GUEST ROOMS: UPKEEP AND MAINTENANCE

Daily cleaning of a guest room – A GRAs work begins when he reports at the housekeeping
desk in correct uniform and proper grooming. A briefing is conducted by supervisor at the
beginning of shift highlighting VIP rooms, any messages from previous shift and a briefing of
work ahead. After briefing, area allocation is done (recorded in Reporting Staff Placement
Register) and accordingly each GRA collects his room status report and master key.

A GRA may have to service anywhere between 12 and 16 rooms in a day depending on the
elaborate work in the rooms. After the GRA finishes servicing one room, he/she informs the
floor supervisor that the prepared guestroom can be inspected.

CLEANING OF AN OCCUPIED ROOM:

Entering the guestroom

• Knock on the door with your knuckles and announce housekeeping, wait for ten
second. (Do not use any other articles, such as pens or keys, for the purpose).
• In case a DND sign is displayed, proceed to clean another room, making a note of the
DND status on the room assignment sheet.
• If there is no answer after 10 seconds knock the door the second time announcing
housekeeping.
• If there still no answer uses the master key to open the door announcing
housekeeping.
• If the guest bids GRA to enter, open the door slightly and ask if you may service the
room. if the guest is willing, proceed to clean the room. In case the guest does not
want the room serviced at the moment, ask for an alternative time and make a note of
it on the room assignment sheet.
• If there is still no answer, use master key to open the door if it is locked. Hold the
door slightly ajar and repeat housekeeping. In case there is no answer, enter the room
discreetly and make sure that the guest is not in the bathroom or in a deep sleep or
even ill. Otherwise proceed to clean the room .If the guest is in the bathroom asleep,
retreat and close the door.
• In case GRA end up having disturbed the guest, apologize, explain the reason for your
enter and say that you shall come back later to clean the room.
 • Upon entering the room, open the door wide and position the cart in front of the door
with the shelves facing the door.
• Keep the door wide open during servicing of the room.

Preparing to clean the guest room-IF the guest is out or has permitted you to clean
the room, greet them politely and begin your work, but take care to minimize any
disturbance or inconvenience to the guest.

• Ventilate the room by drawing back the drapes and opening the windows. While
drawing back the curtains, check the curtain rings and tracks.
• Remove room service (IRD) trays and used tea trays.
• Switch on all electrical appliances such as lights, fans,-conditioners, television, and so
on to check that they are in working order. Switch them off after the check.
• Empty ashtrays, wastepaper baskets and the sani bin from the bathroom into the trash
bag on the cart.

Cleaning the guestroom-

• Remove soiled linen and make the bed as per standard procedure.

Follow a systematic method by starting at the door and cleaning surface as you move
clockwise or anticlockwise .Also always clean from higher to lower levels.

• Damp dust the door and all the door fixtures.

• Damp dust cabinets and closets.
• Damp dust the luggage rack.
• Damp dust the dressing table, drawer and lighting fixtures around or near it.
• Clean mirror.
• Damp dust the bedside tables.
• Dry dust all the fixture and accessories in the guestroom.
• Damp dust chairs and tables; vacuum upholstered furniture. Rearrange all furniture
properly after you are done.
• Vacuum the carpet edges and floor baseboards.
• Clean window frames and glass panes if required.
• Damp dust the headboard of the bed.
 • Damp dust the telephone and disinfect the mouthpiece and the handle of the receiver.
• Spot clean all walls if necessary.

Replenishing minibar –Replenish the minibar as per set standard and prepare bill for
consumed items

Replenishing bedroom supplies-Replenish the bedroom supplies if required and place them
as per the hotel policy.

Cleaning the bathroom-Put on protective gloves and an apron before begin the work at
bathroom-

• Before starting to clean any surface, apply the toilet cleaner in WC. It may require
that the WC be flushed first. Proceed with other tasks in the bathroom while the toilet
cleaning agent does its job.

• Clean the shower curtain using a damp sponge. Let the shower curtain hang loosely
on the tap side of the bath tub, with the bottom of the curtain inside the tub. This is
important for avoiding the build-up moisture.
• Clean the bath tub, surrounding tiles, shower area, and vanity unit using a wet sponge
and neutral detergent.
• Clean the mirror in the same ways as flat glass,.
• Replenish toiletries and other bathroom supplies if required. Gargle glasses should be
replaced with clean ones covered in a wrapper with the message ‘sanitized for your
use’. Replace used towels with fresh ones.
• Clean the outside and surrounding area of the toilet bowl.
• Using a toilet brush, clean the inside of the toilet bowl, especially under the rim and
flush, rinsing the toilet brush in the flush water. A bidet, if present, is also cleaned in
the same way.
• Apply a disinfectant solution on the toilet seat and inside of the lid and close the lid of
the toilet bowl .Place the disinfected strip with the sign ‘sanitized for your use ‘around
the bowl.
• Check all electric appliances to see that they are in working order.
• Damp dust the door and door fixtures, the toilet – roll holder and other fixtures.
• Clean and disinfect the wall phone.
 • Mop the floor. It is a good practice to add a little disinfectant to the mop water since
many guests walk barefoot in the bathroom.
• Take a critical look around, Leave the bath room door open for air to circulate and
exit the bathroom.

Concluding work in the guestroom-

In the end, vacuum clean the room (or mop). Begin from the farthest end, drawing the
sheer curtains and move back towards door. Switch off extra lights except the ones that
are to be left on as per policy.

While cleaning an occupied room .you may tidy the guest’s possessions and belonging
scattered around but never throw away anything. They should not touch any valuables or
money left in the room. So that he /she can inspect the cleaned room. After cleaning, inform
the floor supervisor so that he/she can inspect the cleaned room.

CLEANING OF A VACATED ROOM (departure/on change/check out):

A vacated room is one from which the guest has left, settling his /her account, returning the
room keys and departing the hotel. This guestroom would have been occupied in the night or
before that. The cleaning of a vacated room must be a little more thorough than cleaning an
occupied room. There are also no guest belongings scattered around the room to be tidied in a
vacated room. All the cleaning tasks for an occupied room apply to the cleaning of a vacated
room too. Additional tasks may be;

• Check for any items left behind by the guest who have departed .finding such articles
follow the procedure for dealing with lost and found articles.
• Remove any cobwebs or dust from the ceilings.
• Wipe out drawers and closets from inside.
• Check coat hangers and replenish supplies if necessary.
• Suction clean the carpet.
• Suction clean all soft furnishings.
• Check whether any maintenance work is needed.
Before leaving ,take one last critical look around the room, keeping in mind that your last
look will be the guest’s first look at the room.

SERVICING A VACANT ROOM – Brush up (BUP)

A vacant room is one in which no guest has slept the previous night and which is not yet
occupied. This room would have already been serviced earlier when the last guest to have
stayed in it departed from it. Thus a vacant room needs only a

• light dusting
• a check of all electrical appliances
• Vacuuming the carpet if required
• In the bathroom, the W. C. should be flushed

In the event of a vacant room having been unoccupied for a long time, however, it may need
to be cleaned in the manner of a vacated room. A GRA should also look for signs of illegal
occupation in the night by checking if the bed has been slept in, the bathroom supplies used.

DEALING WITH OOO ROOM – Under Repair

It is the housekeeping department’s responsibility to have guestrooms prepared for repair

work by the maintenance department. The housekeeping department can take a room out of
service, declaring it as OOO, when major repair work is required in the particular room. On
an annual or half yearly basis, some rooms may be declared under repair when the
maintenance department carries out preventives and scheduled maintenance in the
guestrooms. The housekeeping responsibilities here include:

• Taking the room out of order, informing the front office of an OOO guestroom status,
and hanging the OOO sign on the door knob.
• Removing all guest supplies from the bedroom and bathroom and having them stored in
the floor pantry.
• Removing all the soft furnishing from the room and storing these in the linen room;
sending launder able articles to the laundry.
• Covering the mattress and the bed with dust sheets large enough to enclose the headboard
too.
 • Disconnecting the telephone, wrapping in a cover, labelling it, and storing it on a closet
shelf.
• Sending all easily movable furniture, all accessories and loose articles and accessories to
the floor pantry or store for storage, ensuring that all the items leaving the room have a
label stuck on them indicating the number of the room they were transferred from.
• Covering the large pieces of furniture left in the room with dust sheets.
• Disconnecting the television and radio and covering them with large transparent
polythene sheets.
• Placing drugget at entrance and Carpet shampooing after work is complete.
• Removing any flower arrangement or indoor plant, the latter being handed over to the
horticulturist.
• Sealing all taps and sinks other than a single source of water supply.
• Closing all the doors and windows to avoid any noise from disturbing other guests;
opening the windows to ventilate the room after the repairs are completed.

TURN DOWN SERVICE/ EVENING SERVINCE

The turn down services is provided by the housekeeping department in the evening at hotels as
a special service to guests. It is, therefore .also referred to as evening service or night service.
Turn down refers to making the bed ready for sleeping in by removing any bedspread or duvet
and turning down the covers. Along with this function, a few other tasks are carried out in the
evening to make the guestroom environment conducive to and comfortable for a good night’s
sleep. To provide the turn down service, a GRA enters the guestroom early in the evening to
replenish supplies, generally tidy the room and turn down the beds. The procedure is given
below.

• Follow the usual procedure of announcing housekeeping and entering the guestroom.
• Empty and damp dust the ashtray, replace matchbox and generally tidy the room.
Empty the wastepaper basket.
• These tasks should be done before turning down the sheets on the bed.
• Turn down the sheets. (fold one corner of the blanket to enable the guest to slide into
the bed 90 or 45 degree).
• Place the breakfast card and chocolate ( depends on the hotel sop)
• Hang any scattered about clothes left by the guest in the cupboard.
 • Replace used glasses and replenish water jugs.
• Adjust the air conditioner controls.
• If the bathroom has been used, damp dust the vanity unit and bath tub, flush the WC
wipe the seat, and mop away any marks on the floor.
• Replace soiled linens with fresh ones.
• Replenish the bathroom supplies.
• Empty the sani bin.
• Pull the guestroom drapes closed. (draw the heavy curtain).
• Switch off all lights except the bedside lamp to create a welcoming glow around the
bed.
• Exit and lock the door if the guest is expected later.

SECOND SERVICE

Second service is provided on the special request of a guest after the guestroom has already
been serviced earlier in the day. The guest may ask for this chargeable service after he has had
visitors in the room for a party or meeting ,as a result of which the room may have become
dirty or disorganized. Second service may involve the following tasks;

• Removing room service trays and used plates, dishes, glasses and bottles.
• Emptying and damp dusting ashtrays, emptying the waste basket.
• Damp dusting surfaces in the guestrooms that are likely to have been used by visitors
and guests.
• Mopping the floor in the sitting area.
• Making the bed if required.
• Replacing glasses and refilling water jugs.
• Cleaning the bathroom thoroughly, including the toilet bowl and placing the disinfected
toilet strip.
• Replacing soiled linen with fresh.
• Spraying an air freshener if the room has any residual odour of food or cigarette smoke.
• Exiting and locking the door if the guest is out.
• Recording the service provided appropriately so that it may be added to the guest’s bill.