The document discusses the roles and responsibilities of the housekeeping department in a hotel. It outlines that the department is responsible for cleaning guest rooms, public spaces, and laundry. It describes room status terminology and procedures for room inspection and assignment. It emphasizes the importance of safety, training, and policies for lost and found items. It also covers managing the on-site laundry facility, including processes for collecting, sorting, washing, drying, and delivering linen.

1. Housekeeping

3. Roles of Housekeeping Dept.: Guestrooms Public spaces lobby areas / public restrooms / front desk areas / management offices / game rooms / exercise areas / pool & spa areas / employee break rooms & locker rooms / selected meeting & food service areas

5. Roles of Housekeeping Dept.: Guestrooms (continued…) Room status terminology Clean & Vacant Room vacant, has been cleaned and can be assigned to guest Occupied Room registered to a current guest On-Change Room vacant but not yet cleaned Do not disturb Room is occupied but not yet cleaned, due to guest request not to be disturbed Sleep-out Room reported as occupied, but room was not used, and guest may have left Stay-over Guest will stay in room at least one more night

6. Roles of Housekeeping Dept.: Guestrooms (continued…) Room status terminology (continued…) Due-out Guest has indicated that is last day he/she will use room Check-out Guest has departed Out-of-order Room is not rentable, thus not assignable Lock-out Guest’s items still in room, but guest will be denied access until management approval of re-entry Late check-out Guest has requested and has been allowed an extension of regular check out time

7. Roles of Housekeeping Dept: Laundry Housekeeping Dept. & Executive Housekeeper’s role Laundry areas laundry preparation areas/ laundry supply closets/ guest linen, terry and supplies storage areas Managing “On Premise Laundry (OPL)” and its effective operation Laundry often represents one of the hotel’s largest expenses.

8. Organization Chart for a Housekeeping Department, Large Hotel with In-house Laundry Executive Housekeeper Assistant Supervisor Floor Supervisor Room Attendant – AM Shift Laundry Supervisor Laundry Attendant – AM Shift Room Attendant – PM Shift Laundry Attendant – PM Shift Public Area Attendant

9. Staffing the Department Executive Housekeeper should: Room Inspector’s major responsibilities: Assess quality of room cleanliness Point out deficiencies to room attendants, get those deficiencies corrected, & report revision of room status to Executive Housekeeper or Front Desk have management skills (planning, organizing, directing and controlling departmental activities). have commitment to cleanliness and impeccable cleaning standard. create an appropriate inspection checklist and revise it as necessary. know about personal administration, budgeting, laundry sanitation, fabrics & uniforms, room cleaning chemicals and routines. be guest oriented.

10. Staffing the Department (Continued…) Approaches to build highly motivated, dedicated Room Attendants: Treat them at all times with respect Ensure they are supervised by excellent supervisors Have room cleaning assignment policies perceived by them as fair Provide excellent, ongoing training Provide a realistic career ladder for room attendants Enforce Housekeeping Department policies consistently and without favoritism Ensure room attendant safety through training and appropriate hotel policies Provide benefit packages that are competitive for the area Pay fair wages

11. Managing Housekeeping: Safety Equipment & supplies Housekeeping employees are one of the hotel’s largest groups Physical nature of jobs this group’s accident rates generally the highest in the hotel. thus Rule Housekeeping employees should handle only those machinery items and supplies they are properly trained to handle.

13. Managing Housekeeping: Lost & Found Three types of unclaimed property Law and/or policy requirements: Hotel must safeguard mislaid property until rightful owner returns Hotel must hold lost property until rightful owner claims it Hotel not required to find abandoned property’s owner Property left behind in room or found in lobby to be treated as mislaid or lost Establish how long any mislaid/lost property to be held before disposing it Mislaid property Owner unintentionally has left item(s) behind Lost property Owner unintentionally has left item(s) behind, then forgotten it/them Abandoned property Owner intentionally has left item(s) behind

17. Operating an effective “on-premises laundry” is a multi-step process Laundry Collecting Delivering Sorting Watching Drying Finishing / Folding

18. Laundry: Operating an Effective OPL (continued…) Collecting Dirty linen and terry should never be used as guestroom cleaning rags. Bloodstained linen or terry must be placed separately in a biohazard waste bag (pre-sort in guestroom). Biohazard waste bag should be on every housekeeping cart. Sorting Once in OPL, laundry is sorted both in terms of fabric type & degree of staining. Washing This step is the most complex part. Monitor a: washing times, b: wash temperatures, c: chemicals, d: agitation length and strength

19. Laundry: Operating an Effective OPL (continued…) Drying Drying is simply a process of moving hot air (140-145 degrees F.) through fabrics to vaporize & remove moisture. Fabrics that are dried must have cool-down period in the dryer before they are removed from it Finishing/ Folding Space for finishing laundry must be adequate Storing Many fabrics must “rest” after washing & drying 24-hr rest time for cleaned laundry Housekeeping Dept. should maintain laundry par levels of three times normal usage Delivering Storage areas containing these items should be locked