Introduction to Hotel Housekeeping

Introduction to Hotel Housekeeping

Meaning of Housekeeping

               

 Housekeeping is one of the largest department of the hotel. This department is responsible for cleaning, maintenance and aesthetic up keep of hotel. Housekeeping may be defined as the provision of a clean, comfortable and safe environment. It creates the feeling of "home away from home".

                  The housekeeping department not only prepares on timely basis, clean guest rooms for arriving guest. It also cleans and maintains everything in hotel, so that the property is as fresh and attractive as the day it opened for business.

                  A hotel survives on the sale of room, food & beverage and other minor operating departments as laundry, health club, spa etc. Of these sale of hotel rooms constitutes minimum of 50%. In other words, a hotel's largest margin of profit comes from the hotel room sales, because of the room, once made, can be sold over & over again. A good hotel operation ensures optional room sales to being in the maximum profit.

                  The sale of rooms depends on the quality of room decoration, room facilities, cleanliness of room and how safe it is. To gain satisfaction of guest, the housekeeping department plays
an important role by maintaining the standard and not loosing the reputation of hotel, so that the guest will come again and again.

Importance of Housekeeping

                  Housekeeping is the most important department of the hotel. Or we can say it is an eye & ear of the hotel. As eyes and ears are the most important part of our body without which we are incomplete. Similarly, without housekeeping hotel is also incomplete . As we know, first impression is a last impression, so housekeeping plays the vital role to impress the guests by maintaining healthy and attractive environment. We can collect 50% of our revenue from rooms only as most of the guests specially want lodging facility. So, housekeeping helps to increase the economic condition of hotel by maintaining the safety, clean, healthy and homely environment.

• To keep all entire hotel neat & clean.
• To maintain the standard of hotel.
• To preserve the property of hotel.
• To look after the decoration of hotel.
• To keep each and everything up to date, fresh & attractive.
• To keep each and everything in orderly manner.
• To keep good relation, co-operation & coordination with all the departments of hotel.

Roles of Housekeeping

1. Clean, comfortable and safe environment
              The main role of housekeeping is to provide clean, comfortable and safe environment to the guest. If there is no clean & safe environment, then no guest will come. So there must be comfortable room for them to stay and also maintain security for them.
2. The guest should feel at home
               The main objective of hotel is to create homely environment to guest. We can make homely environment by keeping necessary items orderly and also by knowing the problems and wishes. Guests come to hotel from far places of the globe from their home. So, hotel gas to provide homely atmosphere and housekeeping department is responsible for it.
3. Treat the guest cheerfully & courteously
                As we know, guest are like our gods. So, we must treat them cheerfully and courteously. We must speak politely and kindly with them. We must respect them and show good manner towards them. Guests feel warmly welcomed and he always wants that.
4. Standard
                The housekeeping should maintain standard of hotel by making entire hotel clean, neat & tidy which helps to decorate the hotel. It makes hotel attractive & beautiful which increases the standard of hotel.
5. Satisfaction
                 We must always try to satisfy the guest by providing all the facilities they want. The guest are always looking for the payback of their money. So the housekeeping department department always keeps the guest satisfied by their work of cleanliness and also provides them with good services.

Function of Housekeeping

                        Housekeeping department is responsible to create "home away from home" for its guests. It's functions can be summarized in following points:

1. Cost Control
                 By controlling the cost, housekeeping department may minimize the expenses incurred. Cost control can be done by:
   
   a) Avoiding Overtime
                 By avoiding overtime, housekeeping department sees that staffs do not have to be paid extra. The duty roaster hence, should be maintained strictly in such a manner that none of the staffs have to work more than their normal duty hours or else, they would have to be paid more, thus increasing the expenditure.
   b) Proper usages of products and equipment
                 By ensuring that the various products & equipment are used in proper manner, it not only prolongs the life and durability of the equipment but also helps in minimizing the costing since new equipment would not have to be brought every next day.
   c) Turn out the lights and a/c
                 By turning out lights and a/c's and other various equipment's i.e. electrical, when not in use, it minimizes the electric units being used hence minimizing the hotel's expenditure.
   d) Record keeping
                 By keeping through record of assignments of financial transaction, work load indicators of each staff, quality control & training that can provide proof for different reports and researches that would help in cost control in future.
2. Preservation of property
                 Housekeeping department is also responsible for preservation or upkeep of the property of the hotel. It can ensure preservation of property in following ways:
   a) Correct procedure of cleaning              Different items need different methods of cleaning in order to last for long time hence correct procedure of cleaning has to be applied for long life of the item.
   b) Adequate frequency of cleaning              The number of items has to be cleaned various from product to product, some might have to be cleaned daily hence, and the correct frequency has to be applied for the durability of each items in the organizations.
   c) Proper product
                  It is very necessary that products chosen has to be reasonably cheap at the same time the best suited for the conditions that it has to be used in. It must however be noted that the expensive doesn't mean the best. All the circumstances that the product is going to get through must be considered before the choice is made, the budget assigned should never be crossed, otherwise the results will be most definitely be hazardous ( note: items and products mean- building, furnishing, finishes) 
3. Climate and attitude
                  This point deals with the staff of the department. If the staffs are not efficient and don't function properly, the department and the organization as a whole will suffer. So, the department has to create an environment where right attitude and high morale can be develop among the staffs.
                   It has to provide a sense of pride to it's staffs in whatever job they are performing. It has to promote honesty and high morale among the staffs, however in doing so no one's pride should be praised in public but criticized in private in order to advice their inner say.