Wednesday, April 9, 2008

GUEST ROOM STATUS

ROOM STATUS :

  • Occupied room - O or OCC - ( A guest is currently registered to the room )
  • Complimentary room -Comp. - ( The room is occupied by the guest is not be charged for the use )
  • Stayover room- (The guest is not checking out today and will occupy the room for atleast one more night )
  • On - change room -O / C ( The guest has departed but the room is not yet been cleaned and readied for sale )
  • Do not Disturb - DND (The guest has requested not to disturb )
  • Sleep outroom -S/O ( A guest is registered to a room but the bed has not been used )
  • Scanty baggage - SB ( The guest has very light luggage that could be carried away in his hand without indicating the departure )
  • Sleeper / Not cleared - NC (The guest has settled his account and left the hotel but the front office staff have failed to properly update the room status )
  • Out of order room - OOO ( The room cannot be assinged to a guest it may need maintenance work to be done )
  • Did not checkout - DNCO ( The guest made arrangement to settle his account but has left with out informing the frontoffice )
  • Due out room - The room is expected to be vaccant after the following days check -out time.
  • Check out / Vacated / Departure room -CO or C/O ( The guest has settled his account and returned the room keys and left the hotel )
  • Vacant room - V ( A room in which no guest has slept the previous night and which is not yet occupied )
  • Luggage in - L ( The guest luggage is in the room but the bed has not been used )
  • Under repair room - UR ( The guest room is not been assigned to any guest as repair work is being carried out )
  • No luggage / No baggage - NL or NB ( The guest is staying in the room but with no luggage )
  • Double lock room - DL ( A room which has been double locked no other key can open this room door expect the grandmaster key or the emergency key )

TYPES OF GUEST ROOMS.

GUEST ROOM TYPE :
  • Single room ( A room assigned to one person which as a one single bed )
  • Twin room ( A room with two twin beds meant for one person each. )
  • Hollywood twin room ( A room with two twin beds but a common head boards, meant for 2 peoples. If so desired the beds can be merged togther to make it appear a single bed. )
  • Double room ( A room with double bed for two persons )
  • Triple room ( A room assigned to 3 peoples which may have 2 or more beds )
  • Queen room ( A room with queen size bed )
  • King room ( A room with king size bed )
  • Double double room / twin double family room ( A room with two double beds meant for 4 peoples )
  • Studio room / Extension room ( A room with studio bed )
  • Sico room ( A room which has a Murphy or sico bed or similar a pull out or convertible or foldaway bed )
  • Executive room ( A room that has a large bed room with a sitting area provided with chairs and usually a sofa and coffee table. This type of room typically has workstation lounge near the window. )
  • Penthouse ( A room that opens to the roof and may be accompanied by a swimming pool, patio, a tennis court, and other facilities and amenities )
  • Lanai ( A room over looking a landscape area, a scenic view, a water body. or a garden. These room are commonly found in the resorts )
  • Cabana room ( A room adjacent to the pool area, with or without sleeping facilities, but for provision for relaxing in a sofa. These are mainly used for changing )
  • Suite room ( A combination of one or more bed rooms and a parlour. It may also contain a bar)
  • Minisuite / Junior suite ( A single large room with bed and a sitting area )
  • Connecting room ( Rooms with individual enterance doors from the outside and a connecting door between so that the guest can move between the rooms so that guest can move between the rooms without using the corridor )
  • Adjoining room ( A room with a common wall but no connecting door )
  • Adjancent room ( Rooms close to each other but not neccessarily adjoining perhaps across the wall or corridor from each other )
  • Duplex room / Bi - level suite ( A two storey suite, with parlour and bedrooms connected with stairway )

So generally we can see that the room is catergorise based upon the type bed or size of the bed or location of the room so this shows that we need to be well versed in the types of bed and its sizes.

Single bed - 3 feet * six feet three inches

Double bed - four feet three inches * six feet three inches

Queen bed - five feet * six feet six inches

King bed - six feet * six feet six inches

GUEST SUPPLIES.....

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GUEST SUPPLIES, AMENITIES & LOAN ITEMS :
Guest supplies are given to the guest, in simple words which will be given to all the guest or provided in all the room, basic supplies which they need in day-to -day life, standard items needed to be kept in the room. eg.., tooth kit, water bottles....
Guest amenities are given to the guest by the hotel on special request made by the guest or given to the guest as a complementary, or given to the very important guest. Guest amenities are fruit basket with all the fruits the difference is in guest supplies the fruit basket as only the seasonal fruits but in amenities there will be avacado, pears, pulms, custard apple, grapes, cherry, apple....Kiminos will be given (night dress made up of silk ), a special flower arrangement will be done with flowers like Bird of pardise, Pot puri will be kept ( mixed natural herbs which gives pleasent smell ) used as an room freshner and placed in cupboards or in wardrobe. Branded items will be kept in the bathroom for men it will be park avenue for women the products like lakme or nivea will be kept in the vanity counter.
A nice attractive champange will be kept in nice ice bucket.
Guest loan items are the equipments which a guest needs commonly and given to the guest on request. Housekeeping is responsible for making an inventory for this. They need to track the items to make sure that they are returned back to them. Some of the guest loan items are as follows....
  • Irons.
  • Ironing boards. ( the board which used for ironing usually stuffed and have smooth surface )
  • Sewing kit or dutch's wife.
  • Hair dryer.
  • Electrical shaver.
  • Curling irons. ( used by womens for curling their hairs )
  • Alarm clocks.
  • Cribs.( small bed which is given to guest on extra charge for baby )
  • Head boards.
  • Voltage adatopers.
  • Non allergic pillows.( made up of latex for those who have allerge towards cotton or feathers )
  • Feather down comfort.( small soft feathers which will be under the wings of ducks and goose are filled in duvet, pillows, for extra comfort )
  • Heating pads.
  • Hot water bottles.
  • Ice packs.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

cleaning a room

CLENING A ROOM ( PROCEDURES )
A guest room attendant (GRA ) has to make atleast anywhere about 13 to 15 rooms per day. so for a GRA his work will not take more than 25 minutes per room.After finishes the service of one room he must inform to the supervisior to check the room whether it meets the standards which is set by the hotel.
Generally before starting to make a room or before starting the work for the day we must ensure that the the trolley must be stocked effectiently according to the occupancy of the day in that particular floor.
The maids trolley must be equipped with all the essential items like guest room supply ( both living & bath room supply ) that is linens requried both bed and bath, water bottles, flowers, notepads, business kit, dental kit, dutch wife, first aid kit, fax papers, magazines, news papers, bulbs, bath room slippers, pen, pencil, folders, shampoo, foam, lotion, shaving kit, single lady amenities, hangers, laudry bags & slips, shoemitt, polish, brush, toilet paper
coasters, cleaning agents such as R1, R2, R3, R5, R6,R7,R9.
R1 - BATH ROOM FLOOR CLEANER.
R2 - GLASS CLEANER.
R3 - FURINUTRE POLISH.
R5 - ROOM FRESHNER.
R6 - TOILET BOWL CLEANER
R7 - METAL POLISH
R9 - HARD FLOOR CLEANER.
PROCEDURE
The job of making a room can be divided in to several steps and they are as follows.....

Entering a guest room.

Preparing to clean a guest room.

Cleaning the guest room.

Making the bed.

Replenishing bed room supplies.

Cleaning the bathroom.

Checking and concluding the work done in the room.

ENTERING THE GUEST ROOM :

Knock the door with knuckles and announce housekeeping / use calling bells. In case of DND room do not disturd them and proceed to other rooms and inform to the supervisior about the DND.

If the guest ask you to enter the room slowly open the door and ask if can i service the room now. If the guest is willing proceed to clean the room, in case if guest does'nt want to service the roomat the moment, ask for an alernative time and make a note of it and go at that time to service the room.

In case there is no answer from the guest, wait for a minute and then again knock the door and announce housekeeping. If there is still no answer use your key and open the door slightly and announce housekeeping. Incase there is no answer enter the room discreetly and make sure that the guest is not in the bathroom or in deep sleep or even ill. Otherwise proceed to clean the room. if the guest is in the bathroom or asleep retreat and close the door. In case you end up by disturbing the guest ask apology and explain the reason for your entry and inform him that you will come back to clean the room later.

While entering the room keep the door wide open and place your trolley in front of the door with the shelves facing the door. always keep the door wide open when you are servicing the room.

PREPARING TO CLEAN A GUEST ROOM :

If the guest is not in the room or he permitted you to clean the room, greet them politely and begin your work, but take care to minimize any disturbance to the guest. The following points must be done......

  • Ventilate the room by opening the windows and drawing back the curtains while doing so check the curtain rings and tracks.
  • If there is any room service trays or tea trys remove it.
  • Switch on all electrical applainces to check that they are working in order. Switch them off once after being checked.
  • Empty the ashtrays and waste paper bins and sani bins in to the trash bag in the cart.

MAKE THE BED:( refer previous posting which is explained by photos )

CLEANING THE GUEST ROOM :

After finishing the bed making you can proceed to the dusting and vaccuming. Follow a systematic method that start the cleaning work from behind the door and and come in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction and end up in behind the door.And also always start clening from higher to lower levels.

  • Damp dust the door and all the door fixtures, cabinets and closets,minibar luggage rack, dressing table, drawers, light fixtures, mirror bedside tables, chair, tables, vaccum clean the upholstered furnitures, carpets and floor and damp dust the telephone and disinfect the mouth piece and handle of the recevier,mop the floor.

CLEANING THE BATHROOM :

  • As you enter the bathroom check that you have emptied the sanibin and soiled linens, if not do it.
  • Apply R6 to the toilet bowl, before that flush the WC
  • Scrub the bath tub and wipe the walls and bath tub with cloth, before that dry the shower curtain.
  • Wipe the mirror in the vanity counter and clean the trays, bud vase, and wipe the the counter taps and chrome fixtures and washbasins spotlessly clean.
  • Brush the WC which you have already applied the R6 in it flush it and wipe it and put disinfectant band to it and wipe and clean the sanibin replace the toilet paper.
  • Mop the floor and vaccum clean it.

REPLENISH THE SUPPLIES :

Replenish the bath and living room supplies as per the hotel rules.

CHECKING AND CONCLUDING THE WORK :

After the completion of work once again check the room whether everything was placed properly and the room was made according to the hotel set standards. After which you need to inform to your supervisior that you have finished making the room and he can come for checking. update it in room assignment sheet.

CLEANING AN VACCANT / DEPARTURE ROOM :

  • Cleaning a vaccant room takes hardly 3 - 5 minutes just you need to dust the room and check that all the electrical applainces is working and everything is in order and placed in their place.and replenish the pershible room supplies.
  • Cleaning an departure room is as same as the procedure followed in cleaning a occupied room but the only difference is you need to take away all the old supplies which where kept ( replace it with new one ) and through vaccuming must be done and must check for any lost property and consumption of any minibar items.

TURNDOWN SERVICE / EVENING SERVICE :

The turn down service is given to the guest in the evening by the housekeeping department as a special service.

  • Follow the usual procedure ( as you do for cleaning a guest room while entering )
  • Empty the ashtrays and damp dust and generally tidy the room. empty the waste paper basket.
  • Turn down the sheets.
  • Fluff up the pillow.
  • Place the breakfast knob card on the pillow and good night wish card with small spring flower and usually a mint will be placed in the bed.
  • Hang any scattered about cloth in the wardrobe.
  • Replace the used glasses and replenish the water bottles.
  • Adjust the air conditioner controls.
  • If the bathrooms are used damp dust the vanity counter and flush the WC wipe the WC seat
  • Replace the soiled linens for the fresh ones.
  • Replenish the bathroom supplies.
  • Mop the floors.
  • Empty the sanibins.
  • Pull the guest room drapes closed.
  • Switch off all the lights except the bedside lamps to create a welcoming glow around the bed.
  • Exit and lock the door if the guest is expected later.

SECOND SERVICE :

Second service is given on the basis of the special request made by the guest after the guestroom is already been serviced earlier in the day.This is a chargeable service given to the guest. The following will be done in the second service......

  • Removing the room service trays, plates, glasses & bottles.
  • Emptying and damp dusting the ashtrays. Emptying the waste paper basket.
  • Damp dusting and mopping the floor.
  • Making the bed if required.
  • Replacing the glasses and replenshing the water bottles.
  • Cleaning the bathroom thoroughly.
  • Replacing the soiled linen with fresh.
  • Spraying the air - freshner if the room has any residual odour of food and cigarette smoke.
  • Close the door and record the service provided appropriately so that it may be added to the guest's bill.

Monday, April 7, 2008

BED MAKING











BED MAKING PROCEDURE
  • Remove all the linens and check for any lost property if anything found inform to the desk.
  • All the soiled linen must be taken out immediately and put in linen chute / soil bag.
  • Take the fresh linen and place near the bed.
  • Straighten the mattress and mattress protector, smooth it out.
  • Unfold a fresh bottom sheet place it on the bed, right side up, with the wider hem at the top. Tuck in at the head board and the foot board.
  • Mitre the four corners.
  • Unfold a fresh top sheet, smooth it out, with the wider hem at level with the top of the bed.
  • Open the blanket, and place it on the bed 4 inches below the top sheet & allowing enough to tuck in firmly at the bottom.
  • Place the crinkle/ 3rd sheet / night spread over the blanket so that its upper hem is in line with that of top sheet.
  • Fold back the top sheet and the crinkle sheet at the head board over the top edge of the blanket and then fold again about 8 inches of the topsheet, crinkle sheet and blanket, to get a folded panel of about 4 inches width.
  • Tuck in the top sheet , blanket, crinkle sheet at the foot of the bed & mitre the two bottom corners & tuck in at the sides.
  • put the pillow in pillowcases & hold the pillow in your hand folded in to two lengthways, and push it to the bottom of the pillowcase.
  • Now loosen the grip and the pillow open pull the case over the top, ensuring that the flap covers the open end.
  • Always ensure that the open end of the pillow should face away from the door or face the wall
  • In double bed the open end face each other at the middle.

































































































































































MECHANICAL CLEANING EQUIPMENTS :

Cleaning equipments which are used for cleaning or making the process of cleaning more easier is done by applying an external force, like power.
There are various cleaning ( mechanical ) equipments are there as follows:
  1. Scrubber polisher.
  2. Cylindrical suction cleaner.
  3. Canister suction cleaner.
  4. Hot water extraction machine.
  5. Scrubber drier.
  6. High pressure washer.
  7. Floor sanding machine.
  8. Spray cleaning machine.
  9. Shampooing machine.

These are the some mechanical equipments.




Sunday, April 6, 2008























  • MANUAL CLEANING EQUPIMENTS : The equipments used to clean or to make the process of cleaning easy, but with out using any power or force
  • Some of the manual cleaning equipments are as follows :
  1. Brushes
  2. Brooms
  3. Box sweepers
  4. Mops like Dry mops,wet mops, Polish applicator mops.
  5. Squeegees
  6. Cloths like Dusters & Mitts, Rag, Swabs, scrim, Dust sheets, Druggets.
  7. Containers like Buckets, Spray bottles, Dust pans, Dust bins, Sanibins, Polish applicator trays.










Friday, April 4, 2008

CLEANING EQUIPMENTS

CLEANING EQUIPMENTS : Cleaning equipments can be defined as the equipments which are used as an aid or to help in the process of cleaning, in simple words makes the work easier. ( i.e.., ) to finish the cleaning in short duration of time, with less labour, much effective.
THERE ARE 2 TYPES OF CLEANING EQUIPMENTS :
  1. MANUAL
  2. MECHANICAL

topics need to be known in the housekeeping.

  • CLEANING EQUIPMENTS
  • CLEANING AGENTS
  • INVENTORY
  • BUDGETING
  • GUEST SUPPLIES, AMENTIES, LOAN ITEMS.
  • DIFFERENT KINDS OF BED.
  • LAUNDRY
  • CLEANING PROCEDURES
  • RECORDS USED IN THE DEPARTMENTS
  • FABRICS
  • INTERIOR DESIGNING
  • FLOWER ARRANGEMENT
  • TYPES OF FLOOR
  • STAIN REMOVAL.
  • PLANNING.
  • PEST CONTROL.

These 16 topics plays a major role in the housekeeping department.

As a housekeeping personel we should first know what is meant by cleaning. Cleaning can be defined as removal of dust, dirt, foreign matter, tarnish, stains from various surfaces with the aid of certain cleaning agents and equipments.

DUST ?

This is composed of loose particles deposited from the air. It may contain both organic and inorganic matter. Although dust is light it is heavier than air thus settles readily on the surface.

DIRT ?

This implies the dust held together firmly by moisture or grease on a rough surface.

TARNISH ?

This is discolouring or a deposition on a metal or a alloy surface caused by chemical reactions with certain substances found in the air, water & food stuffs. Each metals gets different types of tarnish when exposed for too long to these substances. EG.. IRON becomes REDDISH BROWN SILVER - BLACK, COPPER - GREENISH.

WHY DOES THE PROCESS OF CLEANING TAKES PLACE.....???

To get Aesthetic appeal, Hygiene, Maintenance, Safety.

AESTHETIC APPEAL : The environment is made visually attractive & appealing.

HYGIENE : Effective frequent cleaning reduces the growth of pathogenic bacteria & other germs.

MAINTENANCE : Surface & articles however good in quality will have long life only when they are cleaned on a regular basis.

SAFETY : Cleaning is done for safety against health hazards, fire hazards & slip hazards.

PRINCIPLES OF CLEANING :

  1. All soil should be removed.
  2. The soil should be removed with out harming the surface to be cleaned.
  3. The surface should be restored to its orginal state after its cleaning.
  4. The cleaning process should be effecient, using a minimum of equipment & agents, labour & time.
  5. The simplest method shuld be tried first using the mild detergents.
  6. Cleaning should be followed from higher level to lower level
  7. For polishing or for wet cleaning the worker should walk backwards cleaning in front of him.
  8. Suction cleaning should be preferred than sweeping.
  9. The cleaner should take all safety precautions while cleaning which are neccessary for cleaning.
  10. The cleaner should take the furthest end for starting his cleaning & should finish in towards the exit.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

house keeping

housekeeping plays an intergral part in the hotel industry. With out housekeeping a hotel will not be able to run a show, because no one will like to stay in an unhygenic or dirty area which is not suitable for living. there comes the responsbility of housekeeping department, to maintain the standards of the hotel and to make the guest to feel comfortable with is stay in an comfortable environment.
RESPONSBILITIES OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT:
The housekeeping department in coordination with the maintainenance department is incharge for maintaining the full property and the standards followed in 5 star hotels are as new as it bought and the house keeping department determines the profit of a hotel as it prepares the main budget of the hotel. In hotel the main product is considered as rooms so its the duty of the housekeeping to make ready the rooms the hotel generates more revenue in rooms sales. A hotel is rated on the basis of the amount of room sale and again their lies the responsbilities of the house keeping to cope up with the amount of pressure and to maintain the standards set by the organisation.
CAREERS IN HOUSEKEEPING
House keeping gives a wide range and comfortable satisfying jobs and less taxing when compared to other department in the hotel industry and away from the hotel industry you can statr your own laundromats or housekeeping contracts and iam sure that it will be a good idaea in coming years, since the development of or industrilisation.