UNIT 01 - The Role of Housekeeping in Hospitality Operation

1st Semester Accommodation Operations – UNIT 1 [BHM1114]
The Role of Housekeeping in Hospitality

Operation
The Housekeeping department takes pride in keeping the hotel clean
and comfortable, so as to create a ‘Home away from home’. The aim
of all accommodation establishment is to provide their customers
with a clean, attractive, comfortable and welcoming surrounding that
offer value for money. Nothing sends a stronger message than
cleanliness in a hospitality operation. No level of service, friendliness
or glamour can equal the sensation a guest has upon entering a
spotless, tidy and conveniently arranged room. Both management
and guest consider the keeping of the place clean and in a good order
a necessity for a hotel to command a fair price and get repeat
business.
Housekeeping may be defined as the provision of a clean,
comfortable and safe environment, it’s is not confined to the
housekeeping department as every member of staff in the
establishment should be concerned with the provision of these
facilities in their own department, eg., the chef ‘housekeepers’ in the
kitchen, the restaurant manager or head waiter ‘housekeepers’ in the
restaurant, and the general manager has overall responsibility.
In any establishment there are three departments particularly
concerned with accommodation:
1. The reception department, whose staff sell and allocate the rooms.
2. The housekeeping department, whose staff plan, provide and
service the rooms.
3. The maintenance department, whose staff provide adequate hot
and cold water, sanitation, heating, lighting, and ventilation as well as
maintaining and repairing individual articles and area within the
operation of the room.
IHM Notes Site

IMPORTANCE OF HOUSEKEEPING
Housekeeping is an operational department in a hotel, which is

responsible for cleanliness, maintenance, aesthetic upkeep of rooms,
public area, back area, and surroundings. A hotel survives on the sale
of room, food, beverages and other minor services such as the
laundry, health club spa and so on. The sale of rooms constituter a
minimum of 50 percent of these sales. Thus, the major part of the
hotel’s margin of profit comes from the room sales, because a room
once made can be sold over and over again. The effort that a
housekeeping department makes in giving a guest a desirable room
has a direct bearing on the guest’s experience in a hotel. Guestrooms
are the heart of the hotel. The housekeeping department not only
prepares clean guestroom on a timely basis for arriving a guest but
also cleans and maintains everything in the hotel so that the property
is as fresh and attractive as the day it opened for business.
Housekeeping, thus, is an ancillary department that contributes in a
big way towards the overall reputation of a property.
It is rightly said that housekeeping is a 24 x 7 x 365 operation. Imagine
the stacks of linen needed to make up all the beds in a hotel, the
miles if carpeting, floor, walls and ceiling to be cleaned and
maintained, and cleaning compounds along with special tools and
equipment needed in order to clean.
Other than hotels, professional housekeeping services are very much
in demand in hospitals, on cruise liners, at offices and more. Since
most such organizations prefer to outsource these functions, contract
housekeeping is becoming popular in these days.
IHM Notes Site

ROLE OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

Housekeeping plays a very important role in the hospitality industry
such as:
• To achieve the maximum possible efficiency in ensuring the care
and comfort of guests and in the smooth running of the
department.
• To establish a welcoming atmosphere and ensure courteous,
reliable service from all staff of the department.
• To ensure high standards of cleanliness and general upkeep in
all areas for which the department is responsible.
• To provide linen in rooms, restaurants, banquet hall, conference
venues, health clubs, and so on, as well as maintain an inventory
for the same.
• To provide uniforms for all the staff and maintain adequate
inventories for the same.
• To cater to the laundering requirements of the hotel linen, staff
uniforms, and guest clothing.
• To Provide and maintain the floral decorations and maintain the
landscaped areas of the hotel.
• To coordinate renovation and refurnishing of the property as
and when in consultation with the management and with
interior designers.
• To deal with lost and found articles.
• To ensure training, control, and supervision of all staff attached
to the department.
• To establish a good working relationship with other
departments.
• To ensure that safety and security regulations are made known
to all staff of the department.
IHM Notes Site

UNIT 01 - The Role of Housekeeping in Hospitality Operation

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1st Semester Accommodation Operations – UNIT 1 [BHM1114]

The Role of Housekeeping in Hospitality

IHM Notes Site

Housekeeping is an operational department in a hotel, which is

IHM Notes Site

ROLE OF HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

IHM Notes Site

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