Housekeeping Control Desk in Hotel

The Housekeeping Control Desk used in hotel is the central hub of the housekeeping
department. This is the area in the department where all information is received and from
where messages are conveyed to housekeeping and other staff present in various parts of the
hotel.
Thus, the control desk may be considered the nerve centre for to – and – fro communication in
the housekeeping department. one of the main functions of the control desk is ensuring
smooth coordination between housekeeping and other departments such as maintenance,
front office, food and beverages, security, sales and marketing and so on.
The location of control desk is normally adjacent to the Executive Housekeeper’s office. This
desk is manned 24- hours otherwise the lifeline of housekeeping communication would stop.

Role of housekeeping control desk:

1. The role of the housekeeping control desk is to facilitate communication to various parts
of hotel. this role can be exercised in many forms which are as follows;
2. The control desks receive messages from in house guests over the telephone apart from
maintaining the intra and inter –departmental channels of communication. Hotel room
directories provide the control desk extension number to the guests which they can use
if they require housekeeping services.
3. The control desk attendant receives all the message of the guests such as a request for
extra blankets, baby-sitter services, which she transmit to the concerned floor
supervisor for further action.
4. Front office also alerts the desk attendant about the expected and existing crews in the
house. So that the rooms can be make ready for the new arriving crew after the
departure of existing crew in a very short period of time.
5. In most of the hotels, this is the area where housekeeping employees; report for work;
collect keys and signing for them; pursue the log book get their briefing and at the end
of their shift, report back to.
6. It is the control room attendants who receives departure room numbers from the front
office and transmits them to the appropriate floor supervisor.
7. The floor supervisor informs the desk attendant once rooms are cleaned and ready for
sale and this is updated in the computer so that front office can easily obtain the
information o f the status of room.
8. The main physical feature visible in most control desk is the key cabinet. On the wall,
where all floor masters keys and store keys are kept under lock and key themselves.
9. Another common feature here is a large notice board displaying notices like
 Room numbers of the groups in the house
 Room numbers of crews in the house
 Night cleaning schedule
 VIPs in the house
 Weekly cleaning schedules
  Daily roster of supervisors and staff
 Any other significant information relating to in-house guest or the hotel
staff.

10. One of the most important roles of the control desk is maintaining various important
records, registers, forms and formats so that they are available and easily accessible for
reference to managers and supervisors.

Relationship with Front Desk:

The control desk acts as the nerve centre for coordination with the other departments in the
hotel. the control desk attendants receives the night report, the arrivals and departures list, VIP
list , and the list of crews and groups in the house from the front office. Based on these
documents, the housekeeping department schedules the workers for cleaning, maintenance
and servicing of guestrooms and related areas.

1. To ensure efficient rooming of guests, both housekeeping and front office must inform
each other of changes in a room’s status. Knowing whether a room is occupied, vacant, on
change, out of order (OOO), under repair, or similar for proper room management
2. There should be coordination to clean front office public areas
3. There must be coordination between housekeeping and front office department to
share information on occupancy levels which helps to forecast occupancy for the year and
makes it easier to draw up a budget, establish par stock levels and estimate required staff
strength.
4. There should be coordination know about the daily room report and housekeeping
discrepancy report.
5. It also helps to gear renovations and spring cleaning to low occupancy periods there by
preventing loss of revenue.
6. The housekeeping and front office department also coordinate with each other for
other important information which require special attention like
Night report:
This report, prepared each night by front desk attendant, indicates the rooms occupied that
night and ones that are to become check-outs the following day. Based on this report, the
executive or assistant housekeeper schedules employees for servicing these rooms. Once the
rooms have been cleaned and made ready, the floor supervisor calls the control desk or the
front desk directly, releasing the room for sale.

VIPs in house:
This information is essential so that the staff can take a little extra care and keener precautions
in cleaning and supervising VIP rooms. Housekeeping can take extra care in cleaning the VIP
rooms by equipping the rooms with additional amenities as per the policy of the management.
These amenities can be; bathrobe; bath slippers; extra soaps; hangers; and glass tumblers.
Groups in the house
The group rooming list must be provided before the group’s arrival to the housekeeping as
groups tends to move together in terms of arrival, departure, sightseeing tours and meals. Their
rooms need to be readied together in view of strict time parameters. Group rooming lists
enable the housekeeping department to organize their work and have the group’s room ready
on time.
Crews in the house: Sometimes the arrival of a crew and the departure of another crew from
the same airline may overlap. In such circumstances, it is important for the allotted rooms to be
cleaned within a short period of time. Thus for this there should be a effective coordination
between front office and housekeeping.
Flowers: sometimes the management extends its compliments to a guest with a special gesture
of a flower arrangement in the room as recognition of the importance of a person. This
requirement of flower arrangements for certain guests is conveyed to housekeeping by the
front office on a daily basis.

 Apart from the above communications the front office needs to depend on
housekeeping for the provision of clean uniforms to its staff.

Relationship with Engineering Department:

The housekeeping control desk has to coordinate with the engineering department for
maintenance request that the room attendants registers while servicing the guest room or in
the floor.

1. The housekeeping department depends on maintenance to keep things in order.

2. While carrying out their scheduled work, housekeeping employees may find some
deficiencies in the hotel facilities, such as faulty electrical plugs, dripping faucets, leaking pipes
or malfunctioning air-conditioning units etc.
3. A need for urgent repairs is reported to maintenance over telephone and these requests
are usually taken into action immediately.
4. There are various heads under which maintenance work is done they are:
5. Electrical work: air conditioning and heating; fused bulbs , lights and lamps that are not
functioning ; defective plugs and plug points ; short circuits; and faulty geysers , refrigerators ,
and minibar fall under this category.
6. Boiler work: this is necessary to maintain a supply of hot water to guestroom.
7. Mechanical work: this entails repair or replacement of any faulty equipment, such as
vacuum cleaners, ice-cube machines, and so on.
8. Plumbing work: this deals with faulty faucets (taps), showers, drainage systems, water
closets, and so on.
 Key and Key Control:

Individual heads of departments are responsible for all the keys in their areas. The housekeeper
is usually responsible for more keys than any other departmental head.

TYPES OF KEYS:

1. Emergency Key

2. Master Key
 Grandmaster Key
 Pass key/ master key
 Sub-master key/ section key
 Floor master key

3. Guest Key
4. Supply Key
5. Card keys

1. Emergency Key:

 The emergency key opens all guestroom doors, even when they are double locked.
 It can be used, for example, to enter a room when the guest needs help and is unable to
reach or open the door.
 The emergency key should be highly protected. It should never leave the property.
 One procedure for emergency keys is to have them locked in hotel safe, a safe deposit
box or a metal cabinet and that only the general manager or the security officer can
access.
 Its use should occur only in emergency situations such as fire or when a guest or a
employee is locked in a room and needs immediate assistance
 The log should be dated and signed by the individual taking the key.
 The keys should not be used on day-to-day basis.

2. Master Key:

A master key is designed to open a set of several locks. These keys open all guestroom that are
not double-locked. They are separated in to four levels of access:

Grandmaster key: It opens all the guest rooms in the hotel even if they are double locked. One
set is kept with the duty manager, the second set is with the executive housekeeper and third
set could be with the security. It is used in the following circumstances:
1. In the case of a fire for the purpose of guest evacuation
2. To open double lock rooms if there is no response from the guest for entire day.
3. To prevent entry into the room in case of unusual incidents like thefts, deaths or murders.

Pass key / master key: This key is kept by the deputy or assistant housekeeper and will open
any internal door that has not been double-locked.

Sub-master Key or section master key: These keys open all rooms in one work section of a
hotel. A supervisor may be issued more than one key of this type a he or she may be required
to inspect the work of more than one GRA.

Floor master key: A GRA is given this key to open the rooms he or she is assigned to clean on a
floor. The floor key opens all rooms on a particular floor that are not double locked. If the
employee has rooms to clean on more than one floor or area, he or she may need more than
one floor key.

3. Guestroom keys:

These are keys issued to guests upon their registration. The guestroom keys opens a single
guestroom so as long as it is not double-locked.

Many properties do not list the hotel’s name, address, or the room number on guestroom keys.
That way if the guest room key is lost or misplaced, it cannot be tracked back easily o the
property for criminal use.

A code number representing the room number is typically stamped on the key instead. A
master code list is maintained at the front desk and is used to recycle keys are then put on a
key.

The guest are asked to hand in their keys when they go out and the keys are then put on a key
board, which should be kept out of view of passers-by as a security precaution.

A guestroom key not hanging on the key board should indicate that the guest is in the hotel.

4. Supply keys:

These keys are used within the servicing sector of the hotel by the supervisory level staff to
ensure that stocks and equipments are safely stored away when not in use.

Tore keys, office keys, and linen room keys are examples of such keys.
5. Card keys or Electronic key card:

Instead of the old keys (keys with a heavy tag) computerized encoded plastic keys are being
increasingly introduced to increase more security. When the guest checks in the receptionist
prints out plastic key card at the computer console so that all those using the room will have
their own card.

The computer is programmed to print out different number each time the number is selected.

The new key card cancels all the previous information in the card. No one can operate the
console without the authorized code (receptionist has the required password to operate the
machine).

This is done as an additional precaution. The console has a security printer which prints out the
security code the room number on the keys issued so that a record is kept of all the
transactions. Room attendants and housekeeping staff are issued with sub master key, section
key, floor master key, master key which are programmed for the number of rooms in each
section (works the same way as the guest key card).

ADVANTAGES:
1. It ensures complete security as no room number is printed on card
2. At the time of issue more than one keycard can be given to the guest if there is a double
occupancy in the room
3. It is possible to trace the receptionist who issues the keys from the print out at the end of the
day (to avoid unnecessary or extra duplication which may call for security problems)
4. An alarm is set on when a wrong key card is used thereby alerting security.
5. It helps the guest to avail other credit facilities form the various outlets of the hotel. It also
helps in conserving electricity in the guest room

Key Control:

The control of guest room keys is one of the cornerstones of the hotel security that guests have
a right to expect under common law.

Key control is the process of reducing guest property theft and other security-related incidents
by carefully monitoring and tracking the use of keys in the hospitality operation.

If there is no key-card lock system, the following policies should be considered for key control:

1. Coding:
A few precautions to take while coding are as follows
 Room key must not have any form of tag that identifies the hotel.
  Keys must not have the room number on them. Keys must be identified by a
numeric or alphanumeric code. The code should not, in any way, directly
correspond to the building or room numbers.
2. Issuing keys:
A part from the basic precautions for all keys, there is more stringent security for keys
with higher access.
 Issuing of Guestroom keys: These are the keys with minimum access, unlocking
just the one room. When keys are given to guests upon registration, the guest’s
room number must not be spoken aloud if there are others within hearing range.
Explain to the guest that the coding system is for their protection. Guest should
be asked by the guest service agent for their room upon checkout.
GRAs and others who find keys in unoccupied guestrooms or elsewhere should
place them in their pockets or in the locked key boxes provided, not on their
carts.
 Issuing of Master and sub-master keys: All section master keys, room master
keys, grand master keys, and emergency master keys (normally kept in a safety
box) should be signed out each time they are taken and their return noted in a
key control sheet.
3. Custody of keys:
These are the precautions to be taken while the key is with a guest or employee after
being issued as per the correct procedure.

 Employees should not be allowed to loan the keys assigned to them to one
another
 Employees should hand over keys whenever they leave the property, even
for meal breaks.
 Individuals who have been issued master or sub-master keys should be spot-
checked from time to ensure that they have them on their person.

4. Changing locks and keys:

Whenever a new key is made or a new lock is fitted, certain precautions are necessary.

 A record must be kept of how many keys are made for each room and
when they are made.
 If a new room codes are to be used or locks are being switched, the code
on the keys must be adjusted accordingly and over stamped until the old
code is illegible.
  As a standard practice, it is recommended that some locks in a section be
moved quarterly.
 A log must be kept of all lock swaps and re-keying.
6. Loss of keys:
This is a time when particular vigilance must be exercised.
 If a section master key is lost under circumstances that may result in a
guest being at risk, the entire section should be re-keyed.
 If a section is being re-keyed, also consider re-keying a new grand master
and emergency key.
 If a master key or emergency is lost under any circumstances, it must be
reported to the owner or the general manager. After the circumstances
are discussed, they can decide whether the entire hotel should be re-
keyed.

Electronic locks:

These are precaution in themselves. Since the introduction of the recordable electronic
door lock in the late 1970s, hotel security has been virtually transformed.

 The focus at the time of its invention was increased guest security.
 Even the simplest of key-card locks have been found to reduce break-ins by upon
80%.
 Employee key-cards can even be coded to allow access only to their assigned
units of responsibility and only during the hours of their shift.

Smart Cards:

 The future of security, however, lies in smart cards. ‘Smart card’ is a generic term
for card the size and thickness of a credit or debit card that is embedded with a
microprocessor chip.
 The chip itself has ‘intelligence’ by way of computational power similar to that of
early personal computers.
 These powerful computing capabilities make smart cards much more secure than
the other types of cards presently in use.
 They can handle encryption techniques that protect the information stored in
the cards.
 Registers / reports maintained in Housekeeping control desk:
Many important forms, formats, records and registers maintained at control desk. Some of the
common ones are discussed below.

Key Control Register:

 This is one of the most important register maintained at the control desk. It is a part of
the key security system followed by the housekeeping department.
 Each employee who is handed over a key , any key from the key cabinet is supposed to
sign for it in a key control register.

Log Book:

 It is used to record all messages that staff from earlier shift want to convey to
employees on next shift. All supervisors reporting work should peruse the log book for
any important message left for them by the shift of the previous shift staff.

Key History Register:

 This carries the record of all keys lost in the house keeping department and those for
which new keys or duplicates are being used.
 Ideally, for any key lost, a new lock-and-key unit should be installed rather than using a
duplicate.

Maintenance Register:

 This is used for recording all the maintenance work required in rooms. Based on the
information contained in the register, the control desk attendant fills the work order
form to be sent to the maintenance department.

Memo Book:

 This contains records of all the pending maintenance work for which the housekeeping
department initiated work orders.

Departure registers:

To keep track of change of status of guest rooms from Dirty to Clean for re-selling.  It also acts
as a control book for Mini bar consumption checking in check out rooms.
Guest message Register:

 Control desk acts as a one point contact for in-house guests who require any
housekeeping-related service.

 Control desk is responsible for taking these guest messages and passing them on to the
concerned staff.

 It can be about guest loan items, request for second service etc.

Carpet Shampooing register:

 This records the carpet-cleaning schedule that has been followed, recording each such
project as it is completed.

Babysitting Register:

 This service is provided by housekeeping department by most of the hotels for guests
who have small children. The desk attendant enters the request in the register

Lost and Found Register:

 Any personal item/article of guest found anywhere in the Hotel premises is recorded in
this Register with the relevant details.

Room Status Report:

 Shows the list of all room in the hotel with their current room status.
 E.g.: Dirt Vacant, Vacant Clean, Dirty Clean, OOO – Out of order, OOS – Out of service
etc.

Expected Arrival Register: 

Keep track of arrival of pre-registered guests as regards profile/VIP status, timing, pax, any
special request.

SOPs Book:
  It contains all the standard operating procedures to be followed in the housekeeping
department is usually available for reference

Store Indent book:

 It is a book kept at the control desk so that the supervisors may indent for housekeeping
supplies that are required by GRAs.

Accident Book:

 It records all the accidents of any sort that employees or guest met with at hotel.

Accident Report Form:

 It is filled up when any employee or guest meets with an accident on the hotel premises.

 The information from these is then entered in the accident book.

Room inspection checklist file:

 All the Room inspection checklist are filled in the room . These reports may be referred
to in case there are guest complaints on cleaning.

 The executive housekeeper will be able to find the supervisor incharge of inspecting the
particular guestroom.

Room inspection checklist file:

 All the Room inspection checklist are filled in the room . These reports may be referred
to in case there are guest complaints on cleaning.

Maintenance report file:

 It contains the previous work order forms for later references.

Work order forms:

 These are used by control desk to initiate scheduled maintenance in guestrooms and
public areas.

Leave application form:

 These forms are stocked at the control desk so that they are easily accessible to
employees who wish to take leave.

Records of room transfers:

  The control desk should keep a record of all room transfers, as this information may be
required at later stage.

 For instance, any small article left behind in an earlier room can be easily delivered to
the appropriate room by referring these records.

Records of articles moved from or to rooms:

 Any furniture , accessory, or article from one guestroom to another or from one location
to another in the hotel needs to be recorded.

Records of personal tastes of VIPs and regular guests:

 This is very helpful set of records, which should be maintained at control desk of all
housekeeping departments.

 Once the control desk gets a list of VIPs or regular guests who are expected to stay in
the hotel, the housekeeping will refer to this records and offer proactive guest service.

Handling Difficult Situations:

Aside from these routine tasks, there may be some unexpected difficulties that the
housekeeping department may have to deal with.The control desk plays a major roll in handling
such situations.The situation may be emergency such as a fire, a worker or a guest meeting an
accident, the guest complaint, or a security problem. Alterness and presence of mind are
helpful traits in dealing with difficult situations, and should be cultivated in individual
employees.

In a hotel, ideally all kinds of difficult situations should be catalogued and policies should be set
forth for dealing with such situations.Moreover, employees should be trained in handling
difficult situations through role-play, demonstrations, and drills.

Below are the few difficult situations and possible ways to handle them have been discussed.

SITUATION:1:- A guest calls the houseekeeping control desk and says he is attempting suicide.
Dealing with the situation:

 These situations implies that the guest is in a state of mental depression and needs
counseling.
 The desk attendant should not panic: he/she must display presence of mind by, ideally,
keeping the guest engaged on the phone by constantly talking and making him/her talk
back.
 In the mean while, the desk attendant should get another member of staff to alert the
security department so that they can access the room and take custody of the guest.

SITUATION:2:- A Guest calls up the control desk to say that she had given a shawl for dry-
cleaning, mentioning the same on the laundry list. The shawl has been returned to her
considerably shrunk.

Dealing with the situation:

 The desk attendant should apologize to try to pacify the irate guest.
 Then the desk attendant should inform the laundry supervisor about the same, so that
he/she can in turn apologize in person to the guest.
 The hotel replace the shawl with a new one.

In this case, the problem probably arose because the laundry attendant did not pay attention to
the ‘special instructions’ column in the laundry form, in which the guest stated that the shawl
needed only dry-cleaning.

The laundry staff must have given the shawl a normal wash. The laundry supervisor should thus
ensure that the staff pay attention to ‘special instructions’ column in the laundry form in future.

SITUATION:3:- Handling a Drunken Guest in public area.

Handling a drunken guest in the hotel seems to be a very easy task in listening but in itself is a
very difficult task and handling a guest who is drunk and completely out of his senses is next to
impossible.

Certain attributes you have to possess:

•Act politely.

•Never argue.
•Stay calm.

•Talk softly and lead him away from the public area.

•If the drunk guest is behaving rudely then the last option should be to call the security officer
but try and handle the situation very calmly.

NOTE:

The duty manager or the immediate supervisor should take the drunken guest away from the
guest area and then act very calmly and talk very politely with him. The supervisor can escort
him to his room or he can indulge the guest in some other thoughts and just keep the guest
calm and as soon as possible send him back to his room.

Handling complaints:

 Do not argue with the guest.

 The guest is always right.
 Listen attentively to the guest and understand what is exactly wrong.
 Write pertinent details down on the guest request tracking sheet.
 Apologize for the inconvenience caused.
 Rectify the situation if you can.  

These are some instances where common sense will prevail and so as long as you are
aware of the standard procedure of rectifying complaints.

 Inform the Manager of all complaints immediately, even if you have successfully
resolved the situation.

 Note down the incidence on the log book and give handover to the next shift the issue is
still not resolved.
 Complaint has to be handled positively and with empathy for the guest, aspiring for
100% guest satisfaction as the outcome.
 If the problem is out of your authority, inform the Executive housekeeper.
 Guest should be kept informed of the developments.

Scanty Baggage Procedure:

The term Scanty Baggage refers to a guest with hand baggage. Such guests are a threat as they
may check-out of the hotel without paying their bill.
Most hotels have a policy of taking an advance as a safeguard against skipping out of the hotel..

The scanty baggage guests also normally go out with their light baggage and hotel never knows
that if this guest is going out with an intention to come back or not.

To save guard the hotels interest, normally guest with scanty baggage are requested to pay in

advance.There is a set procedure adopted by hotels to keep a control on guests, with scanty
baggage.

 Lobby manager and the reception are notified immediately on guest’s arrival about the
scanty baggage.
 Arrival errand card is stamped with scanty baggage.
 Guest registration card’s all copies are stamped with ‘scanty baggage’.
 The scanty baggage register is filled up by the bell desk.
 Get the guest registration cards and the scanty baggage register signed by the lobby
manager.

The front desk agent informs the lobby manager who has the following options for the guest:

 To ask for the entire room charges in advance

 To ask for a deposit that covers at least one night charge
 To lower the house credit limit for bills in which the guest has to clear the bills
periodically as he touches the limit.

Guest And Employee Thefts:

All hotels face the problem of employee and guest thefts at some time or the other. The
management can reduce the volume of soft goods, fixtures, and equipment stolen from the
property by reducing the oppurtinity to steal.

Guest Thefts:

There are incidents where guest take away items that are not meant to be taken away by them.
These items may be picture frames, bathroabs, towels, and so on. However, some articles are
meant to be takeaways. These are small items that prominently display the hotel’s monogram.
To minimize losses through guest theft, a count of the number of amenities placed in the
guestroom if always kept and if the guest asks for extra numbers, then this has to be entered in
a log book. The room attendant can check the numbers while cleaning the next day.
Luxury hotels charge a high enough rate too compensate for stolen items. However these are
some measures that may discourage guest thefts.
  Items such as monogrammed towels, bathroabs, etc. may be placed on sale in hotel gift-
shops. This may reduce the likehood of theft since guest have the option of purchasing
these items. Having these items on sale also helps set a standard price that can be levied
against for a missing item.
 Use as few monogrammed items as possible. Most guests take away items as souvenirs
and not with the intention of stealing. The use of fewer items with logos reduces the
temptation.
 Always keep the storage rooms closed and locked so that guests do not get a chance to
take away items from there. Amenities stored on carts should be stocked in a secure
place or in a locked compartment. Guests walking down the hallway or corridor may
easily take home a year’s supply of shampoo, soap, and so on in a matter of minutes if
these are left unattended in the corridor.
 Affix or nail down guestroom items and fixtures to appropriate surfaces. If decorations
are not nailed, glued, bolted, or otherwise anchored to the wall and are small enough to
fit in a suitcase, they are primary targets for guest theft. The easier an item is to remove,
the more likely it is that it will be removed.
 All pictures, mirrors, and wall decorations should be discreetly affixed to the wall. Lamps
should be large to fit easily into a suitcase or bag.
 Expensive items such as television should be bolted and equipped with an alarm that
alerts the front desk or security if an attempt is made to remove the item.
 The closer the rrom is to the parking area, the easier it is to remove an item from a
room. Secure all windows and sliding glass doors so that they cannot be opened all the
way.
 Limit the number of entrances and exits guest may use to get their room.

Employee Theft:

The management should details explicit regulations concerning employee theft. The employee
handbook should spell out the cosequences of stealing hotel property. It is important that the
management not discriminate against any employee when enforcing these rules:
 While screening applicants for job, a through check of the background including a check
for any criminal convictions, should be carried out. Gaps in the employment history on
applications may hide significant information.
 Colour-coded uniforms and identification badges with the employees photographs and
signatures discourage people bent on thievery from trying to pass themselves off as
employees.
 Orientation and training programmes should emphasize the value of honesty.
 Supervisors should closely monitor behaviour and adherence to company policies and
procedures during the employee training and probationary period.
 Good inventory control procedures should be followed. Conduct a monthly inventory af
all housekeeping supplies, such as toilet paper, amenitie, and linen. If the items in the
 storage do not match the usage rate or if too little stock is on the shelves, it may be an
indication of the employee theft.
 All storeroom doors should be kept locked and these locks should be changed
periodically to reduce the opportunity for theft.
 An effective key-control programme, lost-and-found procedure, and gate-pass system
should be in place and enforced at all times.
 Regular locker inspections also discourage employees from stealing for lack of a hiding
place for articles.
 Employee entrances should have a security staff office that monitors arriving and
departing employees.
 Employee parking should be well-lit and sufficiently far from the hotel building.

Handling Room Transfers

Many a time, the control desk has to coordinate a ‘room transfer’ for guest who may wish to be
transferred to a room oher than the one he/she has been registered in.

The guest may request this change due to many reasons-

 The small size room currently allocated,

 A/C not working.

 Room Type allocated was not as per the room confirmed.
 Acoustic reasons ( for instance, the room being next to the elevator)

 Water leakage in bathroom.

 Noisy floor / Noise from adjacent room.
 The view from the room not being scenic
 The room costing more than the guest’s budget

 Guest wanted to stay on a higher category room ( Upsell )

 If no room of similar type is available, the Front Desk Supervisor may be authorized to
offer upgraded accommodations at no additional cost to the guest.
  After the room change has been completed, Housekeeping must be notified so the room
may be cleaned or "tidied" as necessary. This may be communicated through PMS by
entering the room move.
Once the front desk gives the clearance for the room transfer and provides an alternative room
number to the housekeeping control desk, a supervisor and the attendant ae assigned to help
the guest with the transfers.

All the housekeeping employees concerned need to know these policies. The GRA may be
required to pack the guest belongings, though this is very rare.The supervisor should personally
supervise the attendant at all times.

The GRA may, in case of light luggage, be required to carry the guest’s belongings safely to the
newly assigned room.In most hotels, the supervisor may call on the bell desk staff to aid in
transferring heavy guest luggage.

The GRA then places the guest items in the room as appropriate, making sure that the guest
cloths are not creased in the process.

The vacant room should be rechecked to ensure that no guest articles are left behind. The guest
transfer should be recorded at the housekeeping control desk.

The room change information should also be recorded on a five part ‘Room Change Form’ and
distributed as follows:

1. First copy – Front desk room move file.        

2. Second copy – Room service department.
3. Third copy -Cashier. The cashier is responsible for recording the new information on the
guest folio, stapling the NCR slip to the registration card, and placing supporting guest
bills from the old room rack to the new room rack.
4. Fourth copy -Bellman. The Bellman is to make the room change, and the same is filed on
the room move folder.
5. Fifth Copy – Housekeeping, All room changes must be reported to Housekeeping so the
first room can be tidied up and kept ready for other guest.
 Housekeeping Maid’s Cart 

It is a trolley (also referred as a housekeeper’s trolley or room attendant’s trolley or chamber

maid’s trolley) which is used to stock all necessary guest supplies in accordance with the
allocated numbers of rooms that are required by housekeeping department in effectively
performing hotel operations.

Maid cart is a very effective housekeeping tool as it is capable of carrying large amount of
supplies and equipment. Even a room attendant cart or a chamber cart is also can perform as a
cleaning equipment by removing and carrying of cleaning materials, soiled linen and garbage.
Use of maid cart can reduce the valuable time of a housekeeper as it provides an assurance
regarding availability of all guest supplies together. The maid cart or the room attendant cart is
usually positioned in the linen room where other housekeeping supplies are also stored. These
carts are available in both metal and wood.  

Responsibility of Room Attendant

The room attendant cart is generally handled by the room attendant who is responsible for
proper application of maid cart including cleanliness and maintenance. To ensure smooth
operation and to avoid unwanted events the room attendants should execute the following
functions:
 Check the supplies against the provided checklist before forwarding into room service.
 Maintain the cart in a well-organized manner which is beneficial for easy availability of
supplies
 To bring hygienic tone and make it appealing, the cart should be cautiously maintained
and stored locked.
 Place the cart along the corridor wall to avoid any collision during cleaning.

Requirements of Maid’s Cart

An ideal maid cart must fulfill the following requirements:
 There must be expansive space in the cart that it able to carry all those supplies which
are required by a room attendant in a particular workday.
 The cart should be easily movable by the maid as it contains large amount of supplies.
 To make it easily movable a perfect cart would have fixed wheels at one end and castor
–wheels at the other.

Arrangement of Housekeeper’s Trolley

The room maid cart includes three deep shelves, the lower two shelves for stoking linen and
the top shelves for stocking supplies. But it is essential to keep the heavier linens on the
lowermost shelf and the lighter linens on the top shelf.

The cart also contains a bag for collecting soiled linen, removable thrash bags, storing space for
a vacuum cleaner and a hand container, a top that is partitioned for amenities, guestroom
brochures. If room attendant is not allowed to use floor master keys then the chamber carts
may have a locked box to store guestroom keys.

The supplies or the linens in the maid cart should never be overstock or understock as
understock often creates scarcity of supplies and overstock could increase the risk of misuse or
damaged.
Stocking of Room Attendant’s Cart
Generally the items that are stocked into the room attendant cart is measured or determined
based on the room category, guest amenities and size of the cart. However housekeeping
supplies that are usually stocked in the maid cart are as follows:

Generally all those linen items are stored in upper and middle shelves whereas heavy items like
bed sheets or mattress protector are generally stored in the bottom shelf. In times of storing
items in maid’s cart lighters items are stored from top to middle and heavy items are in bottom
side to adjust the weight. In top portion, different hotel guest supplies like ash trays, sewing
kits are kept. For quick cleaning in some carts different cleaning agents used mainly in
housekeeping department like room freshener, dettols are kept.

Points to be Considered:
 Each room attendant will be responsible for each of the items. So these supplies should
be used in assigned room only.
 Placing housekeeping trolley properly in times of cleaning is important. It should be
placed beside the corridor in such a way that guests can move easily.
 Be careful while moving with cart to avoid any unwanted collision.
 Try to place cart in a way that requires less movement to clean different rooms.

Maintenance of Housekeeping Cart

A maid cart is very significant part of housekeeping department so it must be handled and
maintained with careful hand and proper care. To make it long lasting and to make the best use
a room attendant or a housekeeper must take the following steps: 
 The room or the place where the maid cart will be positioned must be dry area and well
ventilated.
 All carts should be thoroughly cleaned and wiped daily.
 The soiled linen bag and thrash bags that are kept in the maid cart should be emptied at
regular basis.
 The wheels of cart must be well-made and oiled intermittently with expert hand.  
 All the linens and supplies should be properly organized in the cart after each sift that it
make easier to replenish extra item.

Handling Telephone Calls:

The control desk manages intra- and inter-departmental communication, and handling
telephone calls is the major function in the process.It may be required for all employees to
answer telephones when needed, therefore they must be trained well in telephone skills.

It is always avantageous when the hotels have a telephone policy in place so that the
procedure of answering, transferring, and making telephone calls can be strictly followed.

Answering calls:

 Answer all calls promptly, at the most before the third ring.
 Answer politely, with a smile on your face, as it can be ‘heard’ by the person at the
other end.
 Start with a greeting apt for the time of the day.
 Introduce yourself by name.
 Identify your department.
 Ask how you may be of assistance.
 Listen to the caller attentively and let him/her finish speaking before reply.
 Request any other information required for you to clarify what precisely the caller
needs. Understand his/her needs completely.
 Ascertain the caller of your assistance, outlining the course of action you propose to
take.
 Take the proposed action and get back to the caller to inform him/her of what has been
done. Check that all is now to their satisfaction.
In case the assistance required is not in your hands or the kind of assistance required is some
other employee’s responsibility, transfer the call to the concerned person after informing the
caller of the same.

Transferring calls:

When you have understood the caller’s needs but you are not able to provide assistance,
transfer the call to a member of the staff who you know will be able to fulfill the need.

Before transferring the call,i nform the caller of the name and department of the person he/she
is being connected to. When the concern person comes online, explain briefly about the caller’s
requirements and then make the connection..

In case you find the extension is busy, inform the caller of this and ask whether he/she would
like to be called back later or wants tohold the line for some minutes.In the former case, take
the caller’s contact number and ask for an ideal time to call back.

Holding calls:

When a caller is holding the line to be connected to the concerned person, he/she may feel the
wait has been too long even though it may be just a few second’s delay. This is a natural
reaction while holding a call.Therefore, you should check frequently whether the caller still
wishes to remain on hold or wants to be called back.

While the caller is on hold, you can put on the ‘on-hold music’. Avoid leaving the caller
unattended for too long.Before finally connecting the line, inform the caller that you are
connecting him/her now.

Taking messages:

There are situations when you have to take messages on some other employee’s or guest’s
behalf. Write the message down on a message pad with a pencil. Take the message accurately,
in a neat handwriting. Ensure that you fill in

 the date,
 the time,
 the name of the person for whom the message is intended,
 the name of the caller,
 the contact number of the caller, and
  a brief description of the message.

Inform the caller that you will definitely pass on the message as soon as possible. After
disconnecting, ensure that the concerned person receives the message as soon as possible.

Making calls:

Before making a call, ascertain whether and why it is needed. Decide on what you are going to
convey. If required, make notes to help you put forth the points you mean to. Dial the number
or the extension of the person you want and ask for him/her. Convey the information you have
to deliver or ask for information you need clearly. Thank the person on the line.

Whether making or receiving calls, you should follow some golden rules of telephone
etiquette. These are listed in this section.

 Answer promptly
 Smile and be polite.
 Speak slowly, clearly, in a pleasing tone.
 Listen attentively to the other person without interruption.
 Ascertain and use the other person’s name frequently.
 Ascertain the caller’s need and be helpful, offering the relevant information if
you can provide it.