HRST Housekeeping Module
HRST Housekeeping Module
HRST Housekeeping Module
HOUSEKEEPING NC II
MODULE
Program Overview
The HOUSEKEEPING NC II Qualification
consists of competencies that a person must
achieve to prepare guest rooms, clean public
areas and equipment, provide housekeeping
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services, provide valet services, handle
intoxicated guest, and laundry linen and guest
clothes to a range of accommodation services.
LO2
LO2
PROVIDING GUESTROOM SERVICE
Objectives:
At the End of this unit, students were able to:
1. Identify the role of room attendant;
2. Prepare for cleaning duties;
3. Make beds;
4. Clean bathroom;
5. Clean room;
6. Provide additional housekeeping services;
7. Prepare for next shift.
INTRODUCTION
The hospitality business that provides accommodation to their guests has Guest Room
Attendants (GRAs).
GRA's performance of their duty plays an important role in ensuring guest's memorable
experience and satisfaction.
The nature of the hotel business suggests that rooms are occupied by different guests day
after day. But each time a guest enters the room, he/she expects the room to be thoroughly
cleaned, safe, and comfortable. There must be no evidence of the previous guest occupancy
such as a single strand of hair, a droplet of water on a surface or even a fingerprint.
Obviously, the primary function of the GRA is to ensure the cleanliness and maintenance of
the guest rooms, as well as the safety and security of the guest’s stay But more than this,
they should also make sure that the guests are satisfied with every request for services.
They must also be friendly and courteous to the guests, discreet in dealing, show product
knowledge, and able to handle guest requests and complaints.
Daily activities
Following is a list of activities a room attendant may be required to complete on a daily
basis. As you can see there are many activities a room attendant is responsible for in a
normal work shift, involving a wide variety of knowledge and skills.
Prepare for work
Collect master keys
Collect daily room allocation sheets
Stock housekeeping trolleys
Stock and store supplies
Determine the order of cleaning of rooms
Identify any special requests
Enter room
Knock on door in compliance with policy
Open door
Place trolley in door path.
Clean room
Open curtains and windows for ventilation
Remove used guest amenities and rubbish
Clean showers, tubs, sinks and bathroom items
Change linen and make beds
Check for damaged linen items
Inspect rooms for safety hazards and for the operating condition of equipment and
report defects to the maintenance department
Report lost and found articles, maintenance problems or
special room problems
Dust and clean room decorations, appliances and structural
surfaces (wall fixtures, window sills, and vents)
Dust, brush, polish vacuuming furniture.
Replenish guest amenities and supplies
Check, record and replenish mini bar
Prepare rooms for guest arrival and respond to special guest
requests, such as delivering newspapers or cleaning a spill.
Deliver and retrieve items on loan to guests such as iron and
ironing board
Perform rotation cleaning duties (such as. steam clean of carpets) as required
Vacuum and sweep carpets and other floor surfaces.
Mop floor surfaces as needed.
Record room status on work assignment sheets
Phone supervisor or reception updating status of room
Close door.
Provide information to guests
Listen, and respond to guests‟ requests or complaints
Explain room equipment and facilities
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Explain and handle dry cleaning and laundry requests
Provide information to guests about hotel services, facilities and
other amenities
Provide information to guests about local attractions, services and
location of places for religious worship
Other specific information may include prayer and fasting times, location of prayer
mats and orientation for prayer.
Maintain storage areas and trolleys
Return trolley to storage room
Remove used and soiled linen from housekeeping cart
Dispatch soiled linen to the laundry
Replenish linen and guest amenities to normal stock levels on trolleys
Handle lost property
Clean cleaning equipment including mops and vacuum cleaners
Remove rubbish
Clean storage room floor.
Close shift
Return work allocation sheets
Return keys
The following sections containing in this manual will look in detail, the steps and
techniques used to successfully complete the necessary activities expected of room
attendants.
It is commonly recognized that the role of room attendant is physically demanding and
requires a wide scope of tasks to be performed. As such, it takes a special person to do
the job well.
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INFORMATION SHEET 2.2
PREPARE FOR CLEANING DUTIES
Equipment
Various pieces of equipment are needed to service a guest room. These are usually stored
on a housekeeping store room on each floor – or in some central location.
Equipment that needs to be correctly selected and prepared before it is used may include:
Housekeeping trolley
A housekeeping trolley is sometimes called a Maids‟ trolley‟. Check to see it is clean,
presentable, and safe. There should be no jagged bits, nothing should protrude to present
a potential hazard, and the wheels should move easily and smoothly.
Vacuum cleaner
This must be checked to see it is empty at the start of the shift, spare bags are available
(where appropriate), that the machine is fully functional and that there are no frayed
cords or other safety problems. Check should also be made to ensure that all the vacuum
machine tools/accessories that need to be used are available.
Mops
Ensure the mop head looks presentable as guests will be able to see this and may infer a
lack of cleanliness in other or all cleaning from seeing a dirty mop head. Also ensure it
has been sanitized to kill bacteria. Mops may include wet mops for washing floors and dry
mops for polishing and dusting, depending on the areas to be cleaned.
Buckets
These should be fully operational, not leaking, easy to operate, and not smelly. Buckets
may be required for wet mopping and most room servicing trolleys will also feature a
couple of plastic bucket-type containers used to hold cleaning materials, cloths,
chemicals and used to carry items into a guest room.
Protective gloves
A good supply of disposable gloves should be on each trolley. Specific house requirements
in relation to individual Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) issues may require other,
more substantial protective clothing (including gloves) be worn. It is standard procedure
in all premises that room attendants wear protective gloves when cleaning and handling
chemicals.
Housekeeping uniform
The housekeeping uniform is also regarded as „protective clothing‟.
Cloths
Used for cleaning, polishing and dusting, every trolley will need to have lots of these.
Some are made from material and some are disposable.
Dust pan
A dust pan is vital to collect dirt, dust and rubbish.
Requisition form
The requisition form is an internal stock ordering form that you fill in and give to the Head
Housekeeper (or other nominated person).
It will identify:
Person requesting the items
Type of items needed
Quantity
Date.
The majority of housekeeping departments will have a standard order or requisition form.
Requisition forms that are completed and forwarded to the Head Housekeeper at the end of
shift today, should result in the supplies that have been ordered (or “requisitioned”) being
supplied to the appropriate floor housekeeping store room later that day or early the next day
before the next shift starts work.
Maid cart is very important in housekeeping. It is like a giant tool box where all the supplies
needed are placed during room service. It should have space to carry all the supplies needed
by a room attendant in a specific shift.
There are three deep shelves in a maid’s cart. The two lower shelves are stocking linens while
the top shelf is used for stocking supplies.
Items placed on the maid’s cart are determined based on the room category, guest amenities,
and the size of the cart. Below is the standard number of linen usually placed in the maid’s
cart:
LINEN Par Stock
Bed Sheets 2 per bed
Bedspread 1 per bed
Face towels 1 per guest
Pillow Cases 2 per bed
Bath mats 1 per bathroom
Mattress Protector Limited number
Hand Towel 1 per guest
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Steps in Setting up a Maid’s Cart or Trolley
A. Preparation
1. Get all items ready
2. Get assignment sheet from the housekeeping control desk.
3. Clean trolley; wipe all areas using a wiping cloth designated for wiping the trolley.
4. Collect the needed stock from the trolley.
5. Record all the needed items loaded on the cart on the room assignment sheet.
B. Procedure
1. Start stacking from the bottom shelf.
2. Stack at the middle shelf the bathroom linens.
3. Place on the top shelf all the amenities and bathroom supplies. Arrange neatly.
4. Stack the hand caddy with cleaning supplies starting from all-purpose cleaner,
glass cleaner, dusting solution, and bowl brush. Place the trash bag on the left side
of the trolley.
5. Position vacuum and sweeping equipment on one side of the trolley.
C. Inspection
1. Inspect to ensure that trolley is properly stacked, properly arranged, and cleaned.
2. Check if the linen bag and trash bin are empty and clean.
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Self Check 2.1
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Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) in Hotel Housekeeping
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like safety headwear, safety footwear, safety hand, and
safety eyewear are important. They must be worn by employees that are exposed to
hazardous materials or in cases where danger or risk for injury is present.
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Self check 2.2
Assess the risk, find the solution and list down results of the cases study presented below.
TASK: Six housekeeper of a three- star hotel were required to mop extensive areas of the
floor. The mopping task involved filling the bucket with water, wetting the mop in the bucket,
squeezing the excess water, mopping the floor, rinsing and squeezing the mop, and emptying
and refiling the bucket. There are number of different styles of mops and buckets available
on the operation. Some require the cleaner to squeeze the mop manually, while other
mopping system include a pull along bucket with a wringer and handle which the cleaner
presses down on to squeeze the mop.
TASK PROBLEM: The housekeepers used a Kentucky mop ( a mop with a long mop head )
together with a bucket that has a wringer system but without wheel. The housekeepers felt
that a big amount of force is needed to squeeze the mop; the mop had to be rinsed and
squeezed frequently during the mopping task. Measurement of these force in the laboratory
showed that in order to squeeze a mop, the housekeeper had to put so much force as
possible into squeezing. All housekeeper reported pain and discomfort in their wrist and
back.
Result:
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Terminologies Used in Housekeeping
Room status terminologies are used to by both housekeeping department and front desk in
communicating with each other regarding room occupancy. It is very important that these
two departments continuously communicate with each other, not only to maximize sales and
revenue but to avoid problems like room status discrepancy.
Pre- register – a guest has booked a room earlier for early morning arrival.
Occupied (OCC) – a guest is currently occupying the room.
Occupied Clean (OC)- there is a guest occupying the room and it has already been
cleaned by the room attendant.
Occupied Dirty (OD) – there is a guest occupying the room and it has not been
cleaned by the room attendant yet.
Extra Bed (XB) – there is an extra bed being used in the guest room.
Light Baggage (LB)– the guest occupying the room does not have a large baggage.
No Baggage (NB) – the guest occupying the room does not have a baggage.
No Need Service (NNS) – a guest requested a “ no service” for the room.
Stay-0ver- the guest is not expected to check out today and will remain at least one
more night.
On-change – the guest has departed, but the room has not yet been cleaned and not
ready for new occupants.
Do Not Disturb(DND) – the guest has requested not to be disturbed.
Cleaning in Progress- room attendant is currently cleaning the room
Sleep-out – a guest is registered to the room, but the bed has not been used.
Skipper – the guest has left the hotel without making arrangements to settle his or
her account.
Vacant and Ready or Vacant and Clean (VC). The room has been cleaned and
inspected and is ready for the arriving guest.
Vacant Dirty (VD) – The room is vacant but has not yet been cleaned.
Out of Order (OOO) – rooms kept under out of order are not sellable and these rooms
are deducted from the hotels inventory.
Out of Service ( OOS) – rooms kept under out of service are not deducted from hotel
inventory. This is a temporary blocking and reason may be a malfunctioning bulb
fuse, TV remote not working , etc.
Lock-out – the occupied room has been locked which disallows the guest to re -enter
until he or she comes into contact with the hotel staff to clarify his or her status.
Did Not Check Out (DNCO) – the guest made arrangements to settle his or her bills,
but has left without informing the front desk.
Due Out – the room is expected to become vacant after the guest check out.
Check out (C/O) the guest has settled hi or her account, returned the room keys, and
left the hotel.
Late Check Out – the guest has requested and is being allowed to check out later
than the normal or standard departure time of the hotel.
Expected Departure (ED) – it is the same as “due date” which means the guest would
depart prior to the check out time of the following day.
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Inspected Clean (I) – the room is double checked by the floor supervisor after the
cleaning of room attendant.
Complimentary – the room is occupied for free.
Guest Room Classification
Single Room – a room that accommodates only 1 person and has single or a queen –
sized bed.
Twin Room – a room that can accommodate two person with two twin beds.
Double Room – a room that can accommodate two persons with a double or queen
sized bed.
Suite – a room with one or more bedrooms and a living space.
President suite – the most expensive room provided by a hotel usually only one
president suite is available in a hotel.
Accessible room – this room type is mainly designed for disabled guest.
Connecting Room – two rooms that are side by side with a connecting door between
them.
1. Leisure Travelers. They are individuals who travel to engage in leisure activities
outdoor recreation, for relaxation, to visit friends and relatives, or to attend sport or
cultural events.
2. Corporate Business Travelers. They are individuals whose frequent bookings are
usually made by enterprises with reduced room rates. Business travelers go on a trip
to conduct business and attend meetings or workshops, and engage in selling or
purchasing of products.
3. Travelers (FITs). They are sometimes referred to as foreign independent travelers.
FITs are international tourists who purchase their own accommodation and make
their own travel arrangements.
4. Group Inclusive Tours (GITS). Tourists who travel together on package tours with
accommodation and sometimes meals which are booked through travel agents. Group
tourists tend to spend less and budget their spending allowance.
5. Domestic Tourists. They are local residents who stay at a hotel tor special occasions
and functions.
6. Conference Participants. Individuals who travel to attend conference and whose
accommodation is usually reserved by themselves, their enterprise, or a conference
organizer prior to their arrival.
7. Very Important Persons (VIPs). Very important persons may include celebrities,
frequent-stay guests, guests in expensive rooms, guests with security risks, and top
executives from enterprises
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8. Incognito. They are guests who stay in a hotel with concealing identities to avoid
notice and unwanted attention
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