of employee uniforms so that each worker is provided with a
clean, fresh-looking outfit each day.
▪ Uniformed departments, such as front desk and porters, often require outfits that need dry
cleaning.
▪ One way to maintain adequate control of employee uniforms is to make each worker
responsible for his or her outfit.
The End