100% found this document useful (2 votes)
163 views11 pages

Housekeeping Topic 4

Housekeeping staff must handle various guest requests professionally and promptly. This includes providing additional items to guest rooms, such as extra towels or coffee, as well as handling repairs, complaints, and lost and found inquiries. It is important for housekeeping staff to greet guests by name, provide excellent customer service, and address any issues in a polite, solution-focused manner to ensure guest comfort.

Uploaded by

Rhea Lanuza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
100% found this document useful (2 votes)
163 views11 pages

Housekeeping Topic 4

Housekeeping staff must handle various guest requests professionally and promptly. This includes providing additional items to guest rooms, such as extra towels or coffee, as well as handling repairs, complaints, and lost and found inquiries. It is important for housekeeping staff to greet guests by name, provide excellent customer service, and address any issues in a polite, solution-focused manner to ensure guest comfort.

Uploaded by

Rhea Lanuza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

Topic 4

RECEIVING HOUSEKEEPING REQUEST

Learning Objectives:

• Identify and perform different housekeeping services


• Handle housekeeping request
• Advice guest on room and housekeeping equipment

Accept housekeeping requests from guests

Introduction

Housekeeping is an important area in any accommodation property. Most


people see housekeeping as simply „cleaning guest rooms‟ but from an
operational perspective there is a lot more to housekeeping than just that.

This is the guests 'home away from home'. It is essential that that a guest is
able to enjoy their room in the same manner and with the same ease as they
would enjoy in their own house. The aim of housekeeping is to strive to
enable guests to access items as easily as in their own home. It is therefore
important that housekeeping staff maintain a professional level of integrity,
especially staff who clean rooms

Housekeeping staff must have high levels of integrity, honesty and


discretion as a guest needs to feel that what takes place or what is left in
their room must be safe and remain confidential.

Understandably an accommodation room is considerably smaller in size


than the customer's normal residence and therefore items that they may
need might not be in immediate access.

A hotel cannot provide all the necessary items a customer may need inside
each and every room for a number of reasons:

• The room size is too small


• It would become cramped for space
• Not all customers need all items
• The capital outlay for a business would be considerable
• It reduces the chance of damage and theft.

Therefore, it is vital that housekeeping is able to get a requested item to a


room in the shortest possible time.
Types of accommodation properties

 The items included in a room or upon request differ depending on the


type of accommodation provided.

 Housekeeping requests by guests can be made across a range of


accommodation properties for a wide variety of reasons.

 A housekeeping department exists in any property that offers in-house


accommodation.

Housekeeping departments operate within:


• Hotels, motels and clubs
• Resorts, chalets and hostels
• Passenger ships and trains
• Serviced apartments.

Types of guest requests


There may be many times during a shift when the room attendant will have
to handle guest requests and the reasons can vary.

Need for item sent to the room


A guest may request services or products such as:

• Additional equipment in their room – because they have needs during


their stay that are not accommodated by the normal in-room items

• Valet or laundry service – common among long term guests

• Additional bedding – where the existing bedding is unsuitable,


uncomfortable or insufficient

• Extra tea, coffee, sugar and milk sachets – a common request where
the guests spend a lot of time in their room

• Extra crockery or cutlery – where the room features a kitchen or


kitchenette this is also a common request especially where guests
want to entertain in their rooms

• Vases – for flowers that have been delivered to them


• Replacement items such as hair dryers, toasters, irons and electric
jugs to replace items that are not working

• Extra bathroom guest supplies – another common request for long


term guests: guests with long hair often ask for extra shampoo and
conditioner

• Additional items in compendium – such as letterhead paper,


envelopes, postcards, pens, note paper

• Additional towels – to accommodate extra showers or baths taken by


the guests: where the property has a swimming pool this is a common
request

• Extra hangers for clothes, extra pillows, extra blankets

• A power conversion board – to adapt their electrical equipment to the


power supply of the venue: common where the property caters to some
international guests

• Ice and ice buckets.

Servicing of room

• Rectification cleaning - guests may request an improvement in the


servicing of room.

• They require housekeeping staff to provide remedial service to the


room when theoriginal room service is deemed by the guest to be sub-
standard

• Clean-up after an in-room party or entertainment

• A special room service where they have spilled something on the floor.

Repairs

• Repair or removal of broken equipment – such as controls for the TV,


DVD player, air conditioner, broken bedside lights, free-standing
lamps
• Instructions to enable them to work equipment – such as the TV, in-
room safe, lights (especially where room cards are needed to activate
the power to a room), heating and cooling controls
Lot and Found

Guests may also contact housekeeping when making a Lost and Found
enquiry. They may have found an item in a room they have just been
roomed in or they may contact housekeeping after they have departed to
enquire about something they have lost.

Housekeeping is often the department that operates the Lost and Found
facility for a venue because most Lost and Found items come from guest
rooms.

Handling complaints

Handling complaints Ensuring guest comfort may relate not just to issues
that can be handled quickly by housekeeping (such as rectification cleaning,
a replacement jug for one that’s not working or extra tea and coffee supplies)
but also handle or direct guest requests relating to:

• Noisy people in the room next doors

• Poor views from the balcony Noisy pigeons outside the room which
stop guests getting to sleep

• Noisy elevators near the room

• Lack of facilities in the room Quality of facilities that is below guest


expectations

• Advertising that has created expectations that are not being met.

In most cases housekeeping may not be able to rectify these complaints


personally, but they should ensure the appropriate person is contacted in a
timely manner.

Handling guest requests promptly

Given that housekeeping staff are usually very busy trying to achieve the
tasks set for them by the Executive Housekeeper on a daily basis (which are
essentially the servicing of departing and staying guest rooms), they must
still ensure they handle any requests from in-room guests in addition to
their allocated workload and do so in a polite and friendly manner, in
accordance with all relevant house policies and procedures.

If the room attendant cannot assist the guest immediately, they should at
least acknowledge the guest’s request and advise them when assistance will
become available

The basis for providing excellent levels of customer service in


housekeeping

To ensure the comfort and wellbeing of guests, housekeeping must develop a


good relationship with guests.

This can be achieved by:

• Good personal presentation – as determined by house

• requirements that apply to uniforms and personal hygiene

• Greeting guests by name when known

• Providing excellent service at all times

• Not giving the guests the impression that serving their needs is
chore/imposition

• Not rushing service delivery as and when it is required

• Enquiring “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

• Finishing service delivery with appositive statement: “It’s been a


pleasure………”

• Providing a safe and secure environment for the guests while they are
staying in the establishment.

• Assisting guests in public areas

• involve offering to call a porter to assist

• Smiling
• Handling complaints in a professional manner

• Providing a safe and secure environment for the guests while they are
staying in the establishment

• Respecting the guests need for confidentiality and privacy

• Having excellent product knowledge about the appliances, items,


features in guest rooms.

For room attendant to provide excellent service, they must know the
importance of making guests feel safe, secure and welcome while they are
away from home.

Handling guest complaints

Unfortunately, even with the best of intentions, things can sometimes go


wrong and resultin a guest complaint. As identified before, some requests
are in fact complaints.

The following are guidelines to assist in dealing with a customer


complaint:

• Remain pleasant at all times, but do not smile when the guest is
complaining

• Listen without interruption

• Know the correct procedure and the establishment policy on dealing


with customer complaints

• Ask the guest how they would like you to resolve the problem

• Focus on the issue and don’t take the complaint personal

• Apologies to the guest for any inconvenience


• Advise your supervisor and get their feedback as to how they feel you
handled the situation

Use guest name where possible

When dealing with a guest’s request, the room attendant should


acknowledge the guest by addressing them by their name, if appropriate and
possible.
These usually reflect generally applicable standards of courtesy, such as:

• Avoid using first names – only use last names

• Never use nicknames

• Get the pronunciation right – if you are not sure you can do this, use
“Sir‟ or “Madam‟

• If you don’t know the guests name or have forgotten it address the
guest by “Sir‟ or Madam‟.

How will I know the guests name to begin with?

Most requests from guests for items for their room come about from:

• A phone call to housekeeping from the guest

• A face-to-face conversation with the guest as they are walking down


the corridor and see you cleaning rooms.

Accept housekeeping request from staff

Housekeeping not only services the needs of the guest. As the department
responsiblefor the cleanliness of a property, it is often called upon to handle
requests made by otherdepartments.Therefore, all departments will have
requests of housekeeping. Similar to dealing withrequests from guests, these
requests must be handled in a professional and timelymanner

Types of staff requests


The types of requests may be varied depending on each specific situation,
however there are some common staff requests including:

• Cleaning duties - of items such as furniture, carpets, equipment,


windows, floors and bench surfaces

• Cleaning of in-house facilities – including public areas, change


rooms and offices

• Emergency cleaning – unexpected cleaning requests

• Cleaning and servicing of staff changing rooms.

Staff Uniforms

• Order and supply of staff uniforms

• Providing laundry service – many properties operate their own on-


premise laundry whilst other venues will use the services of an
outside commercial laundry. Most staff uniforms will be cleaned
through the housekeeping department.

Provision of Supplies

• Cleaning products, rags & equipment


• Chemicals
• Clean linen for F&B departments
• Towels for gymnasiums.

Security
• Check rooms and floors for safety concerns

• Ensure guest room and emergency doors are shut

• Close storerooms

• Participate in emergency and evacuation procedures


• . Other tasks

• Move room service trays from rooms or corridor to appropriate store


area

• Check mini bars for departing guests

• Check actual status of a room – whether a guest has actually left the
room or if it is occupied

RECORD HOUSEKEEPING REQUEST ACCORDING TO ENTERPRISE


REQUIREMENTS

Any contact that housekeeping has with a guest has the potential for a
request to be made by the guest.

The reality is that guests rarely speak with housekeeping staff unless they
have a need to do so, so be aware of this and be ready to respond
appropriately.

Confirm and note details of the request

Confirming what is needed the key to this is repeating back to the guest
what it is they have told you they want, using your establishment knowledge
to clarify any areas that are not clear.

This advice applies whether the request comes in person or over the phone.

When a guest makes a request simply write down:

• Guest name
• Room number
• Specifics of the request – type of item or service required, number
involved (where appropriate –6 wine glasses
• Time for delivery to the room that was agreed to.

It is always wise to confirm the details to save time, effort and guest
frustration if the wrong item or service is delivered. There may often be
communication difficulties caused by different languages, lack of local
knowledge, tiredness and unfamiliarity with the property

Activity Sheet 4
Topic 4. RECEIVING HOUSEKEEPING REQUEST

Name: ___________________________ Year&Section:


______________
Instructor: __________________ Date: _______________

I.Answer the following questions.

1. What are the different types of housekeeping requests that guests


make?

2. How can the Housekeeping Department achieve excellent levels of


customer service?

3. If you were one of the housekeeping staff in a hotel and a guest in a


room assigned to started making complaints, how will you handle the
situation?
II. Write true or False
_______1. Guests may also contact housekeeping when making a Lost and
Found enquiry
_______2. In order to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of guests,
housekeeping must develop an excellent relationship with the guests.
_______3. When dealing with a guest’s request, the room attendant should
acknowledge the guest by addressing them by his or hernickname.
_______4. Housekeeping services the needs of the guests.
_______5. All properties provide their on-premise laundry services.
_______6. It is always wise to confirm the details of the guests’ requests to
save time and effort.
_______7. Housekeeping staff must have high levels of education.
_______8. Housekeeping is often the department that operates the Lost and
Found facility for a venue because most Lost and Found items come from
private rooms.
_______9. For room attendants to provide excellent services, they must know
the importance of making guests feel safe, secured and welcomed while they
are away from home.
_______10. If you don’t know the guests’ name or have forgotten it, address
the guests by “Sir‟ or “Madam‟.

You might also like