Housekeeping

1. Make a list of 10 contents and supplies kept in the guestroom by house keeping.

A hotel room contains different facilities and equipment for the guest’s comfort. Hotel bedrooms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The shapes and layout in many big hotels are standardized. The size of the room and the facility it contains determines the class of the hotel. The rooms are furnished in a number of different ways, which is based upon the class of the hotels, management policy, and is largely decided by how many beds are in a room.

Contents and supply of a room depends upon types of client such as business people or general. It also depends upon the types of hotel such as motel, hotel, resort, etc. The facility and quality of the facilities in the room is based upon the class of hotel. Below given are some of the items supplied in the room:

A Room supplies

1. Bed
2. Bedside table/ cabinet/console
3.  Dressing table/desk & stool
4. Lugguage rack
5. Storage space for clothes
6. Seating (chairs/sofa)
7. Lamps
8. Long Mirror
9. T.V.
10. Coffee Table
11. Waste bins & ashtrays
12. Pictures, wall hangings and other ornaments
13. Telephone

2. Define the House keeping

The Housekeeping department creates the facilities, services in the room and that is what a tourist hotel is selling. A hotel is selling “sleeping for pleasure, comfort, relax,” which is created by housekeeping.

Housekeeping deals with providing cleanliness, creating comfort and aesthetic value of a hotel. The department is responsible of making the guests feel at home and their entire stay is very comfortable. The primary function of the housekeeping department is the cleaning of guestrooms, corridors and public areas and maintains original design. Secondary functions of housekeeping are to maintain provisions uniforms, F & B table linen, to provide lost and found services, etc. The department is also responsible for pool and health club facilities, back of the house areas. flower arrangements and banquet set-ups.

3. Explain the Uniform and upkeep

Uniforms: Hotel is a service industry and service is provided by staff. So their image, appearance, dress, etc. is the key factor determining the inclass/standard of a hotel. It is true that “Dress speaks itself”. The dress worn by individual staff leaves a different impression on the customer. So many hotels depending upon their class and financial strength provide uniforms to their staffs. Uniform are the special set of clothes designed by management for its staff to be worn while on duty. The uniform helps to identify and distinguish the staff from customer to staff and help to differentiate between the different departments. It helps to command, supervise and control staff on duty. It helps the customer to identify the hotel staff. The uniform gives a touch of quality and standard of the hotel. It stimulates the staff, increases self respect and respect to the organization and boosts moral. Last but not the least, uniform is necessary for hygiene purpose also.

4. Explain the Lost and found

Lost and found refers to those articles or stuffs unknowingly left or lost by a guest in a hotel premise. However, the hotel considers its duty to protect such things till the time that they are claimed by the owner. If the owner does not claim the article the article will be either gifted to the finder or auctioned to hotel staffs.

Whenever any article is found in the room or within the hotel premises, it should be deposited in the lost and found section of housekeeping department. For the purpose of record keeping a form is developed in many big hotels. The housekeeping staff must fill the form prescribed by the hotel. The form contains information like finder’s name, location where the article was found, time, owner’s name or identification if any.

5. Explain the Lien

Linen refers to clothes used in a hotel. It comprises of all the fabrics used in a hotel, such as bed sheets, pillowcases, towels, table cloths, napkins, etc. In the broad sense it also includes the staff uniforms. The material and tidiness of the linen used in a hotel represents the good will and class of the hotel.

The linens are kept in a Linen Room which serves as the base of operations for most housekeeping departments and is controlled and supervised by a supervisor. In a big establishment the linen supervisor is supported by Uniform, Room Linen and Repair Linen.

6. Write down various types of housekeeping sections provided for the activities of the department.

The division and specialization of a housekeeping department depends upon the size and types of the hotel.

1. Executive House Keeper /Assistant House Keeper: Executive House Keeper is supported by assistant are responsible and accountable for the total cleanliness, maintenance and aesthetic upkeep of the hotel. This is one of the most important positions in the hotel to organize, prepare schedules, recruits, training of staff. The department needs to maintain close relation with other departmental general managers.
2. Linen/Uniform Section: This section is responsible of providing clean Anne Jesu linen and uniform. It includes the exchange, storage, discarding old linen and staff uniform. This department with the help of tailors, attendants, helpers, and assistants manage and provides clean serviceable uniforms to the staffs of the hotel. Cleanliness of the linen includes room linen like bed sheets, pillow covers, bath towels, bath mats, etc. and F & B linen like table cloths, napkins wiping cloth, etc. mud! vol 191GM b
3. Room Attendants / Senior Room Attendants: This section with the help of assistants cleans the guest room and takes care of the floor. This section does the actual cleaning of the guest rooms and bathrooms in their allotted section of the floor. They report to the floor supervisor.c4 brade
4. Night Supervisor is responsible and should be able to handle any aspect of housekeeping at night. They should be able to handle public areas as the major parts of cleaning of the public areas. Special operations like polishing of lobby flooring, buffing of wood, wax polishing, floors, night washing, heavy braising, etc are carried by this section.
5. Public Area Supervisor. The section is responsible to achieving the objective of cleanliness and maintenance of the public areas which includes restaurants, bars, banquets, gardens, administrative office, shopping arcade, health club, swimming pool, main entrance, lobby, etc.
6. Horticulturist: The section is responsible to manage hotel garden and supply flowers required for interior decoration. The team may be made of Head Gardener and Gardeners.
7. Each section of housekeeping is supported by junior staffs. Some of them are employed and others are hired on as per requirement basis.

7.  Explain the Types of Keys.

 Traditionally a key used to be a metal rod to open lock. But in modern hotel it is a card, cod or plastic card used for opening or closing a lock. Keys are either manual or card. Manual keys are the most extensively used systems. In this modern world of electronic and computer world card keys are substituting the manual keys for security reason. There are several types of keys used in a hotel and their control system is discussed below. Different types of keys:

1. Guest Room Key is the individual key used for each room. The key is kept and issued by the front office to the guests to open and close their room. b. Floor Section Key opens all the rooms in section of the floor.
2. Floor Master Key / Public Area Master Key. This key is issued by the assistant housekeepers to opens all single lock room of the concerned area of operation.
3. Master Key. There are two master keys in a hotel, one with the Lobby Manager and the other with the Executive Housekeeper. The key opens all the double locks of the hotel. The lobby manager and executive housekeeper are responsible for the control of the master key.
4. Grand Master Key is maintained by the lobby which can open all the 13 room, public area, back of the house area, safe deposit locker. The use of this Grand Master key should be notified to the general manager and is kept in a safe deposit locker in front office.
5. Emergency Key opens all the guest rooms, public area, outlets and also double locked guest rooms. General Manager, Lobby Manager and Security Manager handle this key but only at the time of emergency.
6. Pad lock keys of office are used for stores and lockers, racks and other outlets in the back area. These keys are referred to as miscellaneous keys.

8. Explain lost and found and its procedures.

Lost and found refers to those articles or stuffs unknowingly left or lost by a guest in a hotel premise. However, the hotel considers its duty to protect such things till the time that they are claimed by the owner. If the owner does not claim the article the article will be either gifted to the finder or auctioned to hotel staffs.

Whenever any article is found in the room or within the hotel premises, it should be deposited in the lost and found section of housekeeping department. For the purpose of record keeping a form is developed in many big hotels. The housekeeping staff must fill the form prescribed by the hotel. The form contains information like finder’s name, location where the article was found, time, owner’s name or identification if any.

9. Write the job description of a Floor Supervisor.

 Floor Supervisor is the senior member of the housekeeping department. He is responsible for the cleanliness attractiveness and maintenance of the guest floor. Floor supervisor’s responsibility includes guest room, corridors staircases, floor pantry areas and the supplies consumption of the allotted floor.

This department should be managed by competent staff as they should be able to manage junior employees as well as deal with guests. Their job includes checking all the public areas, and maintaining the standard of hotel and staff. It does training and recruiting of new staff.

Floor supervisor need to co-ordinate with front office, engineering, laundry, room service for the respective jobs. They coordinate with front office for room availability, with engineering for repair and maintained, etc. This unit includes a team of Room Attendants or Room maids.

10. What is the procedure of handling a sick guest in a hotel?

In case of a sick guest, the housekeeping is responsible to provide the wguest with the best medical assistance available. That is known as “A home away from home”. For this purpose proper co-ordination is maintained with Front Office. Find out his/her guardian, family address in case the medical condition is severe.

In case of the room being in DL or DND status for two shifts, it is the duty the housekeeping department to take necessary action. First of all he must call the guest in his room to check his/her well being. If the phone is not picked, the master key should be used to open the room and check for the guest’s well being.

11. What is role of house keeping department in a hotel? Explain.

A hotel receives money on the sale of rooms, food and beverage. Generally a hotel receives 50% of its revenue from the sale of rooms. Main profit is generated from the room sales because a room, once made can be sold over and over again. The Housekeeping department creates the facilities, services in the room and that is what a tourist hotel is selling; “sleeping for pleasure, comfort, relax,” is created by housekeeping.

Housekeeping deals with providing cleanliness, creating comfort and aesthetic value of a hotel. The department is responsible of making the guests feel at home and their entire stay is very comfortable. It looks after the cleanliness, maintains aesthetic upkeep of the entire hotel. The primary function of the housekeeping department is the cleaning of guestrooms, corridors and public areas and to ensure the integrity of the original design schemes is maintained. Secondary functions are the provisions of uniforms, F & B table linen, lost and found services, preparation of annual budgets, control of departmental expenses, constant research of new and more efficient cleaning procedures of products and equipment, record keeping, liaison with the interior designer and preservation of inventory. Other functions may include responsibility for pool and health club facilities, back of the house areas, flower arrangements and banquet set ups.

This unit is responsible for every aspect of a guestroom that is to provide all the required materials in a room. For this purpose they maintain inventory, budget, control and co-ordination with laundry, account and also with different departments. At the same time they maintain a de supervision system for the security of the hotel / room property and to guests personal belongings in the room. This unit does decor and design, room lay out, selecting proper linen, curtains, carpets, flower arrangement, etc.

12. Write down the duties and responsibilities of room maid.

Room Attendants or Room maid are actual people to clean the guest room. The Senior Room Attendants are allotted the important floor like VIP floor or high category rooms, because a senior room attendant is the one who G has gained enough experience as a guest room attendant. Sometimes they are given the responsibility or supervision for any particular task. Any newly appointed room attendants are generally attached to the senior 2 room attendant so that they get trained properly. The room attendant reports to the loor Supervisor. They do the actual cleaning of the guest rooms and bathrooms of the section allotted to them with the help of houseman. They are responsible for the cleanliness of all the rooms in their allotted section of the floor. They report to the floor supervisor.

13. Discuss procedure in case of death in a hotel.

This is a very rare phenomenon in a hotel but no one can deny that it will never happen. The housekeeping is the first one to know about it. The very precaution is not to touch anything in the room and seal it and inform senior manager through Front Office. The Front Office will report to the police and contact family member and if it is necessary inform the concern embassy also. It is advisable to keep the matter a secret and main calm. The big cry will disturb the other in-house guest remain and it may affect the hotel reputation.

14. Briefly explain the coordinating departments of housekeeping,

 The division and specialization of a housekeeping department depends upon the size and types of the hotel. The department needs to maintain special coordination with the section and outside the sections for the smooth operation of the hotel service. For the purpose of housekeeping service there are different sections and unit within it.

15. Discuss the quality attributes of housekeeping department.

Hotels being hospitality industry personal attributes of hotel staff play a very important role. It enhances the image of the hotel. Quality workforce determines the quality service as tourism is a service industry and service is provided by manpower. So that “Quality workforce for quality Tourism”. Based on the nature of jobs the following attributes among the housekeeping staff are must.

1. Honesty: This is a very essential attribute for housekeeping staff and specially among the room attendants, as they have access to all guest rooms. Sometimes very valuable guest belongings are found lying around in the room which may arouse temptation.
2. Grooming: Floor and public area supervisors, room attendants and housekeeping staffs who are in constant guest contact should be well groomed at all times. The uniform should be crisp, cleaned and pressed. Lady staff wear minimum jewellery, light make-up, light perfume, hair properly tied in to a bun and low heeled shoes.
3. Personal hygiene: Housekeeping staff must take bath regularly, fingernails should be short and should ensure that no body or mouth odour is present. Any transferable disease must be reported immediately.
4. Eye for detail: This quality enables housekeeping staffs to take consideration of the minute details when the time is still premium. It helps in providing better service to the guests.
5. Physical fitness: It requires the strong physical constitutions to meet the demand of housekeeping job as the nature of this job itself is more manual and requires long hours of standing.
6. Tact and diplomacy: Often guests may request comfort or facilities or services that are outside the management policy. It takes a lot of tact and diplomacy alone that can diffuse such a situation.
7. Courtesy: Floor and public area supervisors, room attendants and housekeeping staffs are constantly in contact with the guests. They should always greet the guest with smile. If any guest requests for some extra service or the other housekeeping services it should be done with politeness and charm (if it is within the management policy, if not should responsed politely).
8. Cooperation: Co-operation among the housekeeping staff and among the other department is a must because it is teamwork. If they fail to prepare departure room or report the lost and found or fail to report about the mini bar, or if they do not support room service depart, it would be impossible to run a quality hotel.

16.  Define linens and uniform used in hotel and explain their inventory and control system.

Linen refers to clothes used in a hotel. It includes of all the fabrics used in a hotel, such as bed sheets, pillowcases, towels, table cloths, napkins, staff uniforms, etc. The material and tidiness of the linen used in a hotel represents the image of the hotel. So, a proper attention for the maintenance of the linen is given.

The linen used in a hotel can be categorized in different system. Generally they are into two main groups; natural fibers and synthetic such as polyester and nylon. The classification and grouping is necessary for cleaning and protection purpose. Each type of fabric should be treated separately.

For the management purpose the linens are grouped as per their use.

1. Housekeeping linen is supplied for the room. Some examples of housekeeping linen are
2. Bed linen; various sizes of sheetsPillow cases
3. Mattress pad and covers
4. Bath linen – bath towels
5. Hand and face towels
6. Special towels
7. Fabric bath mats
8. Food and beverage linen are supplied for F and B service section
9. Table cloth, napkins and slip cloths
10. Banquet linen, etc.

Uniforms: Uniform are the special set of clothes designed by management for its staff to be worn while on duty. The uniform help to identify, distinguish the staff from customer to staff and help to differentiate between the different departments. It helps to command, supervise and control staff on duty. It helps the customer to identify the hotel staff. The uniform gives a touch of quality and standard of the hotel.

Inventory and control

Linen used in a hotel represents ts the good-will and standard. Well maintained and quality linen are the must for hygiene purpose also. Similarly it involves heavy investments so it is necessary to keep a close control on this very important asset. Effective control is possible through the following practices:

1. Control on misuse, storage and mix-ups
2. Proper storage
3. Regular stock taking
4. Spot checks
5. Proper supervision
6. Periodical pest control schedule.

For the purpose of linen control most of the hotels use to have a provision. of Linen Room. The room must be safe from insects and rats. It should be protected against dampness, direct sunlight and chemical fumes. Properly designed racks are easy to work and handle. The racks should protect linens from rust and white ants. Maintain proper security system of entry and exit

For the purpose of easy and smooth flow of daily operation, decentralized stock system may is practiced in large hotels. To stock the extra item kept for immediate future use is par stock. In this system minimum quantity of linen and uniforms required to meet the daily use are issued from central stock