TH2302

HOUSEKEEPING OPERATIONS
The success of hotels depends solely on their staff. In providing excellent quality service, a lot of effort must
be made towards organizing and training the housekeeping personnel, which has the largest workforce in
the hotel. Below are the concepts related to a hotel’s housekeeping department and operations.
Housekeeping Structure
Housekeeping refers to providing a clean, comfortable, safe, and visually appealing environment. It is also an
operational department in a hotel, responsible for the cleanliness and upkeep of rooms, public areas, back-
office areas, and surroundings. The structure of the housekeeping department varies depending on the size,
the services offered, the facilities, and the property standards. Figure 1 shows the housekeeping structure in
a typical accommodation property, usually headed by an executive housekeeper, often assisted by several
supervisors. The executive housekeeper is responsibilities for the following (Policarpio, 2021):
• Ensure overall cleanliness and aesthetics of the hotel.
• Ensure overall sanitation, comfort, and ambiance of the hotel.
• Train new joiners and motivate existing employees.
• Model and establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for cleaning and decorating.
• Monitor regular inventory of guest supplies and linen.
• Monitor housekeeping equipment and hotel property.
• Evaluate employee performance and handle their training, promotions, and transfers.
• Organize flower arrangements for events.
• Present estimates of the required budget for housekeeping to the hotel General Manager.

Figure 1. Housekeeping Department’s Organizational Structure

Source: Fundamentals in Lodging Operations, 2021. p.107

The chart above shows the organizational structure of small hotels where one or more jobs are integrated
and handled by a few housekeeping personnel. These can be expounded in larger hotels depending on how
extensive their operations are.
Duties and Responsibilities of Housekeeping Personnel
Housekeeping personnel ensures guests feel comfortable, safe, and satisfied. Table 1 shows housekeeping
personnel's essential duties and responsibilities (Arenas, 2022).
Personnel Duties and Responsibilities Reports to
Guest Room Supervisor Responsible for ensuring the guestrooms are Executive
cleaned and maintained following set standards Housekeeper
Public Area Supervisor Responsible for ensuring that cleanliness is always Executive

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Personnel Duties and Responsibilities Reports to

maintained in public areas such as the lobby, lifts, Housekeeper
parking, swimming pool, and conference halls
Linen and Laundry Responsible for providing the hotel staff with clean, Executive
Supervisor ironed, and fresh uniforms; keeps track of the Housekeeper
number and conditions of uniforms; maintaining
linens used in a property, including their inventory
Room Attendant Responsible for cleaning and maintaining Guest Room
guestrooms, changing linens, and topping up guests' Supervisor
supplies; attends to various guest requests for
additional services and amenities
Public Area Attendant Responsible for keeping the parking, lobbies, lifts, Public Area
and corridors in their best-maintained status Supervisor
Linen Attendant Responsible for sorting, keeping, examining, and Linen and Laundry
counting all soiled linens before sending them to the Supervisor
laundry and performing linen inventory
Laundry Attendant Responsible for loading and washing linens, Linen and Laundry
uniforms, and guest clothes, including drying, Supervisor
pressing, and folding
Table 1. Different job titles in housekeeping
Source: Fundamentals in lodging operations (2nd Ed.)., 2022. p. 29

The housekeeping employees are responsible for making the hotel rooms “a home away from home” for
guests. Guests may stay in a hotel for pleasure, convenience, or necessity. Whatever the reason, they will
always expect a certain standard of service and comfort. It is hence essential for every hotel employee to
understand the importance of a guestroom to a guest.
Guestroom Operations and Management
Hotels are in business selling rooms; thus, close monitoring of guestrooms is required. Part of this
monitoring is knowing which guestrooms are available for sale and when. The hotel industry assigns a status
to every guestroom to do this. These statuses must then be reconciled to manage availability. Below are the
concepts related to hotel room status (Tutorialspoint, 2023).
Room Status
The front office and housekeeping departments are both responsible for maintaining room status.
To describe the status of a guestroom is to determine its readiness for new occupancy and cleanliness. When
determining such, a room status code is used. A room status code combines a room's occupancy and
cleanliness information. Table 2 shows the most used room status codes in hotels. Figure 2 illustrates the
lifecycle of a guest room.
Status Code Meaning
Room is available for sale; V/R room status is the only status in which a room can
Vacant/Ready (V/R)
be sold.

Cleaned room, not yet inspected. When housekeepers clean rooms, a supervisor
Vacant/Clean (V/C)
inspects them. The supervisor then changes the code from V/C to V/R.

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Vacant/Maintenance A V/M room has been taken out of inventory for some reason. It is the code
(V/M) assigned to out-of-order rooms.
The guest has checked out, but housekeeping has not yet serviced the room. The
Vacant/Dirty (V/D)
V/D code is a top priority in housekeeping as it must be readied for resale.
Guest currently occupies the room, the night has passed, but the room has not yet
Occupied/Dirty (O/D)
been serviced by housekeeping.
Guest currently occupies the room, and housekeeping has serviced the room.
Occupied/Clean Typically, there is no inspection for rooms cleaned during an individual guest’s
(O/C) stay. All rooms are expected to be cleaned well, but an occupied room is generally
easier to clean than one from which the guest has checked out.
Table 2. Room Status Codes
Source: Front Office Management and Operations, 2010

Figure 2. The Life cycle of a guestroom

Source: Front Office Management and Operations, 2010

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Other Room Status and Terminologies in Hotel Housekeeping

Below are the different terminologies, jargon, and acronyms commonly used in the housekeeping
department (Policarpio, 2021).
• OOO (Out of Order): The room is not available for occupancy because of various reasons, including
maintenance, refurbishing, and extensive cleaning. It is the status used by other properties instead
of V/M.
• Do not Disturb (DND): The guest wishes not to be disturbed.
• Slept Out (SO): The guest did not sleep in the room and may be out.
• Double Locked (DL): The room that has been locked, which the guest cannot re-enter until the hotel
staff operates.
• Blocked (BLO): The room is reserved for a guest expected to arrive within a day.
• No Show (NS): The room is reserved, but the guest did not arrive.
• Make-up Room (MUR): It is an occupied guestroom that needs to be cleaned, including beds to be
made.
• Complimentary (COMP): The room is occupied, but the guest is assessed at no charge for its use.
• Turn Down Service – It is also called a night service, where a room attendant makes the bed ready
for sleeping by removing any bedspread or turning down the covers.
• Amenity: A service or item offered to a guest or placed in a guest's room at no extra cost.
• Roll Out: It is the removal of extra beds from the rooms when guests check out.
• Pilferage: The crime of taking someone’s property without permission.
• Back-of-the-House: The functional area of a hotel where guests are not allowed to go.
The Room Status Report
It is a report that allows the housekeeping department to indicate the present status of rooms. It provides
information on the state of occupancy and cleanliness of rooms daily. It is generated through the
communication between the front office and the housekeeping departments.
Housekeeping and the front office communicate with each other about housekeeping room status, the
report on the availability of the rooms for immediate guest occupancy, availability of rooms, cleanliness and
hygiene, and maintenance of furniture and fixtures in other areas of the hotel. Like the front office
interacting with various departments, housekeeping coordinates with other hotel departments, resolving
any issues related to room availability at the earliest and taking care of guest issues in the context of room
and amenities provided. Housekeeping coordinates with the food and beverage department to collect soiled
linens and uniforms. It also coordinates with the sales and marketing department for guestroom supplies. It
also communicates with the security department to prevent any anti-social activities performed by the
guests, such as gambling or smuggling inside the guestroom or hotel premises. Housekeeping also
coordinates with the engineering and maintenance department for issues such as malfunctioning amenities
or electrical/mechanical equipment.

References:
Arenas, C. (2022). Fundamentals in lodging operations (2nd Ed.). Edric Publishing House
Lara, J. (n.d). Accommodation operations and management. [PDF]. The Polytechnic University of the Philippines, College of Tourism, Hospitality &
Transportation Management. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://www.scribd.com/document/521179052/IM-ACCOMMODATION-
OPERATIONS-PDF
Policarpio, A. (2021). Fundamentals in lodging operations. Rex Bookstore

Tutorials Point (2023). Hotel housekeeping [PDF]. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/hotel_housekeeping/hotel_housekeeping_tutorial.pdf
Uttarakhand Open University (n.d). Role of housekeeping in hospitality operations [PDF file]. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from
https://uou.ac.in/sites/default/files/slm/HM-103.pdf
Wood, R. C. (2018). Hotel accommodation management. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

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