The document provides information about housekeeping in hotels. It discusses the responsibilities of the housekeeping department to keep the hotel clean and maintain aesthetics. It also emphasizes the importance of cleanliness, comfort, and safety for guests. Various sections describe the layout of housekeeping departments, necessary qualities of housekeeping staff like grooming, hygiene, and skills. It outlines different types of maintenance and room statuses. The document concludes with first aid measures that housekeeping staff should be aware of to respond to common medical issues in hotels.

1. House Keeping , In brief
By Rajish Dharmarajan.

2. HOUSEKEEPING
House Keeping department in a hotel is
responsible for the cleanliness;
maintenance and aesthetic up keep of the
hotel. The role of house keeping is to keep
a clean, comfortable and safe house. Just
as we enjoy keeping a “Sparkling” home for
guests and ourselves who visit us at home,
the housekeeping department takes pride
in keeping the hotel clean and comfortable
so as to create a “Home away from home”.

3. HOUSEKEEPING
The room sale is dependent on, apart from several
other things the quality of room décor, room
facilities, cleanliness of the room and how safe it
is. The criteria by which each guest decided
whether a room is good or bad is strictly personal.
To make a room appealing to a guest is the task of
house keeping which has to ensure the basic
human needs of comfort and security. Thus 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.

4. LAYOUTS OF HOUSE KEEPING
DEPARTMENT
House Keepers office
Desk control room
Linen room
Uniform room
Tailors room
Lost and found section
Flower room
Floor pantries
Heavy equipment stores
Green house
Horticulture equipment store

5. QUALITIES OF HOUSE KEEPING STAFF
Grooming
Most essential for floor and public area supervisor, room
attendants and houseman who are in guest contact. Such
staff would be uniformed, hence each member must ensure
the following:
Uniform must be clean and well pressed
Lady staff must ensure that they wear light makeup’s
Restrict jewellery to the minimum
Light cologne is preferred
Hair must be cut close. For ladies it must be tied in a bun or
worn short
Shoes must be low heeled and sturdy
Personal Hygiene
A guest would be quite revolted if he sees that the people
who service his beds and room are very dirty and
unhygienic. House keeping staff must have clean hair,
manicured fingernails, clean hands and feet and must take
steps to ensure no body or mouth odour is present. Staff
must report to the doctors incase of injections, cuts or burns.

6. QUALITIES OF HOUSE KEEPING STAFF
Honesty
This is a very essential attribute for housekeeping staff,
especially room attendants, who have access
to all guest rooms. Guest belongings, sometimes invaluable
are often found lying around in the room.
Courtesy
Room attendants, floor and public areas supervisors are
always in contact with guests. It is often that a guest requests
some house keeping service or the other. It is essential that
while talking to guests in such moments should be done with
utmost politeness and charm.
Tact and Diplomacy
Often guest may request comforts and services that are
outside the management policy. It takes a lot of tact and
diplomacy to decline without hurting a guests feeling.
Eye for Detail
It is one of the greatest qualities that housekeeping staff must
have. It is with this quality that the fine aspects of house
keeping are taken care of and it is what determines a good
service from an average one. It enables the house keeping
staff to take in to consideration the minutest details.

7. QUALITIES OF HOUSE KEEPING STAFF
Physical Fitness
Most work in house keeping is manual. A
housekeeping member when on duty is on
his/her feet almost continuously. It would
require a physical constitution to cope with
the demands of house keeping work.
cooperativeness
House keeping staff needs to be cooperative to achieve efficiency in the hotel.
For example, if they are not willing to clear
rooms for sale in time, the front office will
be unable to sell a room to earn more
revenue or may be faced with a customer
who has confirmed reservation.

8. TYPES OF MAINTENANCE
There are three types of maintenance, which are as under:
Routine maintenance
Preventive maintenance
Scheduled maintenance
Routine maintenance
These are those activities, which relate to the general upkeep of the property,
occur on a regular i.e. daily or weekly basis. For this maintenance work, no
records (such as time or materials) are kept.
For example:
Sweeping carpets
Washing floors
Cleaning windows
Cutting grass
Cleaning guest rooms
Replacing burned out light bulbs
Preventive Maintenance
These are those activities relates to the normal course of maintenance. For
this a full time maintenance person may be assigned. This maintenance
include ceiling or wall damage, bathroom fixtures damage, sinks and tubs
leakage etc.
Scheduled Maintenance
Such maintenance, which require attention beyond minor correction. This is
done by the guidance of executive engineer or concerned authority.

9. ROOM STATUS DEFINITION
Occupied
:
A guest is currently registered to the
room
Complimentary
:
The room is occupied, but the
guest is assessed no charge for its use
Stay over
:
The guest is not checking out today
and will remain at least one more night
On change :
The guest has departed, but the room
has not yet been Cleaned and readied for resale.
Do not disturb
:
The guest has requested not
to be disturbed
Sleep out
:
A guest is registered to the room, but
the bed has not been used
Skipper
:The guest has left the hotel without
making arrangements to settle his/her Account.
Sleeper
: The guest has settled his/her account
and left the hotel, but the front office staff has failed to
properly update the rooms status.

10. ROOM STATUS DEFINITION
Vacant and Ready
:The room has been cleaned and inspected
and is ready for an arriving guest.
Out of Order
:The room cannot be assigned to a guest
because of variety of reason including maintenance, extensive
cleaning etc.
Lock out
:The room has been locked so that the
guest cannot re-enter until he/she is cleared by a hotel official.
Did not check out
:The guest made arrangements to settle
his/her account but has left without informing the front office.
Due out
:The room is expected to become vacant
after the following days check out time.
Check out
:The guest has settled his/her account,
returned the room keys and left the hotel.
Late check out
:The guest has requested and is being
allowed to check But later than the hotels standard checkout time

11. CODE OF HOUSE KEEPING
* O
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
V
DND
L
UR
N
SB
OOO
DLNC
VR
Occupied
Vacant
Do not disturb
Luggage in room but bed unused
Under repair
Occupied but no luggage
Scanty baggage
Out of order
Double lock
Not cleaned
Vacant ready
There are three types of services
Morning service
Second service
Evening service

12. FIRST AID
It is important for all housekeeping personnel to know about
first aid, as they could be the first ones on the spot to give
immediate attention to a guest and also an employee, many
higher authorities regarding first aid.
The first step is to have a first aid cupboard or box in a central
location. This cupboard could be located at the desk control
room due to its easy accessibility. The cupboard should
contain the following items.
Clinical thermometer
Cotton wool
Bandage roll ½ “, 1 “ and 2 “
Band aid
Sterilized gauze
Tweezers
Bed pan
Urine bottle
Rubber sheeting
Safety pins
Scissors

13. FIRST AID
Tincture iodine
Tincture Benzoine
Junction violate solution
Dettol
Burnol
Crocin tablets
Aspirins
Fruit Salts
Antiseptic creams
The cupboard should be cool and dry and clearly captioned for
easy identification
Steps to be taken:
* Burns and Scalds:
Apply Burnol liberally
Place burnt area under cold running water or ice
If burns are serious, apply sterile dressing and send to hospital
immediately

14. FIRST AID
* Bleeding:
Clean wound with cotton dipped in dettol
Put dry antiseptic dressing or tincture iodine for bigger wounds
Put pressure on wound by placing a gauze on it and bandaging
the area tightly
* Cloth on Fire:
Prevent person from running
Smoother flames by wrapping patient with heavy materials eg:
curtain, blanket, heavy coat
Treat burns as given above
* Fainting:
Loosen clothing
Lay patient flat on back with feet raised or place in chair
bending the head forward between the knees.
Apply warmth to lower limbs and rub limbs upward
Give hot, sweet tea to drink when the patient is able to take it

15. FIRST AID
* Fracture:
Immobilize the limb by tying both legs or the arms
across body respectively
An alternative is to get two boards and tie leg / arm
between them.
Send for a doctor
* Heart Attack:
Call for a doctor immediately
Do not move person from the room
Clear all other people
If critical, try artificial respiration by mouth to mouth
method
* Insect Sting:
Apply soda bicarbonate soaked in solution or paste
over the inflamed area

16. FIRST AID
* Object in eye:
Do not let the eye be rubbed
Use eye bath with warm water to rinse out the eye
If no improvement checks eye against the light and locate
foreign matter. Remove it with the corner of a clean
handkerchief
If foreign matter is embedded in the eyeball do not get it out.
Drop two drops of castor oil in the eye, cover eye with soft
pad, bandage lightly and take to a doctor.
* Sprain:
Apply dry bandage firmly wrapped round the affected part
and soak with cold water
Rest the limb
* Shock:
Rest the patient by laying him or her on the coach
Loosen clothing
Give warmth by hot beverage and hot water bottle
Keep the surrounding area silent