Whether it be at home or at your hotel, housekeeping plays an important part everywhere. From a simple bed sheet change to a full room sweep in a hotel, housekeeping is everywhere.
In this article, we will be going over some of the most common housekeeping mistakes that housekeepers in hotels and motels make, and how they can be avoided while ensuring the safety of employees.
Improper Linen Checks
This is one of the worst mistakes that are made, and it’s one of the small things that can ruin a guest’s stay at the hotel. As a housekeeper, it is important that when you are changing bedroom linens, plush towels and replacing dirty towels that you take a moment to check them properly.
When it comes to changing bed sheets, take a minute to look it over and check that there aren’t any holes in it, and more importantly, make sure that it is actually clean. Accidentally replacing dirty bedsheets with dirty bedsheets is something that is noticeable by the person staying in the room, so check properly!
Not Using Linen Laundry Services as an Advantage
Housekeepers generally have a lot of rooms to get through and prepare for people to stay in them just a few hours later, so it’s important that to take a little extra stress off of their shoulders, make their job easier, and create a more efficient workflow, that as an employer you take full advantage of a linen laundry service.
Not only will it allow for housekeepers to get through more rooms and at a faster rate, but it ensures that the linen is cleaned properly and with high-quality chemicals.
Take a step in the right direction by contacting a linen laundry service, such as Also, today. Not only will Alsco clean your linen properly, but they will do so in a way that minimizes your carbon footprint, keeping both your conscience and your linen clean.
Lack of Communication
In bigger hotels, there tend to be more housekeepers so that all rooms are taken care of in an appropriate time frame as well as to ensure that housekeepers feel less pressure on their shoulders and can get on with their job easier.
However, having more housekeepers requires more communication than if there were less housekeepers, and this can sometimes be the difference between all rooms being taken care of in time, and a lot of rooms not being ready in time.
When it comes to housekeeping, it’s important that there is some sort of communication system in play at all times. Whether it be simply texting one another to let everyone know which rooms have been taken care of, or a more organised plan of which employees take care of which rooms.
Communication is important, and it should be prioritized as such.
Untrained Employees
The biggest struggle with being a housekeeper is sticking to deadlines and coping with the stress that comes with those deadlines, and while the tasks that come with the job aren’t incredibly difficult, that doesn’t mean there aren’t difficulties for employees.
When a new employee starts as a housekeeper, as an employer it’s your job to make sure that they fully understand what their responsibilities consist of and how to do the different aspects of their job. Taking even a few hours out of the day to train a new staff member will cause for a more efficient workflow in the future.
Forgetting to Restock Toiletries
While this isn’t as important as it is a rather small mistake, it’s definitely something that should be looked upon while housekeeping. Toiletries don’t play a huge role in the quality of a room, but it’s the little things that contribute to guest’s opinion of a hotel, and toiletries are one of these little things.
Making sure that the toilet paper is replaced regularly and that things such as tea and coffee are available to the guests can go a long way and can improve how they see the hotel.
Lack of Planning
Planning is important in general, especially in housekeeping. When a housekeeper first steps into a messy room, if they are experienced they will know where to start and will have adapted to the job so that they know their habits and know the fastest way to get the room done.
However, a lot of housekeepers still have to adapt to the job, and don’t know how they can get stuff done in the most efficient way possible. Planning how the room can be dealt with before jumping right in is important.
For example, if the room was to be vacuumed before the bed sheets are changed, you may find that the bed is messier than it appeared and was in fact covered in crumbs. This adds an additional 5 onto cleaning the room as vacuuming has appeared back on the list. This is a prime example of where planning would prove to be effective.
Not Knowing When to Throw Out Old Linen
There comes a point where linen has run its course and clearly must be replaced, but it isn’t always easy to tell when that time is. If you are changing bed sheets and notice that there is some “wearing and tearing”, this is the best tell-tale sign on knowing that bed sheets need to be replaced.
Not Taking Care of Carpets and Mats
While this isn’t a huge thing, it’s definitely worth doing to keep up both the level of cleanliness and quality within the hotel. Having all of the carpets within a hotel deep cleaned once every few months is definitely something that is worth doing.
However, the only downside to doing so is that deep cleaning carpets and welcome mats is a big task to take on and can often take a full day to do so.
Do you Make These Housekeeping Mistakes?
Housekeeping isn’t as simple a job as it may seem from the outside, and it can be incredibly stressful from an employee’s point of view, especially when they have numerous amount of rooms to get through. By taking all of these things into account at the beginning of each day, the general workflow of the hotel will improve dramatically as well improve the work moral among the employees.
Now that you know these housekeeping mistakes that you might have overlooked in your hospitality business, it is the best time to act on it. Improve your housekeeping services to impress your guests. Let Alsco take care of your linen needs. Alsco provides fresh and clean accommodation linen conveniently and inexpensively, every day.
Send us an enquiry now! Our friendly and well-informed staff are waiting to help.
Image Courtesy: Flickr Image by Les Roches