DTA30103 – HOUSEKEEPING OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

OBJECTIVES

General Objective: To understand overall operations of Housekeeping Department

Specific Objectives: At the end of the unit you will be able to:
 understand the definition of Housekeeping
 identify the structure of Housekeeping Department
 write the mission of Housekeeping Department
 recognize the responsibilities in housekeeping areas

1.0 INTRODUCTION

MOHAMAD : Mommy! I have just spilled the milk on the floor!

MOMMY : Don’t worry honey, I’ll clean it up after I finish with the dishes
( 2 minutes later)
MOHAMAD : Mommy! I can’t find my shirts anywhere
MOMMY : It’s in the second drawer honey!
Example 1.1

Well! What do you think about the above situation? Example 1.1 shows the common incidents in the
house. Normally, keeping a sparkling home for our guests and us is the responsibility of the lady of the
house. This tradition extends to hotels as well where the housekeeper in most cases is a woman.

According to OXFORD-LONGMAN DICTIONARY, housekeeping is the management of household

affairs. So, when we are talking about household affairs, it means we are dealing with maintaining a
clean and comfortable environment in the premises. A hotel’s largest margin of profit comes from room
sales because a hotel room can be sold over and over again. The room sale depends on many things
such as room décor, room facilities, cleanliness of the room, safety and many more. In other words, it is
the housekeeping task to ensure the guest needs and preferences to comfort and security are fulfilled.

1.1 STRUCTURE OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

Now, since you have understood the definition of housekeeping, let us identify the structure of
housekeeping department.

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Different types of hotels have different structure of housekeeping department. In this section, we are
going to learn two types of housekeeping structure, which are:
a. structure of Housekeeping Department for large property/luxury hotel
(Shown in Diagram 1.1)
b. structure of Housekeeping Department for small property/economy
hotel (Shown in Diagram 1.2)

EXECUTIVE
HOUSEKEEPER

ASSISTANT

PUBLIC
ROOM LAUNDRY LINEN
AREA
SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR

PUBLIC
ROOM LAUNDRY
HOUSEMEN AREA LINEN MAID
ATTENDANT ATTENDANT
ATTENDANT

Diagram 1.1: Sample structure of Housekeeping Department for large property/luxury hotel

EXECUTIVE
HOUSEKEEPER

ASSISTANT
EXECUTIVE
HOUSEKEEPER

FLOOR LINEN ROOM PUBLIC AREA

SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR

MAIDS
LINEN ROOM
MAIDS
CLERK

Diagram 1.2: Sample structure of Housekeeping Department for small property/economy hotel

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As you can see from the sample, the difference between large and small properties is the laundry
services. Normally, in larger hotels the laundry is inside the premises, which is called On-Premise-
Laundry (OPL) or In-House-Laundry. However, in smaller hotels the laundry is normally contracted
out (Contract Laundry). In addition to that, the other difference is the staff. For smaller property, the
division of staff is simple but for larger property staff is given specific tasks or duties. Sometimes,
seamstress is also stationed in the laundry department.

1.2 Mission of Housekeeping Department

Every department in the hotel should have its own mission. Mission is a continuing task or
responsibility to be performed by a group of people.

The main mission of Housekeeping Department is to:

 provide a clean interior to upgrade room sales

 protect the owner’s investment

So, why does Housekeeping Department have to provide a clean interior?

It is because a dirty room is one of the reasons guest choose not to return to the same hotel. The
importance of housekeeping activities goes beyond providing clean guest room to sell. Restaurants,
meeting rooms and function space will increase the hotel revenue if they are cleaned properly and well
maintained by the housekeeping department.

Then, how about protecting the owner’s investment? Why does Housekeeping department have to
protect the owner’s investment?

One of the important tasks that Housekeeping department has to perform is to maintain the life
expectancy of all interior design in the premise. A nice interior with attractive furniture will enhance the
ambience of a hotel and give quality taste. The executive housekeeper has a huge responsibility to
develop effective cleaning practices and to train housekeeping staff to do the cleaning job to meet this
missio

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1.3 JOB DESCRIPTION AND JOB SPECIFICATION FOR HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

OBJECTIVES

General Objective: To distinguish the roles and functions of housekeeping and staff.

Specific Objectives: At the end of the unit you will be able to:
 discuss job specification in Housekeeping Department.

1.3.1 JOB SPECIFICATION

Now, we are going to discuss the description of work to be done in Housekeeping Department.

 Executive Housekeeper/Director Of Housekeeping

He or she is responsible and accountable for the cleanliness, maintenance and aesthetic
upkeep of the hotel. This is achieved with the resources, manpower, materials, machines,
money, space and time available.
Example 2.1 illustrates the task of director of Housekeeping.

 Assistant Housekeeper
He or she may be the housekeeper of a small hotel or the only deputy to the Executive
Housekeeper of a medium-sized hotel. He or she manages the resources given by the
Executive Housekeeper to achieve the common objectives of cleanliness, maintenance and
attractiveness in a given shift. His or her accountability normally ends on the completion of
his or her shift.

“As the director of housekeeping, I am

responsible for the cleanliness of all areas of
the hotel except the kitchen and meeting
rooms. I oversee cleaning, uniform control,
lost and found, the in-house laundry and pool
maintenance. Typically, I work 10-hours per
day. Fortunately, this work is something I
really enjoy. The housekeeping department
has always been the underdog. I like
changing that perception”.

David, Green
Director of Housekeeping
Renaissance Hotel, Cleveland,
Example 2.1
Ohio.

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 Room Supervisor
He or she is responsible for seeing that the crews of attendant complete their assignments
properly. They also relay work orders to Maintenance Department and communicate with the
Front Desk regarding any special instructions for guest rooms not already noted on the
assignment sheets. Technical expertise is essential, since supervisors may be called on to
clean when there is not enough staff during peak period. The head house attendant is the
primary supervisor for the property’s house attendant.

 Floor Supervisor
Responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance and attractiveness of the guest floors attached
to him or her in a shift. Her or his scope includes guest rooms, corridors, staircases, and floor
pantries of the allocated floor.

 Public Area Supervisor

Responsible for cleanliness, maintenance and attractiveness of all public areas which
includes restaurants, bars, banquets, administrative offices, shopping arcade, health club,
swimming pool, main entrances and car park areas.

 Room Attendant
Also known as chambermaids or room boys. They do the actual cleaning of guest rooms and
bathrooms allocated to them. He or she reports the need for any repairs in the guest rooms,
any damage by staff or guest, and any suspected theft of hotel or motel property.

 PUBLIC AREA ATTENDANT

Public area attendant, sometimes referred to as a lobby attendant, cleans the public spaces
of the property; that is, all areas used by the guests inside the property other than the guest
rooms. He or she is also assigned to back-of-the-house areas; the areas used by employees
such as locker rooms to service corridors, service elevators and offices.

 HOUSEMAN/HOUSE ATTENDANT
This title is usually reserved for public area staff assigned to do the tasks other than routine
cleaning. Typically, these are the staff members (male and female) who clean carpets, wash
wall, remove trash and recycling, care for floors and clean high and hard-to-reach areas.

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House attendant may work as linen runners whose main job is to take soiled linens from the
guest room floors and transport clean linen, as needed, to the room attendants on the floors.

 NIGHT SUPERVISOR
Night supervisor is special in a manner that would require him or her to be able to handle any
aspect of housekeeping at night including desk control operations issuing linen and uniforms
during emergency or when needed at night. His or her area of activity extends over guest
rooms, public areas also linen and uniform rooms. He or she is solely responsible and
accountable at night for smooth housekeeping through her or his night brigade and has larger
decision-making authority than other supervisors as she or he is in the housekeeping for the
night.

 LINEN ROOM SUPERVISOR

He or she is a non-management person solely responsible for the acquisition, storage,
issuance and cleanliness of linen in its various forms. Types of linen are many, some of
which are bed sheets, towels, tablecloth, table napkin, etc. Hers or his huge task is to keep
track of all linen types.

 LINEN ROOM ATTENDANT / LAUNDRY ATTENDANT

Assist the supervisor by actually issuing linen and filling such records as necessary. Perform
some laundering task in the hotel that has On-Premise laundry (OPL).

 Uniform Room Supervisor

He or she is a non-management person solely responsible for providing clean serviceable
uniforms to the staff of the hotel. As the hotel staff are all practically in uniforms his or her
task is gigantic as he or she has to keep an inventory control on various uniforms at various
stages of use, such as, when sorted ones are handed over, or those which are being washed
or dry-cleaned in the laundry, or those in store for issue.

 UNIFORM ROOM ATTENDANT / LAUNDRY ATTENDANT

The uniform supervisors assisted by attendants who actually do the issuing of uniforms while
receiving soiled ones for onward transmission to the laundry. These attendants are in actual
contact with the staff. He or she can sometimes do the laundering task in the hotel.

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 Laundry Manager
He or she is responsible for all laundry operations. He or she makes sure that the laundry is
operating efficiently, that special request are handled promptly, that all equipment is in good
condition, that safety or health codes are enforced and that the property is being supplied
with bed linens, towels, and table linens as needed. A key staff member, the laundry
manager reports directly to the executive housekeeper.

 SEAMSTRESS
The seamstress fabricates a variety of items, from draperies to bed coverings and uniforms.
He or she is also responsible for mending and repairing fabric items.

 CLERICAL STAFF
In addition to the traditional duties of answering phones and relaying messages, the office
clerk or administrative assistant should be able to enter and retrieve data on the computer
and assist with other matters regarding office operations.

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1.4 AREAS OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

HOUSEKEEPING
DEPARTMENT AREAS

ROOM PUBLIC AREA OTHER AREAS

- SUITE - ENTRANCE - DINING AREA

- DELUXE - LOBBY - BANQUET &

- SUPERIOR - FRONTDESK CONFERENCE

- CORRIDOR - SALES &
- STANDARD
- LIFT ADMINISTRATION
- LIFT OFFICE
- PARKING &
FRONT AREA
- RECREATIONAL
Diagram 1.3: Housekeeping Department Areas
AREA

Diagram 1.3 shows the Housekeeping Department areas. It consists of three main areas which are
rooms, public areas, and other areas. There are four types of rooms, which are under Housekeeping
Department’s responsibility. They are suite, twin, deluxe and superior.

Housekeeping Department is also responsible for public areas. For examples: entrance, lobby, front
desk, corridor and lift. Besides that, Housekeeping Department is also involved in maintaining the
dining areas, banquet and conference, sales and administrative area.

1.4.1 ROOM
 Room is the most important element for Housekeeping Department. Room sales contribute
about 70 percent or more of the revenues generated by hotel. It means that maintaining the
rooms operation is the main responsibility or function of Housekeeping Department.
 Their responsibilities can be explained by Diagram 1.4.

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 A suite is a type of accommodation that normally consists of two or more rooms. A suite may
have more than one bedroom, or extra rooms such as kitchenette or conference room.
Traditional amenities provided with a suite include a stocked wet bar and refrigerator.
 Deluxe room represents the maximum rate charged by the hotel for a regular size sleeping
room. This type of room generally offers the best available location in the hotel with the best
view, the highest level of comfort, furnishings and décor. Typical amenities often include a
fully stocked bar or refrigerator. Bedding usually include queen or king size bed.
 Superior room represents the moderate or medium rate charged by the hotel. This type of
room is usually located on the ground floor with an acceptable view and may include a
double, queen or king bed.
 Standard room represents the hotel’s minimum rate for a regular size sleeping rooms. The
bedding typically consists of one or more double beds, a queen or two twin beds. Room in
this category usually offer the least attractive view and convenient locations in the hotel

ROOM CLEANING

BATHROOM HOUSEKEEPING
CLEANING RESPONSIBILITIES GUEST’S
(ROOM) LAUNDRY
SERVICE

BED MAKING ROOM SERVICE

Diagram 1.4: The Housekeeping Responsibilities (Room)

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1.4.2 PUBLIC AREA

 Public areas are also Housekeeping Department responsibilities. Public area attendants
have to make sure that guest’s expectations of cleanliness are met. The public area
responsibilities are summarized in Diagram 1.5
 The public area is also known as Front of the House, which includes entrance, lobby, front
desk, corridor and lift or elevator.
 These areas must look their best at all times. For example, guests leaving a party in the
hotel’s ballroom at midnight expect the same standard of cleanliness even during a busy day.
So, the Housekeeping Department has round-the-clock responsibility of keeping the public
areas clean and in good condition.
 There are four important responsibities for public area cleaning which are; workable
schedules, contract cleaning, providing tools and equipment and conducting regular
inspections.

WORKABLE
SCHEDULES

CONDUCTING PUBLIC AREA CONTRACT

REGULAR RESPONSIBILITIES CLEANING
INSPECTIONS

PROVIDING
TOOLS &
EQUIPMENT

Diagram 1.5: The Housekeeping Responsibilities (Public Area)

A) Workable Schedules
- Scheduling cleaning for public area is different from scheduling for guest room. The day shift
for public area concentrates on neat and appearance.
- Early morning shift starts at 4.00 a.m. or 5.00 a.m. However, it depends on the hotel area
and category.

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- Public area Supervisor is responsible for staff scheduling. The scheduling is generally based
on labor analysis (average of how many labor hours it takes to complete a task.)
- Tools and equipment provided by public area cleaning are carts or trolley, cleaning tools, and
vacuum provided by the management. Some of the vacuums provided by housekeeping are
piggyback vacuum, ride on vacuum, wet & dry vacuum and many more.

B) Contract Cleaning
- Contract cleaning for public area is important in order to control labor and equipment costs.
- Outside cleaning company are hired to do tasks that would require effective training or
specialized equipment.
- Executive Housekeeper considers some factors such as costs, types of equipment and the
effectiveness of the equipment to determine hiring decision.
- Housekeeping Department is also responsible in making accurate decision for public area
operations.
- Housekeeping Department should consider the advantages and disadvantages of contract
cleaning. For examples, by hiring contract cleaning, the management will not purchase some
specialty equipment such as heavy-duty carpet cleaners. This can reduce the management
cost to buy the equipment and the need to train their staff. Some of the disadvantages
include the reliability of the contract company to perform the cleaning to the standard required
by the hotel.

C) Providing Tools and Equipment

- Tools and equipments are important to public area operations. It makes the cleaning
operations faster and easier.
- The public area is responsible on providing tools and equipment for cleaning operations. For
examples, it provides all-purpose sweepers, which are used for quick cleanups on carpet.
They can pick up sand, dirt, broken glass and cigarettes.

D) Conducting Regular Inspections

- Continuous inspection must be carried out at public areas.
- Inspections are important in order to make sure all areas are in good condition. For
examples, public rest room must be cleaned and well organized at all times.

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- So, one of the important responsibilities is to conduct the inspections.

- The inspections areas include lobby, toilet, entrance, corridor, lift, etc.
- Inspections are important to determine that all designed tasks were completed and done
correctly during shifts.
- Inspections on repairs, cleanliness and replacement are also carried out.
- Toilets, sinks and waste paper baskets are inspected too.

1.4.3 OTHER AREAS

Diagram 1.6 represents the other areas, which are the responsibility of Housekeeping
Department. These areas are dining, banquet and conference room etc. All areas are under
supervisions of Housekeeping Department. For examples, Housekeeping must maintain the
cleanliness and neatness of these areas. These areas must always be in good condition.

DINING AREA

BANQUET & CONFERENCE

ROOM

SALES &
ADMINISTRATION OFFICE
OTHER AREAS
PARKING AND
FRONT AREA

RECREATIONAL
AREA

Diagram 1.6: Housekeeping Responsibilities (Other Areas)

There are some operational activities in other areas that are under the responsibility of
Housekeeping. It includes:
 Daily cleaning
 Special cleaning projects
 Night Cleaning Assignments.
 General cleaning

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 Daily Cleaning
- Housekeeping is responsible for daily cleaning activities in dining, parking and front and
recreational areas.
- The daily cleaning activities are stain removal, linen supply, dealing with spills, vacuuming
and carpet shampooing. (the cleaning activities may differ from one hotel to another)

DAILY CLEANING ACTIVITIES

 Stain Removal
 Linen Supply
 Dealing with spills
 Vacuuming and carpet shampooing

 Special Cleaning Projects

- Special cleaning assignments are added on a rotating basis to each night’s work.
- Activities for special cleaning project involves:
 mirror and chrome polishing
 sink polishing
 tiles scrubbing and polishing
 entrance cleaning
 wash cubicle doors and partition

 Night Cleaning Assignments

- Night cleaning assignment must be carried out after the outlet is closed. Normally, from 10
p.m. to 2.00 p.m.
- For upscale hotels, which have 24 hours dining outlets, the cleaning must be done during
slow period (from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.)

The night cleaning assignments

involves:
 spot clean walls
 wash vinyl seats
 dusting and polishing chairs
 vacuuming carpets
 polish foot rails and metal rim
 wipe window ledges
 Phone cleaning
 Stairs and corridor cleaning
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 General Cleaning
- Not all public areas require daily or weekly cleaning. Some tasks are done once a month or
twice a year.
- General cleaning focuses on:
Assigning Monthly Tasks
 Vacuum upholstered furniture or fittings.
 Wax lamp bases and decorative items
 Wash and polish all woods and non wood furnishings.
 Wash and polish all clear glass except windows (daily cleaning)
 Wash and spot clean walls.
 Polish marble floor.
 Scrub and wash tiles in public restroom.
Assigning On-Demand Tasks
 This means selecting a few tasks that should be done on demand.
 It includes:
- changing all chandeliers and light (bulb) features.
- washing and cleaning large fixtures. For example, public
area attendants clean crystal chandelier using ammonia and
soft rags.
- floor care: carpet cleaning, waxing and polishing floors. (at
least twice a year)
 The periodic work should be re-evaluated on a regular basis.
 The cleaning schedule depends on necessity and situations. For example, thorough
cleaning is scheduled frequently if the property has light carpeting in its public areas
during wet weather. This is because wet weather will cause extensive stain to the
light carpet.

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1.5 FUNCTIONS OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

1.5. INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will study the roles and functions of Housekeeping Department and staff. The scope of
learning includes main roles and functions of housekeeping, factors affecting staff workload, and
duties from those of an Executive Housekeeper to a Room Attendant.

We can see that mid-range service hotels generally require

guest rooms are thoroughly cleaned daily, bed and
bathroom linen is changed everyday, and 24 – hour
housekeeping service is provided seven days a week. In any
case, because housekeeping services must always be
provided, the management of the housekeeping department
in every lodging establishment is of critical importance to
the success of the property.

1.5.1 FUNCTIONS OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

The Housekeeping Department has many functions:
a) Providing clean comfortable and safe surrounding is the role of Housekeeping
Department. It is an extension of basic home keeping expanded into commercial
proportions.

b) Maintaining a “House” is simple but when one considers maintaining a house of

several hundred rooms and numerous public areas, the task become gigantic. It takes a
well organized approach and technical understanding to enable Housekeeping
Department to cope with the volume of work.

c) Obtaining optimal room sales.

A hotel survives on the sale of rooms, food and beverage and other minor operating
services such as the laundry, health club etc. The sale of rooms constitutes a minimum

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of 50 per cent of the hotel’s profit. Once a room is made, it can be sold over and over
again. A good hotel operation ensures optimal room sales to obtain maximum profit. Of
the entire sale obtained by a hotel; 70% - 94% comes from Housekeeping Department.

d) Fulfilling guests’ preferences.

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 decides whether a room is good or bad is strictly personal. Since their
choices are varied, Housekeeping Department tries to fulfill guests’ preferences as best
as they can.

e) Creating appealing and desirable room.

To make a room appealing to a guest is the task of housekeeping. Housekeeping
Department has to ensure that the basic human needs of comfort and security are also
taken care of. The personal effort that the Housekeeping Department makes for
example; giving a guest a desirable room, has a direct connection on the guests
experience in a hotel.

f) Developing effective cleaning practices.

Upscale hotels can cost from RM 50 million to RM 100 million to build. Even with the
cost of the building’s architecture and the land factored out, a guest room can represent
an investment of tens of thousands of ringgits or even RM 150 000 for every luxurious
rooms or suites. It is the Executive Housekeeper’s job to protect this investment and
maximize the life expectancy of all interior design elements by developing effective
cleaning practices and training staff to carry out these practices efficiently.

g) Maintaining property’s interior.

Working with maintenance and engineering, the Housekeeping Department ensures that
the property’s interiors continue to look and operate like new as long as possible. Effective
housekeeping practices combined with a sound renovation program enable a property to
develop and meet guest demands without unnecessary spending.

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