Enter Guest Rooms Appropriately
Identifying the rooms to be serviced
Which rooms are cleaned first?
You need to check with your employer for their preferences in this regard but the general rule is that the departing rooms are cleaned before the stay rooms.
This is to allow the check-out rooms to be placed back on the board by Reception for sale to guests and to enable guests with bookings to be shown directly to their rooms rather than have them wait while the room is readied, or be re-roomed.
You can be contacted during your shift and asked to clean a specific room immediately as the guest is waiting at Reception for their room.
You can be contacted during your shift and asked to attend a certain room and perform supplementary cleaning duties. These may be required because the initial room preparation was not up to standard or because there has been an accident or spillage in the room that requires immediate attention.
You must always respect „Do Not Disturb‟ (DND) signs. Where a „Do Not Disturb‟ sign has been displayed on a room throughout your entire shift you must notify the Head Housekeeper of this so they can take the appropriate action.
There may not be a problem, but a check may be made to ensure that the guest is not ill.
„Please Make Up My Room‟ signs can provide some guidance as to what rooms can be cleaned. It is standard procedure to clean these stay rooms before trying to clean stay rooms that do not display this sign.
You should monitor use of rooms that are shown on your list as ‟Vacant‟. If you see guests using these rooms then the relevant internal procedures must be followed.
These may include notifying the Floor Housekeeper or head Housekeeper, notifying Reception or notifying Security.
It is not your job to challenge guests who are using these rooms. Not only is this rude as the person could be a legitimate walk-in guest who has just been checked in and roomed, but it may jeopardize your personal safety.
You may be required to check guest numbers in occupied rooms – for example, you may be required to advise Reception or Housekeeping if a room designated as „S‟‟ (single appears to be occupied by two or more people).
Access and enter guest room appropriately
All guest rooms must only be accessed after following the house procedures that apply.
These procedures relate to service delivery and security.
They also function to help avoid embarrassment to both guests and staff.
Keys and cards
Keys or cards (using magnetic-strip or RFID technology) are commonly used to access guest rooms. RFID means Radio Frequency Identification Device. It is used to identify information on a hotel room key card. The RFID device (in the door) serves the same purpose as a bar code or a magnetic strip on the back of a credit card or ATM card. It provides a unique code for that object. And, just as a bar code or magnetic strip must be scanned to get the information, the RFID device must be scanned to retrieve the identifying information.
Keys or cards can be produced to open one or more doors. For the purpose of this manual the term „key‟ will refer to either a key or card.
Commonly the following are produced:
Guest key– provides access to guest‟s rooms and some restricted public areas
Floor master key– opens every door on a particular floor or in a particular corridor
Department-specific master – opens every door in the housekeeping area
Venue master – opens every door in the property.
Room attendants usually receive a Floor master key. Where cards are used they may be issued with a wristband instead of a card.
Security
After the room attendant has signed for their keys, they are responsible for their security until returned to the housekeeping department, and signed back in. The room attendant should never let the key out of their sight.
The key must never be lent to another room attendant, employee or guest without the correct official authorization.
Keys should never leave the premises.
Keys must never be used to let a guest into their room. This is one of the oldest tricks used by thieves! “Oh dear, I‟ve forgotten my key. Would you please let me in to my room?”
Accessing rooms
Every establishment will have its own standard procedures for accessing and entering a guest room. Even if these are not provided in writing, they will nonetheless exist in practice. You must find out what applies where you work and adhere to their protocols.
The process for entering a room listed on your work sheet as a Vacant room or a Departed room should be the same as for entering a Stay room. Just in case someone is in the room: we don‟t want to disturb or embarrass anyone in any room just be entering without notice or entering with almost no notice.
Standard procedure to access rooms
The following describes the procedures for entering a guest room:
Knock on door (quite loudly) – use knuckles not keys or any other item as it could mark the door and call out, “Housekeeping!”
Count to five
If no answer, knock again, and then use your key to enter
Take one step into the room and announce out “Good morning/afternoon, Housekeeping to service your room.”
If the guest is still in bed, undressed or distressed, quickly and quietly leave the room
If the guest is awake and up, say “Housekeeping, would you like your room serviced?”
Comply with their request – you may be invited to service the room, just do a quick tidy, replace the towels, soap and leave, or asked to come back at a later time
Once you have gained access to the room, the door should be left wide open – to provide notice to a returning guest that someone is in their room
The trolley should be parked across the entrance, or near the entrance to the room (according to house policy). This allows the Floor Housekeeper or other management staff to identify where room attendants are and makes it easier to obtain items from the trolley
It is standard procedure in the majority of establishments for trolleys to be left outside the room being cleaned, and never to be taken inside a guest room
Where the trolley is allowed to be taken into the room, a large sign should be placed outside the door, reading „Cleaning in Progress‟. This prevents the guest from returning to their room and being startled to find an employee in there and again to enable easy location of staff by management.